Place: Gallery 210, University of Missouri, St. Louis: 1 University Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63121 (it’s in the same building as the UMSL Police Department).
Opening: Saturday, March 19, 2016 from 5pm to 7pm. Exhibit runs through June 25, 2016.
The story of St. Louis type design closely mirrors the history of graphic design in the United States. This exhibit is the story of a public thirsty for high quality printed words, and the technology and design advancements that responded to this thirst. Type was cast in St. Louis foundries and sent to printers to the west and south, along with shipments of printing equipment. This exhibit also is the story of businesses realizing that better advertisements increased profits. You will also learn of the rise of “art printing,” which later becomes Graphic Design and Printing. Also featured is the public’s delight with beautiful new typefaces that responded to contemporaneous fashions. The typefaces featured in this show were designed in St. Louis for Central and Inland Type Foundries by talented artisans drawn from the printing and engraving industry.
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My good friend Jen McKnight, Associate Professor in Art and Art History at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is one of the movers and shakers in putting this exhibit together. As she has enthusiastically educated me about the exhibit, I have increasingly become interested in the history of St. Louis as a center for font design, type casting, typography and printing from the 1880’s to the present.
Feel free to stop by at the Exhibit Opening this Saturday, March 19th, from 5pm to 7 pm. There is no charge for admission and all those who are interested are welcome to stop by. You’ll be able to view high quality prints and artifacts, as well as a video focusing on both the aesthetics and the history of St. Louis type casting, typography and printing. I’ll be attending Saturday evening and hope to see you there!
Directions to Gallery 210 (which is next door to the North UMSL Metrolink stop and easy automobile parking is nearby):
Exit Interstate 70 at Florissant Road/University Blvd. (Exit 240).
Turn south (If exiting I-70 eastbound bear right. If exiting I-70 westbound bear left).
Go through the first stoplights after exiting I-70.
Turn right onto Grobman Road, just before a railroad overpass.
Follow the road up the hill and under the Metro overpass. A parking garage is available for parking on the lower levels to the left directly on top of the hill.
The gallery is located on the right at the top of the hill and is indicated as building 7 in the comment immediately below.
