KANSAS CITY.- The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will honor the Nelson-Atkins Print Society’s 30th anniversary with the exhibition Print Lovers at 30: Celebrating Three Decades of Giving. The May 3–July20 exhibition, featuring 31 of the 79 prints donated by that group or its members, also acknowledges the extraordinary role played by the late Print Curator George McKenna, who infused the Print Society with his passion for works on paper and cultivated a collaborative method of acquisition.

McKenna began his career at the Nelson-Atkins in 1952 as registrar and later became curator of both the print and drawing collections. He presented 237 exhibitions at the Museum. At a yearly luncheon of Print Society members he would offer prints from local galleries as candidates for acquisition. Members present voted and the chosen works were donated to the Museum. McKenna retired in 1997 as curator emeritus. He died this past year.
Hugh Merrill, printmaker and professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, was invited to be guest curator for the exhibition and worked with Nelson-Atkins Chief Curator Deborah Emont Scott.

Merrill said the prints in the exhibition are examples of two broad categories of the printmaking art: those in which the artist is also the printmaker and those in which the artist works with a master printmaker. The solo artist/printmaker brings his artistry to the craft of printmaking. The artist working with a printmaker creates a special relationship between artist and master craftsman.

Artists/printmakers are represented in the exhibition by such artists as Tom Huck, Warrington Colescott, Eleanor Erkine and Craig Allen Subler. Artists who collaborate with printmakers are represented by Red Grooms, Robert Cottingham and Leslie Dill, among others. Ron Adams began as a printmaker working with artists Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Frank Stella, then sold his business in 1987 to focus on his career as a solo artist/printmaker.

The exhibition is presented in four groupings: Major Trends reflects the stylistic and conceptual points of view modern and contemporary artists have explored, from photorealistic portraits to post-painterly abstraction. Social Justice, Humor and Parody confronts social order, provokes thought and awakens societies to the possibility of change. Beyond the Landscape explores the complex world of human and ecological interactions. Eccentric Eyes demonstrates the highly personal iconography, symbols and surreal visions printmaker artists have explored.