Midwest Museum of American Art exhibits master woodcuts

ELKHART — Midwest Museum of American Art presents an exhibition of master woodcuts from the MMAA permanent collection.

“American Woodcuts: Printing in Relief” will be on view through Sept. 28.

Drawn entirely from the museum’s graphic arts archive, the assembled collection of over 60 examples reveals how the American woodcut has evolved over the past century in this country, organizers said.

While many of the prints retain their connections to traditional methods of woodblock printing, they all expose a medium capable of producing bold new forms of artistic expression representing several generations of American artists from the 1900s to the present day.

A special spotlight exhibit of 23 woodcut images carved and printed in color by Elkhart-based artist Susan B. (Susie) Lehman will also be on view.

In 2013, the artist offered the museum 22 examples of her woodcuts that she created from 1968 to 1986 before she switched to her current art practice of cut-paper collage imagery. Some of the images that MMAA owns won the artist awards and recognition and were collected actively.

Lehman is no stranger to the larger Michiana art community: four of her cut-paper collages can be seen regularly in the Lerner Public Art Collection.

The Midwest Museum of American Art is located at 429 S. Main St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission: $10 adult, $8 college, $8 student (ages 13-18), and $6 student (ages 8-12).