| BY KEELEY MEIER ‘20
T
wo years ago, Fred Lawyer ‘76 completed an 18-hour drive to Augustana’s campus. The purpose was to make a donation to the art department. Not just any donation though — it was in the form of a several hundred-pound stone. The stone that he drove cross country to donate is used for printmaking, also known as lithography, and is a limited, irreplaceable resource. Printmaking dates back to the late 1700s, and is the process of printing from a flat, special limestone that is treated to repel ink except where it is required for printing. “Over the years, the stones become thinner and thinner, but each stone, with proper handling, has the potential to create thousands of images in its lifetime,” said Professor of Art Dr. Lindsay Twa. Lawyer originally purchased the stone in the late-’70s from Graphic Chemical and Ink, a supplier of lithography materials, while studying for his Master of Fine Arts at Kansas State University. He then cut the stone down with a circular saw to the size it is today — about 24-by-32 inches. The stone traveled with him from Kansas to the University of South Alabama, where he landed a teaching job. However, Lawyer’s personal and the university’s presses were both too small to fit the newly acquired stone. For years, it sat in a crate until he brought the stone along on a trip to visit the late Carl Grupp. Grupp, Augustana professor emeritus of art, was the founder of AU’s printmaking department and the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery. He was also Lawyer’s professor and friend, as well as one of his most impactful artistic influences. “I could’ve taken it to the University of South Dakota or even Kansas State, my other alma maters, but I really thought it would get the best use and care at Augustana,” Lawyer said. “Plus, I very much have a soft spot for my whole Augustana experience and my time with Carl. “The world is truly an emptier place without him. You just can’t replace people like Carl.” Lawyer’s donation, Twa said, is priceless to Augustana’s printmaking studio. “This stone will enable generations of student artists to create unique images of a scale that most others would only get to achieve as professional and advanced artists,” Twa said. “Augustana has long Lawyer (left) said that Grupp (right) was one of had a strong tradition in printmaking, and Fred is now paying it his most significant artistic influences and mentors. forward to our future students.”
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THE AUGUSTANA | FALL 2021
