Inside the Blackburn Studio with Artist Melvin Edwards is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Creative Space: Fifty Years of Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop, on view at the Amon Carter Museum through March 19.

Robert Blackburn (1920–2003) was a master printmaker who changed the course of American art through his groundbreaking graphic work and the Printmaking Workshop that he founded in 1948 in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. Edwards was first invited there in the 1970s, and he collaborated with his friend over a 20-year period. He considers Blackburn, whose workshop provided a meeting ground for all types of artists, a pioneer in the field of printmaking. Edwards will speak about the experience of working with Blackburn and the artist’s impact on the community, as well as his own work that is featured in the exhibition.

About Melvin Edwards

While many know New York artist Melvin Edwards (b. 1937) for his sculpture, which incorporates found objects as metaphors for African-American history and experience, he has also made prints throughout his career. His work is represented in the collections of many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His work Night Chain (1973, etching and aquatint) from his series Lynch Fragments is represented in the Creative Space exhibition.