Printmaker, Tattoo Artist Speaks at UAM

Douglas Boultinghouse
Arts & Entertainment Editor

Photo by Douglas Boultinghouse

Just a Guy Who Went to Art School - Dave Menard, a art professor from Rockford, Ill., speaks at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Menard spoke about printmaking, woodcutting and tattooing.

   Dave Menard, assistant professor of Painting, Drawing, Photography and Print Making at Rockford University in Rockford, Ill., visited the University of Arkansas at Monticello Tuesday, Oct. 19.

   “I’m just a guy that went to art school,” Menard said as he began his lecture.

   He gave a presentation to students in the Visual and Performing Arts Complex about his work with woodcuts, printmaking and more as he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

   Along the way, Menard added role of tattoo artist to his resume, something he said he always wanted to do, but ended up becoming a printmaker - the opposite of his influence, legendary artist Don Ed Hardy.

   As a printmaker, he learned digital aspects of design as he went. He said he felt he had to in order to keep up with changing times. His digital experience combined with his traditional skills earned him his current job at Rockford.

   Scott Lykens, assistant professor of Art at UAM, said, “When students spend time with a visiting artist they gain an opportunity to hear someone preach the truth about how and why you would become a successful artist who is not me.”

   UAM Professor of Art, Tom Richard, worked with Menard at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where they served as visiting artists and participated in making prints.

   Richard said he brought Menard to UAM so students could see career paths available to artists and how to plan that path.

   Lykens said, “It is very important for a young artist to hear as many different perspectives as possible.  This helps nourish their growing minds with exposure to culture and intelligent philosophy of Art making. This kind of program is highly valuable to any university but even more valuable to one geographically challenged to engage in relevant cultural activities.”

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