Bringing letterpress to Miami
Having spent eight years at the Emerson Dorsch Building in Little Haiti was a challenge for this guy who likes to stay put in the neighborhoods he loves. Still… progress is progress. My studio at Bakehouse Art Complex is beginning to come together. My official portrait by the fabulous Pedro Wazzan is surreal and settling at the same time.
Tom has been busy at the Bakehouse printing, cutting, folding, and sewing books. Stop by and check out the activity.
The Department of Art & Art History proudly presents CENTENNIAL: University of Miami Print Exchange 2025, a dynamic exhibition celebrating the creative contributions of alumni and faculty from the last 32 years. Curated by Professor Emeritus, Lise Drost, the show highlights a diverse range of printmaking practices that honor the university’s artistic legacy.
Celebrate 100 years with us at a reception for the artists on Thursday, November 6, 2025, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
When Lise Drost began teaching at the University of Miami in 1993, she introduced the tradition of a print exchange each semester, a common practice among communities of printmaking artists to make editions of prints to exchange with one another. The Centennial Exchange brings together students and faculty from the last 32 years with the instruction to make a series of 28 multiples using either traditional print or digital means. The group includes BFA and MFA alumni from 1994 to 2024, some former and current faculty, and an impressive range of imagery and approaches to contemporary printmaking. Media in the exhibition include etching, woodcut, reduction linoleum, risograph, silkscreen, collograph, letterpress, monotype, and luminography.
In addition to Lise Drost, the participants are Jennifer Basile, Abraham Camayd, Christine Di Staola, Thomas J. Engleman, Kari Fernandez, Daniele Gabriel, Nicole Hand, Kathleen Hudspeth, Catherine Kramer, Eddy A. Lopez, Victoria Rose Martin, Randi Matushevitz, John McCaffrey, Charlisa Montrope, Brian Reedy, Rachel Alderton Rippes, Beatriz Rodriguez, Claudia Scalise, Barbara Scheer, Lani Shapton, Scott Smith, Jeannette Stargala, Jonathan Beaumont Thomas, Kyle Trowbridge and Tom Virgin.
Printmaking was first introduced to the University of Miami curriculum by George Merrick’s younger brother, Richard, who was born in Coconut Grove in 1903 and studied at the Art Students League in New York in the early 1920s, and taught at the University beginning in the 1930s and again after a tour of duty in World War II, up until 1969. Much of the print equipment he acquired is still in use by students in the Rainbow Building printmaking facility.
CENTENNIAL: University of Miami Print Exchange 2025 is on view through January 16, 2026, at the College of Arts & Sciences, Ashe 140 Gallery, 1252 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146.
I am delighted to be a recepient of the 2025 MIA Grant from Miami Dade County Cultural Affairs. The grant is an unrestricted award that allows artists to work on long term projects. It is important to me to continue observing and documenting the city I live in, as well as the people I have taught and learned from in twenty five years of MDCPS Title I Public Schools.
It is my great honor to preview my first Art in Public Places installation. Five of my prints are at the Miami-Dade County Civil & Probate Courthouse in Downtown Miami. This artwork is part of the collection of Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places program, made possible with the support of the Art in Public Places Trust, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioner.
Thanks to @artinpublicplacesmdc, @miamidadearts and @bakehouseartcomplex @amandacarriesanfilippo and the entire Art in Public Places team.
Tom Virgin, A penny for your thoughts #1, 2025. Letterpress print, Miami-Dade County Civil & Probate Courthouse. Image (Francesco Casale), courtesy of Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Art in Public Places Trust.
I am grateful for the finely crafted frames created by Nick Gilmore using reclaimed Dade County Pine, reflecting the history contained in these works. @gilmoreworks @frameonwheels
Read the full interview of Tom Virgin with Voyage MIA at https://voyagemia.com/interview/tom-virgin-on-life-lessons-legacy-highlight
We’re throwing a party to celebrate this double milestone with art, music, food, and dancing
Artists’ Proof | 40/100 features:
Friday, November 7, 2025 | 7–10 PM
Bakehouse Art Complex | 561 NW 32 ST, Miami
Tickets:
$40 in advance | $100 at the door
Dress in your birthday best and raise a glass to four decades of Bakehouse and a century of history
Come join in the festivities at the opening on Saturday, May 3rd from 6-9pm at MIFA (Miami International Fine Arts).
With Tropic Bound about to happen, Andres Viglucci writes about the University of Miami’s Special Collections Library, Exile Projects and Extra Virgin Press are integral to the boom in artists’ books.
Read the full article at https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article299061135.html
Check out the interview on YouTube by Milly Cardoso of Tom Virgin.
https://youtu.be/ANGmJ83ooYQ?si=CZkMJpOWL68O4V8v
