Shorefront Legacy Center + Ben Blount
Images: (Left) Morris “Dino” Robinson holds a framed photograph inside the archive at Shorefront Legacy Center. Photo by Ryan Edmund Thiel. (Right) Artist Ben Blount in his studio. Photo by Ryan Edmund Thiel.
“Artist and archivists can learn from each other’s processes because in some ways, they deal with similar questions. What information is valuable to collect/research? What is the impact of sharing this information or history? There are parallels in the way archivists define and present their collections and what ideas artists present in their work.””
ARCHIVE:
Shorefront Legacy Center
Beginning in 1995, Shorefront Legacy Center has, and continues to amass, an archival collection of artifacts, documents, photographs, and family archives that represent and depict the lives of Black people on the Chicago suburban North Shore. There are currently over 100 linear feet of documents ready for use in scholarly activities with an additional 70 linear feet (and growing) acquisition of new documents which interns process for university class credit.
READ MORE: Interview with Dino Robinson of Shorefront Legacy Center
ARTIST:
Ben Blount
Ben Blount is a Detroit-born artist, designer, and letterpress printer. He loves books, type, and putting ink on paper. He is best known for his work that explores questions of race, identity, and the stories we tell ourselves about living in America. Ben is a believer in the power of the printed word and shares his passion for print and design by speaking to students and educators around the country and as a board member of Artists Book House and Fine Press Book Association. His artists’ books and prints are included in numerous collections including the Chicago Field Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Ben lives and works just north of Chicago in Evanston, Illinois.
READ MORE: Interview with Ben Blount