American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print illustrates
the fascinating fusion of art with popular culture and music history.
Featuring the work of one of the nation’s oldest operating printing
shops – Nashville, Tennessee’s Hatch Show Print – the exhibition
highlights the uniquely American posters produced to advertise
everything from vaudeville shows, state fairs and stock car races to
the Grand Ole Opry, Elvis Presley and Herbie Hancock.
Founded in 1879 in Nashville, Tenn., Hatch Show Print
is still a working letterpress and design shop, creating posters today
using the same letterpress methods as yesterday. American Letterpress
features historical and contemporary posters and original wooden print
blocks – some never before seen by the public.
American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print, an
exhibition created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
Service in collaboration with the Country Music Hall of Fame® and
Museum, is supported by America’s Jazz Heritage, A Partnership of the
Wallace Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsored locally by the Peter Kiewit Foundation, Douglas County
Commissioners, U.S. Bank, the Steven H. Durham Family Foundation and
Whitmore Charitable Trust. Additional support provided by Webster
Design Associates. Media support provided by CityWeekly.
About Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES)
SITES
has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research
programs with millions of people outside Washington, D. C., for more
than 50 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural
heritage through wide-range exhibitions about art, science, and
history, which are shown wherever people live, work, and play.
Exhibition descriptions and tour schedules are available at
www.sites.si.edu.
If you use Windows Media Player and cannot view the video production above, you may need to download the Xvid Codec that can be found here.
Click here to download the American Letterpress The Art of Hatch Show Print Education Resources Manual