Matthew Forrest: NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US

January 16 - February 15,2021

A solo exhibition featuring work by Matthew Forrest. To attend the online Zoom Party on January 16 at 6pm, go here. From Flatbed: "Flatbed proudly announces our first 2021 exhibition Nothing About Us Without Us.  This is a unique exhibition of works by Matthew Forrest who worked in collaboration with artists from Imagine Art in 2020. The timing of the exhibit is for PrintAustin 2021, and it celebrates the inclusive nature of printmaking and the power of collaboration.  The title of the exhibition was taken from a centuries-old slogan asserting that no policy should be created without the full and direct participation of those it affects. It was adopted by the disability rights movement in the 1990s as a call to action around the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Matthew Forrest is an artist, educator, and printmaker based in Gray GA. Forrest has over 12 years of fine art publishing, and community outreach experience which he uses within his classes to connect community needs to in-class projects. He is driven to make printmaking more accessible for students with disabilities and has worked with a number of groups to advance art outreach within middle Georgia and beyond. Over the past six months Forrest has collaborated with Imagine Art, which is a creative incubator where artists with and without disabilities gather for artmaking and exhibiting within Austin. Forrest has worked with the Training Team of staff and students from Georgia College and Imagine Art to produce a limited run of board games to help promote conversation, teamwork, community, and to develop the core skills of peer support and self-advocacy within Imagine Art's program, Training 4 Transformation (https://www.imagineart.net/training-4-transformation) Flatbed will exhibit the lithographs, and screenprints Forrest created which reflect the art that has been shared with him during online meetings from artists who call Imagine Art home. A highlight of the exhibition is the specially designed and printed board game that will be used in future Imagine Art programming. Forrest writes that he “was honored to work with so many talented artists to achieve his own inspired works of art from the project, and more importantly, a game that will help serve as a lasting work of art used weekly by the I.A. Peer Support Specialists in training” Credit also goes to  student designer Jenna Bryson from Georgia College, Imagine Art's Staff, Teel Montague, Kelley Abell, Kayla Skubiata, Debbie Kizer, and all the Artists who contributed imagery."

Reception: January 16, 2020 | 2-5 pm
Reception available by registration: Call 512-477-9328 or Email info@flatbedpress

Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking 3701 Drossett Drive, Suite 190
Austin, TX 78744
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