John Armstrong and Joan Prior, through their firm Armstrong-Prior, Inc., have a rich history of working with local and international contemporary artists, donors, collectors, community organizations and museums. Armstrong-Prior is both a fine arts printing studio – with John’s proficient execution of various print media – and an art consulting organization – with Joan’s professional advisement and placement of art in prominent collections. After many years of print projects, Armstrong-Prior has built an impressive archive of contemporary prints and the ASU Art Museum is very fortunate to have received this archive as a gift from John and Joan.
The Jules Heller Print Study Room at the ASU Art Museum houses a collection of more than 5,000 prints, ranging from a 14th century printed page to work by living artists. Generous gifts like the Armstrong-Prior archive have grown the collection to be a rich resource for ASU students and community members, and for exhibitions, loans and research.
This exhibition was curated by Jean Makin, print collection manager, working with Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts student Tiernan Warner who contributed to exhibition texts through researching the archive’s artists and interviewing John and Joan about their life and work. Support for the exhibition is from the Evelyn Smith Exhibition Fund and members of the ASU Art Museum with additional generous support for the printed gallery brochure from Kate and Hank Timmerman and The Cavanagh Law Firm.
If you would like to bring your class or group to see an exhibition or collection, and/or meet with a curator, please contact Andrea Feller, Curator of Education at andrea.feller@asu.edu .
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