NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s Department of Fine + Graphic Arts will present two rare, connected events Nov. 19 celebrating Louisiana’s historic preservation through 19th-century photographic processes and architectural scholarship.
A wet-plate collodion tintype workshop will take place at the Murphy Trading House Tauzin-Wells House, 607 Williams Ave., Natchitoches, from 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m., courtesy of Curt and Pam Felch.
Professor Frank Hamrick, internationally recognized Louisiana artist and Louisiana Tech University MFA program coordinator, will lead participants through the historic wet-plate collodion tintype process. This 19th-century photographic technique creates unique, permanent images on metal plates through a labor-intensive process.
Hamrick’s work has been featured in NPR and Oxford American Magazine and is held in prestigious collections, including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago and The Ogden Museum of Southern Art. His limited-edition artists’ books combining tintype photography with handmade bookmaking have garnered national recognition.
Capacity is limited. NSU students and faculty receive priority registration. NSU alumni and Dear School of Art supporters are welcome. Registration is required. Email Jennifer Robison, assistant professor of photography, at robisonj@nsula.edu for more information.
Later in the day, a historic preservation talk will feature Guy Carwile, the Ken Hollis Endowed Professor of Architecture at Louisiana Tech University and Louisiana’s Architect Emeritus, titled “Louisiana Tech HABS projects in Natchitoches Parish: Melrose-Ghana House, Badin-Roque House, and Murphy Trading House.” The talk will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Cammie G. Henry Research Center on the third floor of NSU’s Watson Library, 1501 University Parkway. The event is free and open to the pubic with no registration required. Light refreshments will be served.
Prof. Guy Carwile
Carwile will discuss several historic Natchitoches Parish homes, including the Murphy Trading House, and updated documentation drawings of this rare 18th-century structure. Carwile, a practicing architect since 1985 and co-author, with Karen Kingsley, of “The Modernist Architecture of Samuel G. and William B. Wiener,” has contributed extensively to Louisiana architectural scholarship and Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation.
Both events celebrate the intersection of Louisiana’s architectural heritage and historic preservation methods. Attendees may participate in one or both events.
For more information, contact Dr. Leslie Gruesbeck, head of the Department of Fine and Graphic Art, at gruesbeckl@nsula.edu or University Archivist Donna Baker at bakerd@nsula.edu.