Professor’s Work on Exhibit in North Andover
NECC Graphic Design Professor Lance Hidy
Northern Essex Community College Graphic Design Professor Lance Hidy’s work will be on exhibit at the Museum of Printing in North Andover now through December. The Museum of Printing will have an artist’s reception honoring Lance Hidy, on Friday, April 25 from 4-7pm. This reception is free and open to the public.
Hidy’s posters of bold composition and pure solid colors will be arranged thematically, with topics ranging from books and libraries to graphic arts to culture and children. Early and never-before-exhibited work will be showcased along with displays revealing the artist’s creative process including preliminary studies and press proofs. Hidy’s digital photomontages, three U.S. postage stamps, and Penumbra typeface will also be featured.
While studying fine art at Yale, Lance Hidy developed an interest in graphic design and printing. After working among the three book arts communities around Leonard Baskin at Smith, Ray Nash at Dartmouth, and the Stinehour Press, he helped David Godine establish his publishing company (1969–74). During the first years they printed letterpress books, often illustrated with Hidy’s wood engravings and etchings.
Since 1974 Hidy has operated his own studio for illustration and photography, and for the design of posters, books, corporate identities, and postage stamps. For the book Yosemite and the Range of Light (1979), Ansel Adams chose Hidy as art director—a role that he continues to perform for the books published by the Ansel Adams Trust and Little, Brown.
While a consultant to Adobe Systems, 1987–97, Hidy produced the typeface Penumbra, a titling family of sixteen fonts. It achieved momentary fame when used for the titles in the movie, The DaVinci Code. His twenty-five solo exhibitions have included the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, Washington and Lee University, Pennsylvania School of Art & Design, University of Kansas, and Smith College.
A resident of the Merrimack Valley since 1983, Hidy has been professor of art at Northern Essex Community College for fifteen years. In addition to many journal articles on graphic design, Hidy’s book, Designing the Mentoring Stamp, was published in 2007. He is currently working on a book about the fly fishing legacy of his father Vernon S. Hidy, and James E. Leisenring.
The Museum of Printing is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the graphic arts, printing equipment and printing craftsmanship. In addition to many special collections and small exhibits, the Museum contains hundreds of antique printing, typesetting and bindery machines, as well as a library of books and printing-related documents.
Located only a mile from Interstate Highway 495, the Museum sits on the spacious town common at 800 Massachusetts Avenue, North Andover, and is open Saturdays through December 31st from 10 – 4 p.m., and by appointment. Special showings can be arranged for groups by contacting Executive Director Kim Pickard at exedir@museumofprinting.org.
