National Non-Toxic Printmaking Invitational

Keith Howard

Keith Howard is Head of Contemporary Printmaking at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York. He was born in Sydney, Australia in 1950. He received a diploma in painting at East Sydney Technical College, followed by a Post Degree Diploma in Education at Sydney Teachers College. In 1975, he began teaching painting and drawing at the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane and soon began running the printmaking department. In 1978 he went as an Exchange Instructor to Alberta College of Art in Calgary, Canada. After this year-long exchange, he immigrated to Canada. In 1984 he completed a Master’s of Art in Studio and Environmental Art at New York University, studying in their Venice program. He then taught drawing and printmaking at Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada. In 1986, he accepted a faculty appointment at Grande Prairie Regional College in Alberta, Canada. During the following 13 years he researched and developed the foundation of a new safer approach to intaglio printmaking. In 1997 her established the Canadian School for Non-Toxic Printmaking.

In 1989 he published the first book in the world to present a safer intaglio methodology Safe Photo Etching for Photographers and Artists. Since 1991, he has been writing articles, speaking at conferences, and giving workshops on Contemporary Non-Toxic Printmaking techniques. He has collaborated with major companies to research safer printmaking products. In 1998 he wrote Non-Toxic Printmaking which ushered in a huge wave of interest in the world in alternative safer intaglio techniques. In 2003 he published the cutting edge The Contemporary Printmaker: Intaglio-Type and Acrylic Resist Etching.