This summer Thomas University’s art professor Richard Curtis spent time in Nashville, Tennessee, as an intern at Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest letterpress shops still in existence. Curtis will share his experience during the next TU Talk at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, in the Flowers Foods Executive Classroom inside Smith-Bonvillian Hall on TU’s Forbes Campus.

Now housed in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Curtis visited the Hatch Show Print while on vacation during the summer of 2016. That’s when he decided to apply for an internship. Curtis was one of only four chosen for the internship based on the strength of his portfolio and his work in academia.

“I am interested in printmaking as an artistic medium,” Curtis said. “Letterpress is particularly exciting because it uses text and images to communicate information in a compelling way.”

According to Curtis, letterpress is a type of mechanical printmaking that uses movable type and was first used for printing books in the 1500s. Hatch Print Shop produces posters for concerts and other events around the world using the original wooden and metal typeface.

In addition to sharing his experience at the TU Talk, Curtis also plans to translate some of the design techniques he learned in the internship into his studio art classes.

Presented by the TU Library, TU Talks are free and open to the public.