Two Brand New Exhibits to Open in June

Two brand new exhibits will open during the June 6 First Friday. Both exhibits feature screen-printed art, highlighting the collaboration and techniques that go into creating it.

Designed and hand screen-printed by William B. Livingston III (who goes by Trey), most of this remarkable exhibit was created in the most unlikely circumstances – in a prison cell.

Livingston started serving his time at Lawton, a privately ran prison. This is where he turned to art. In the introduction to Live From the Cell Block: Will Livingston and His Silk Screen Machine, Livingston says, “At first my work was dark: legions of faces, representing the men who surrounded me in the prison – thin men with distressed faces, old men with mouths agape, thick men with bemused visages and young men looking despondent. […] Eventually, I received a transfer to Harp, and my work both lightened and broadened. In just a few days time, I stretched my parameters from depictions of prison life to Lichtenstein-esque portraits of my favorite people and various landscapes from my youth.”

Over the course of Livingston’s sentencing, he began to merge his love of music with the art that he was creating and started designing & printing old school concert posters, “not far off from the ones people see in Nashville at shops such as Hatch Show Print.” Taking suggestions from his friends for the concerts, Livingston would pick which ones he wanted to design, print about 25 full-color posters that were signed and numbered, and his family and friends would distribute them at each show for free. Each poster included his plea: “do not drink and drive.”

Livingston will be at the June 6 First Friday doing a live screen print of posters on site for attendees to take home!

Curated by May Yang, a Tulsa-based artist, designer, and printer, this exhibition highlights the collaborative spirit and creative legacy of Flash Flood Print Studios through a showcase of prints from its Artist Print Series, selected works by participating artists, and ephemera from the studio. Founded as an artist-led, community-driven print shop, Flash Flood supported clients of all sizes while nurturing bold, high-quality projects. The Artist Print Series was created in 2019 with the aim to make screen printing accessible– offering artists a no-cost way to produce editions, celebrating the versatility of the medium, and providing affordable entry points for new collectors. With the studio’s recent closure in March, this exhibition serves both as a tribute to the APS and a retrospective of the collaborations that shaped Flash Flood over its 13-year run.

May was the founder and owner of Flash Flood Print Studios, which she led for its full 13-year run. In 2019, she created the Artist Print Series as a passion project– a way to return to her roots in collaborative printmaking while supporting fellow artists and celebrating the creative potential of screen printing. The series became a central part of the studio’s mission, driven by the belief in accessible, community-based art.

For more information about OCH exhibits and events, bookmark our homepage at humanities.utulsa.edu or follow us on social media.