Walter Jule, a professor emeritus of the Department of Art and Design at the University of Alberta, has been recognised for his outstanding teaching by the Southern Graphics Council. The SGC Excellence in Teaching Award, given to Jule by one of the largest print organisations in the world, recognises his indelible impact upon printmakers within an educational context.
Born in Seattle, Walter Jule studied at the University of Washington, specialising in architecture and printmaking, graduating in 1966 with his MFA. Jule relocated to Canada in 1970 and was instrumental in assisting with the establishment of the country's first printmaking graduate program at the University of Alberta, continuing to teach until his retirement in 2006.
In additional to Jule's legacy as this relates to innovation in printmaking at the University of Alberta, his influence similarly extends to those students who have benefitted from his instruction abroad. To date, Jules continues to teach internationally, having previously lectured at such institutions as Montana State University, University of Washington, the University of Brasilia, and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts.
The personal and professional relationships that Jules has forged through his international teachings has resulted in numerous collaborations with peers, most recently with Ryogi Ikeda for Threshold, a recent exhibition held at the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo as a result of a partnership between the University of Alberta Museums and the Prince Takamado Japan Centre.
Jule is renowned for his printmaking, book and poster design, which has featured in excess of 250 exhibitions both within Canada and internationally. Jule's surrealist imagery is evoked through the marriage of both print and photographic techniques, through which he explores transient and unseen universal laws of cause and effect, challenging conceptions of time by condensing moments through skill and chance.
In the past decade, meditation has also informed Jule's ongoing print practice. Recently, Jules was featured in the group exhibition Approaching Zero - At the Frontier of Contemporary Printmaking, at the Kala Art Institute Gallery (February 13 to April 5, 2014), an exhibition investigating artists who combine traditional printmaking methods to produce work that expands the boundaries of the medium.
Jule has curated exhibitions of Canadian and International printmaking in China, Japan and Brazil, as well as designing and editing the celebrated Print Voice International Journal.
Jule has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial (Japan, 2005). In 2007 the Municipal Museum, Gyor (Hungary) debuted a 40 year survey of his practice, SKIN, which went on to tour internationally. The same year, Jule was inducted into the City of Edmonton Arts and Culture Hall of Fame.
To learn more of the creative process behind Jule's work, read the following article by Monique Westra for Galleries West. Walter Jule: Visual Jazz.
Image: Neither Dusk Nor Dawn. 2008. Walter Jule. University of Alberta Art Collection.
About the Southern Graphics Council (SGC) International
The SGC has a long history of celebrating the work of innovators in the medium of print.
An educational non-profit organisation, the SGC aspires to keep its members informed of the latest developments in print, drawing, book arts and hand-made paper.
The annual conference, the last of which attracted over 2000 participants, offers not only an opportunity to discuss the latest developments in the print medium, but also an occasion to celebrate the individuals progressing and disseminating technique.
In addition to its annual conference, which it has been hosting since the early 1970s, the SGC tours a traveling exhibition of work by its members, promotes residencies, workshops, exchanges, awards and fellowships of relevance to the printmaking community, and publishes the tri-annual newsletter Graphic Impressions featuring articles, reviews, and a calendar of events of interest to printmakers.
For more information on the Southern Graphics Council International's events and offerings, visit http://sgcinternational.org.