While here for a two week residency through the Outbound Program at Transit Residency (TRANSIT) Ben Blount created thought-provoking work and led a workshop that highlighted using your voice to make a difference. You can also read about his time at Hamilton from his perspective in the guest blog post he did on the TRANSIT website.

We are happy to work with TRANSIT to provide a space for artists to create new work. This residency was established to provide opportunities for artists to research and develop their own practice, to further the professional development of artists by enabling the creation and production of new work, and to foster an exchange of ideas and influences. While this marks the fourth year of our partnership, this was the third residency through this program and the first to invite artists from the broader Midwest to apply.

Ben is a Detroit native and earned an MFA in Book Arts from Columbia College in 2005 and has lived in Evanston for the last 2 years. Ben works during the day as a art director for an advertising agency. His work invites you to look at how we discuss race in the United States.

Ben's proposal for the residency spoke to how he wanted to utilize the museum collection to further conversations about race and history. He says, "I wanted to explore the language we use around race in America through a series of broadsides. I planned to reference everything from the way race was talked about historically to current euphemisms, slang, and slurs. I thought a museum of type and printing would be the perfect place to explore a project on language and history."

During his residency Ben led a workshop titled, "Make a Dent." 12 participants created posters using their own voice focusing on messages that are important to them. Ben showed some of his work and spoke to the process behind it. It was a great day of discussion and hands-on printing.