35 Goldston, master printer for Universal Limited Art Editions in Long Island, N.Y., believes in giving artistic opportunities to other OSU students. Each year for 23 years the fine art print publisher, which has a staff of 10, sponsors three all-expenses-paid internships for OSU art history, graphic design and studio students to spend a semester at ULAE. Leading the Pilgrimage When he became an OSU student, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Bill Goldston forged a lifelong relationship with his alma mater. The 1966 fine arts graduate has never forgotten his Oklahoma roots and the growth that comes from experiencing great art. “It’s not just about the internship,” Goldston says. “It’s the exposure to art. While here, they can go to the Metropolitan, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, The Frick and the Whitney Museum. It’s important that Oklahomans come to New York City or other artistic meccas and experience the art for themselves.” Goldston’s own odyssey took him from the life of an Oklahoma farm boy to OSU, where he tried to study mechanical engineering for two years before finally succumbing to his interest in art, and then to graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where he studied lithography under master printer Zigmunds Priede. A tour in Vietnam interrupted his studies, and when he returned to graduate school, his journey took a new turn. “I walked in the door and Zigmunds asked me if I wanted to work in New York,” he says. “I commuted back and forth between Minneapolis and New York while I finished graduate school.” Working for ULAE making limited-edition lithographs from original art, Goldston’s deft touch caught the eye of Tatyana Grosman, who founded the company in 1957. Sylvia E. King-Cohen ’81 WORDS Phil Shockley PHOTOGRAPHY Goldston tells of the day that Grosman became his mentor. She had prepared lunch for the staff, a common occurrence at the tightknit business. Goldston, in the middle of a project, continued to work unaware she was watching. Impressed with his attention to detail, she said, “‘Bill, you have it, you really have it,’” Goldston remembers. “After that, she pestered me all the time with ‘Let me show you how to do this. Let me show you how to do that.’” In time, he convinced her to use the offset press process to produce more lucrative high-quality posters and books in addition to the company’s limited editions. Grosman eventually put him in charge of running the business in 1976 and left ULAE in Goldston’s capable hands at her death in 1982. Since then, he has added studios, printers and presses and invited new groups of young artists to work at the studio. Art was always an integral part of Goldston’s life. “My mother insisted my brother and I study something to do with the arts when we were in school,” he says. “She didn’t know much about fine arts, so it is hard to say why she pushed us toward the arts. “I remember that my mother bought a set of encyclopedia from a garage sale,” Goldston laughingly recalls. “They were already old when she bought them.” Even outdated, they offered Goldston a glimpse into a world that he now is trying to share with other Oklahomans — one OSU student at a time. LEFT Alumnus Bill Goldston, pictured with art graduates Hali Lynn ’10, left, and Emily Kern ’10, visited campus in January to speak with OSU students about the printmaking operation and internships at Universal Limited Art Editions. Lynn and Kern interned for ULAE as part of their fine arts studies. IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP. IT’S THE EXPOSURE TO ART. IT’S IMPORTANT THAT OKLAHOMANS COME TO NEW YORK CITY OR OTHER ARTISTIC MECCAS AND EXPERIENCE THE ART FOR THEMSELVES.
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