Brad Vetter was the first featured artist of this semester’s monthly art galleries at 437CO Art Gallery.

On Sept. 3, the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) art students ran an opening night for Vetter’s work with the help of Professor of Art Eli Hall. Before the gallery, Vetter ran a workshop on how he makes his art for students. 

Vetter is a graphic design artist who does his work on a printing press. His primary job is to make posters for big events, such as concerts. He has been behind the posters of artists such as Tim McGraw, Kanye West and Arcade Fire. 

“I find it so cool that I use the same antique process of letterpress to make posters for modern events. Letterpress is simply letters pressed into paper with ink in between and what happens with the intricacies, whether it is a broken letter or any imperfections of the process where the ink isn’t quite perfect, […] it shows that there was a person involved; that someone’s hands were used to make that image,” Vetter said. 

Vetter opened his own shop in 2012 in Nashville, TN and has since moved his business to Louisville, KY, though he does travel for shows and workshops. Hall met Vetter at a convention in 2019 and became friends with him, which is how Vetter ended up working with CMU for this gallery.

“It’s another way to show a possible career in graphic design, it’s another way people can go to college and then apply their education to a job,” Hall said.

The galleries will continue to open monthly, run by art students under Hall’s supervision.