In 2010, the University of Minnesota held the Mid-America Print Council's annual conference. That year's convening, called New World/Old World, included a print portfolio exchange between a variety of established and up-and-coming artists. Many of these portfolios, meant to unite a group of artists' work under a shared theme, have since been accessioned into the Weisman Art Museum's collection.
New World/Old World sought to explore the art of printmaking in the twenty-first century, and how printmaking methods have developed, and where they may change in the future. The Portfolio's Purpose investigates how a sampling of the exchanged prints utilize a diverse range of printmaking methods – from screenprints and lithographs to pressure prints and mezzotints – to convey their ideas.