Printmaking – the Democratic Medium: Fostering Dialogue, Activism and Safe Space in a Community Workshop Setting

This paper presents four projects that utilize the printed multiple to engage with both local and global communities in order to actively address social change, to connect with outlier communities of artists, and to engage and inspire neighborhood and city-wide partners with collaborative events. Partnering with the organization POP (Print – Organize – Protest), the CPC presented a series of free screen printing events in which participants could “drop in” and pull their own posters, tees and protest collateral. In another sample project, the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative presented an exhibition of “banned artists” from Iran, an exchange where 85 Iranian print multiples were smuggled in and exhibited at the CPC Gallery while the work of 15 Chicago printmakers circulated throughout four Iranian cities, the idea being that “art transcends political posturing,” and that it’s our responsibility, as artists, to question the status quo. As another ongoing project, steamroller printing events engage both the community, neighborhood, and city with an enticing spectacle, while partnerships with local non-profits, libraries and funding sources can bring in underserved youth populations. All of these projects could translate nicely in alternate settings due to the portability and affordability of the multiple, and its unique ability to address social, political, and cultural engagement for ALL populations.