Interview: Month of Printmaking 2024

by Laura I. Miller

A Van Gogh painting can sell for hundreds of millions of dollars. Most of us can’t afford that. Yet, for about twenty dollars, you can purchase a copy of The Starry Night and hang it above your bed. For this, you can thank the printing press. Widely considered the most important invention of all time, the printing press took artwork out of the hands of the elite and delivered it to the masses.

Julia Fernandez-Pol, *Eclipse #1*, 2023, intaglio monoprint, 34 x 47 inches, on view in the exhibition *Artist Proof: Print Process at Oehme Graphics* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

This March in Denver, the Month of Printmaking, or Mo’Print, will celebrate all things printmaking with over eighty events and sixty exhibitions dedicated to educating the community and showcasing artists across Colorado. [1] I spoke with the co-chairs for the event, Jennifer Ghormley and Emily Moyer, to learn more about Mo’Print—now a standalone non-profit after over ten years under the umbrella of the Invisible Museum—and how the event makes printmaking more accessible for aspiring artists and collectors.

Emily Moyer, *Litho Magic*, 2015, stone lithography, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA.*

A portrait of Emily Moyer, co-organizer of Mo’Print, the Month of Printmaking. Image courtesy of the artist.

A detail view of Jennifer Ghormley’s *Sinking*, 2023, woodblock print on sheer fabric, sewing, and thread, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA.*

A portrait of Jennifer Ghormley, co-organizer of Mo’Print, the Month of Printmaking. Image courtesy of the artist.

What is the Month of Printmaking?

JG: Mo’Print is a month-long event run by a team of volunteers who are dedicated to the love of printmaking and want to provide opportunities for all printmakers to come together and nerd out about everything related to printmaking. We have over sixty galleries participating this year.

EM: And those are just the exhibitions. We also have artist talks, demonstrations, studio tours, and all kinds of other events. As long as it has something to do with printmaking, we’re happy to have it. We’ve had over 200 events submitted in previous years, so it’s a real community-driven event.

Andi Newberry, *My Mother's Arrow*, 2022, screenprint on Arnhem paper, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA.*

When is it being held?

JG: The official Mo’Print-sponsored events will run from Friday, March 1 to Sunday, March 24, and then we have an additional event on Saturday, April 20, the steamroller printing event at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. The reason we have that one later is because it’s an outdoor event. At this point, our printmaking events have expanded beyond March. Our juried exhibition opened at the Arvada Center on January 18. Then our show at the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art in Trinidad will run until the end of May.

A view of the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

Brady Smith, *To Fold and Divide*, 2023, screenprint and metal folding chairs, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA.*

A detail view of Brady Smith’s *To Fold and Divide*, 2023, screenprint and metal folding chairs. Image by *DARIA*.

Can you name a few of your headlining events?

EM: First up is the 528.0 Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition at the Arvada Center from January 18 to March 24. The idea for this show is to showcase artists within a 528-mile radius of Denver. Then we have our Black Ink event on March 1 at TRVE Brewery on North Broadway in Denver, which is my absolute favorite thing. We have sixty-six artists involved this time. For this event, Speedball® donates linoleum blocks, and we hand those blocks out to artists who carve them. Then, Genghis Kern, a local letterpress facility, donates time on two of their presses for volunteers to print the artist blocks.

This year, we’re doing editions of forty-five prints on paper donated by Mohawk Paper. The artists get a set of prints back, and we sell the rest for ten dollars each at the Black Ink fundraiser. There’s been a lot of discussion about raising the price, but we’re committed to keeping printmaking accessible. Black Ink is an event where you can walk in with a twenty-dollar bill, buy a beer, buy art, and still tip the bartender. The weekend after that is the Open Portfolio at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Works by Favianna Rodriguez in the exhibition *Pressing for Change* at the Center for Visual Art. Image by *DARIA*.

Three works by John Hitchcock in the exhibition *Pressing for Change* at the Center for Visual Art. Image by *DARIA*.

JG: This year, the Denver Botanic Gardens programmed the Open Portfolio on one of their free days, on March 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anybody can come for free to the gardens that day, buy prints, meet the artists, and participate in hands-on paper-making activities. Artist Kathryn Polk from Arizona will give a lecture at noon. The following weekend, on Saturday, March 16, is the Print Jam, a big explosion of demonstrations with all kinds of different artists at the Arvada Center.

EM: The big idea with the Print Jam is to have many different kinds of printmaking happening live simultaneously. We’ll have screenprint, lithography, relief printing, monotype, Gelli plates, letterpress, and intaglio. Print Jam is a big educational event. I guess you could say all of our events are educational. For example, at Black Ink, we have the blocks on the wall along with the prints so people can see how they were made. Open Portfolio is a chance to talk to different artists and get questions answered. Print Jam is special because we actually have all those presses at the event, and you can see it happening live. Things like that don’t happen very often.

Heather Kahn-Pyatt, *Six Hours Walking*, 2022, woodcut prints, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

A detail view of Taiko Chandler’s *Point to Point*, 2023, monotype, Sumi ink on Kozo paper, thread, and glue, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

Can you name a few artists who are participating this year?

EM: Yeah, I can drop a few names [laughs]. It’s been really exciting to see printmakers grow in the world of print. For example, this year, when I was dropping off work at the Arvada Center, Emily [Grace King] and Collin [Parson] were gushing over Taiko Chandler’s sculpture. It’s neat to see her growing as an artist. This year, Collin and Emily, who help organize the event, are participating in Black Ink as artists.

For Black Ink, we get a really wide spectrum. Every year, I try to find some folks who’ve never carved a block before or made a print. In 2020, we had an artist who carved two blocks, and hers were the first two to sell out even though she’d never carved a block before. We also have Mark Lunning and Tony Ortega carving blocks, and all the prints are the same price. With everyone having the same opportunity, it’s a very democratic event.

Four works by Karen Kunc in the exhibition *Pressing for Change* at the Center for Visual Art. Image by *DARIA*.

How did you both get involved with printmaking?

EM: I was working on my teaching certification at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and I had to take a printmaking class. I thought I was going to hate it, so I took it early, and that was just the end of it for me. I was like, "This is what I’ve been looking for." Then one of my professors said, "You should go to this meeting," and it happened to be the very first Mo’Print meeting. I’ve been here ever since. I’m actually currently a graduate student in printmaking at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

JG: My story is similar. I was taking classes at MSU Denver, and I didn’t have a degree or anything. I was going for fun because I didn’t like my day job, and I stumbled into printmaking. Professor E.C. Cunningham needed someone to help out around the shop and asked if I wanted to be his assistant. So, I said, "Okay," and five years later, I ended up with my bachelor’s degree in printmaking. I went on to get my master’s degree at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and when I came back to Denver, E.C. Cunningham offered me some adjunct teaching classes in printmaking. Then I went to Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, worked there for two years in the print shop, and came back. I’ve been teaching as an adjunct off and on since then. Now, I’m trying to figure out how to be a full-time artist—not a starving artist, but a successful artist—and, you know, balance life.

Diane Fine and Mario Laplante, *Seed Bank*, 2023, digital ink jet print and woodcut, on view in the exhibition *Pressing for Change* at the Center for Visual Art. Image by *DARIA*.

Dianna Miguez, *A Seat (at the table) Or A Brick (through the window)*, 2023, ink and wax on rice paper, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

Adriana Barrios, *Global Wake Up Call Goes To Voicemail*, 2023, handmade abaca paper, screen print, and California beach sand, on view in the exhibition *Pressing for Change* at the Center for Visual Art. Image by *DARIA*.

One component of Adriana Barrios’ *Global Wake Up Call Goes To Voicemail*, 2023, handmade abaca paper, screen print, and California beach sand. Image by *DARIA*.

Can you tell me about some current trends in printmaking?

JG: I feel like there’s a Gelli plate revolution going on.

EM: I think there’s a real push to make prints without having a traditional studio setup, and I think that includes Gelli plates. Gelli plates are great. You can print them in a completely non-toxic way. You don’t need solvents to clean up, and kitchen litho, which is just doing lithography on foil, has gotten a lot more common. RISO printing, using a Risograph printer, is really hot right now. I see a lot of people getting really excited about Risographs. But Gelli plates are huge right now, and that’s great because you can literally do them in your house and not have to worry about getting permanent ink or solvent on anything in your kitchen.

JG: Yeah, they’re so accessible.

Julia Fernandez-Pol, *Interstellar Echo #7*, 2023, assembled 3-D collaged monoprint, on view in the exhibition *Artist Proof: Print Process at Oehme Graphics* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

A detail view of Julia Fernandez-Pol’s *Interstellar Echo #1*, 2023, assembled 3-D collaged monoprint, on view in the exhibition *Artist Proof: Print Process at Oehme Graphics* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

Can you talk about the Studio Tour?

EM: The Studio Tour is a really great educational event because you get the chance to go to personal studios that aren’t typically open to the public and see how artists are working. That can be really exciting because a home studio sometimes looks a lot different than a studio that you would see in a school or other institution.

JG: One of the most educational events of the whole Month of Printmaking is the Studio Tour. Like Emily said, people can see exactly how prints are made and how each artist sets up their home-based studio differently, depending on a variety of factors. For example, Carroll Till is always making little prints, showing you her chine collé techniques, her etching plates, and how she etches them.

EM: And one thing I’ve noticed about the Colorado print community is that people are so excited to share what they figured out and what’s working for them. If there’s an artist on the Studio Tour and you’re curious about how they’re doing something, chances are they’ll be really happy to show you.

Catherine Shuman Miller, *Yes…And*, 2021, oil and watercolor woodblock monoprint diptych, on view in the exhibition *Artist Proof: Print Process at Oehme Graphics* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

How does the Studio Tour work? Is it self-guided?

EM: People with studios sign up and specify whether they’ll be open on Saturday, Sunday, or both. When you sign up, you’re saying that your space will be open for people to show up, knock on your door, and get a tour of your studio.

JG: We’ll have a list and hopefully a map on the Mo’Print Colorado website so that people can see where all the studios are and plan their weekend. But it’s not guided by anyone in particular. I’ve found in the past that I’ll go to one studio and ask the people there what studio they came from and where they’re going next. Then I might cross paths with them again later on in the day. The open studios are in Greeley, Fort Collins, Boulder, Greater Denver, and South Denver.

Susan Goethel Campbell, *Seasonal No. 7*, 2022, walnut stains with hand-perforation and hand-sewing on Japanese paper, on view in the exhibition *Pressing for Change* at the Center for Visual Art. Image by *DARIA*.

A detail view of one panel in Samira Hemmat’s *Hidden Harvest (Migration Story)*, 2023, relief and embossing on paper, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

You have a steamroller printing event on April 20 at RMCAD. Why a steamroller?

EM: Schools might not have access to a massive press, so using a steamroller is a fun way to get a huge print.

JG: That event really requires teamwork because it’s almost impossible for one artist to ink up their huge block by themselves. Last year, I saw students rolling the roller across the block and letting it go, and then another person would catch it. Then we all watched the guy run the steamroller. Usually, the city of Lakewood provides a steamroller, and the operator really gets into the event. They’re like, "This is the coolest thing we’ve seen," and they didn’t know it existed.

EM: It’s a really fun spectacle.

Laura Grossett, 1: *Growing, Unfolding*, 2023, etching and hand-coloring, and 2: *Experiment in Green*, 2023, etching, hand-coloring, vellum, and linen cardstock, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

How can collectors and people interested in purchasing prints participate?

JG: There will be opportunities at the Black Ink event on Friday, March 1. At the Open Portfolio on March 9, we’ll have seventy-eight artists participating with a variety of aesthetics and skill sets. Then at the Studio Tour as well. And, of course, in all the galleries, the work is usually for sale, so we definitely don’t have a lack of opportunities for people to collect prints.

EM: Also, Maxwell Roath will be giving a talk at the Denver Botanic Gardens at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on March 9, focusing on what to look for in different types of prints and what to look for when you’re collecting them. So, if you want to build a collection that is very diverse in printmaking techniques, you could go straight from that talk into the Open Portfolio show and take everything that you’ve learned to peruse and appreciate the prints. I think he’ll also talk about the different techniques and the amount of time each one takes, which you might not understand without prior printmaking knowledge.

A detail view of Susan Oehme’s *Confluence*, 2024, individual inked elements and ephemera pinned to the wall, on view in her exhibition *Inclusions* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

A detail view of the center of Susan Oehme’s *Exploder*, 2024, watercolor and oil monoprint and hand-coloring, on view in her exhibition *Inclusions* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

Susan Oehme, *Tracers: Unassailable*, 2022, cut oil monoprint with colored pencil and stamping, on view in her exhibition *Inclusions* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

What are some examples of the kinds of things volunteers for the event will do?

EM: Every event needs volunteers. If you want to volunteer, email us, and we’ll put you on a list for the specific events that you’re interested in. If you don’t know what you want to do, we’ll send some suggestions. You don’t need to know anything about printmaking to volunteer. Volunteering is a great educational opportunity.

Leilani Derr, *Dead Ends*, 2023, relief print on mulberry paper, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

Patrick Casey, *Fear Itself*, 2023, woodcut, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

How do people participate in Mo’Print?

EM: Visit the website and also sign up for our newsletter. Those are the two best ways to get information. Check out our Instagram account as well.

JG: We'll have a comprehensive list of everything on the website. And we also print out a flyer—of course, because we're printmakers—and distribute copies of those all over Denver and Boulder.

Tony Ortega, *Text-Mex 2*, 2023, hand-colored etching, on view in the *528.0: Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition* at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Image by *DARIA*.

Anything else you want people to know about Mo’Print?

JG: We welcome everybody, whether you know what a print is or not, why you should care, or you’ve done printmaking your entire life. Everyone's welcome to all of our events, and we just love sharing this thing with as many people as possible.