AS220 Community Printshop, Providence RI

Hi there,

It is my pleasure to announce our Community Printshop on Briar Press. Almost a year ago we opened our doors. I’ve been reading, learning (from all of you) and working really hard to get us to where we are today. My name is Morgan Calderini, I am an AmeriCorps VISTA and manager of the AS220 Community Printshop in Providence, Rhode Island. Our Printshop is part of a larger a non-profit arts organization, AS220. We proud to offer some of the nation’s most affordable classes and studio space for silkscreen, letterpress and intaglio.

As we approach our 1-year anniversary as Rhode Island’s only public community Printshop. We are planning a giant month of fun and fundraising to commemorate this milestone. Amidst all the free open houses, family workshops, and events we will be introducing our first bi-annual Print Lottery! The goal of this fundraising event is to sustain and maintain the affordability of the AS220 Community Printshop, pay for materials, equipment and staff, as well as highlight the enormous amount of artists working in many different forms of printmaking, and to raise awareness of the medium’s importance to contemporary art and the community. I am the shop’s only full time staff member and my pay is currently provided through a government program called AmeriCorps Volunteer In Service To America (VISTA). The grant provides two years of staffing for the shop, and we are working strategically to plan for the future, as the Printshop has already become a vital and important part of Providence’s community.

The Print Lottery will showcase prints or works on paper made by 200 artists from all over the world! In keeping with AS220’s mission of accessibility and equality, and for the purpose of having fun, the prints in the show will be sold by a blind lottery system with all lottery tickets selling for $75.

Like many enterprises, our first year was filled with challenges and triumphs, hurdles, problem solving and a whole lot of wet ink. We’re proud of where we are today and are looking forward to many more years of inspiration and growth. Your example as a press and community resource has helped develop a vibrant creative community and provided further proof that Rhode Island is more than just a place to live, its a place where idealism and the arts have a chance.

Please come visit us in Rhode Island anytime. We’re here and we are going to be here, so stop by! To learn details about all the free events and the Print lottery, www.as220.org/printshop2008

My thanks to this community, I have found great inspiration and knowledge here, and I look forward to giving back in any way I can.

Best,
Morgan Calderini
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401.831.9327
[email protected]
www.as220.org/printshop

Letterpress workshop in process, 5 Students, 3 weeks, 4 hours a week. Vandercook Proof Press #4. The letterpress is in a room of its own attached to the main room.

Silkscreen and Intaglio room. Keymember working with an Artist to curate an edition they worked on together.

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