The Lower East Side Printshop hosted the Print Club for a hands-on workshop this fall. Director Marie Tennyson started us off with a tour of the facility, one of the last fine art print shops operating in Manhattan. We learned about the equipment used for making screenprints, intaglio, and relief work, and viewed prints that artists have created on site, including an aquatint etching by James Siena, 2024 PCNY Presentation artist.
Then we rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty making our own drypoint etchings! Members brought images that they used to trace on a 3 x 4 -inch plate. We were given a plexiglass plate, an apron, a metal scribe, paper, and ink–and lots of guidance from Programs Director Kyung Eun You, Assistant Printer and Studio Manager Ian Ruppenthal, and Studio Assistant Isabel Paredes. We all went home with two prints and a deeper understanding of etchings and techniques.