A student club dedicated to printmaking is getting back up to speed after shutting down during the pandemic.
Approximately 40 students attend weekly Printmaking Club meetings in the Cade Building to plan events and create prints using plates, blocks and other equipment.
“It’s more like an industrial version of painting,” second-year visual arts student Christopher Pipkin said. “I feel like people who aren’t traditional artists can get into this medium.”
Club member Gretchen Amazeen, a continuing education student, said the group aims to “help more people learn about fine art printmaking and the different processes that are possible.”
The club’s coordinator, art professor Chris Mona, agreed the organization is an “expression” of the printmaking community at AACC.
“We’re more than just … a student club,” Mona said. “I feel very privileged to be able to work [here].”
Amazeen, who has taken classes here for 17 years, said printmaking does not require any skill in drawing. Rather, the four primary types of printmaking are lithography, silkscreen, intaglio and relief printmaking.
“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, I have to draw. I have to be able to draw,’” Amazeen said. “But you don’t necessarily have to be. What you need to bring is a love of making art.”
According to Pipkin, printmaking has “a lot of technical elements.”
“It’s more like a puzzle,” Pipkin said. “So it’s definitely more of a, I guess, accessible medium.”
Club President Louise Wallendorf said some students use letterpress, a form of relief printmaking that involves writing messages.
“That’s something we’ve added post-pandemic,” Wallendorf said. “We’ve had people that were not art majors show some interest … because they [can] write.”
Mark Lindley, a fifth-year continuing education student, said printmaking lets artists “get your hands dirty.”
After spending years in the computer industry, Lindley said, “I don’t want to use a computer anymore … You manipulate pixels. But here, I get to manipulate real stuff like paper and paint.”