ABOUT US AND OUR MISSION

BYO Printmaking Collaborative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that fosters collaboration between artists, printmakers, and the public by educating artists and the public about printmaking, and by providing access to a printmaking studio, and conducts artist residencies, internships, public art exhibits, and collaborative printmaking. Get inky with us!

BYO Print was co-founded by women artists as a shared printmaking studio in Philadelphia, with the mission to keep artists printing on their own time within a reasonable budget. Reorganized as a nonprofit in 2023, we became BYO Printmaking Collaborative, but you can still call us BYO Print. We've been printing together and enabling others to do the same since 2010.

As an artist-led nonprofit workspace, we thrive on active participation and a collaborative mentality, where all voices have equal value, especially in regards to collective decision-making. Community printshops often serve as a sanctuary space for artists and printmakers, and BYO Print aims to be a safe space for all marginalized voices, and promotes equity amongst its members. We support diversity and work intentionally to lift each other up through collective decision-making. We welcome you, radical artist, and hope you want to come work alongside us. As a women-founded nonprofit, we lead the printshop through an inclusive, intersectional feminist lens and do not tolerate sexism, bigotry, racism, or fascism of any kind in our studio.

We are excited to announce that we have relocated our printshop to the historic Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, and are the Penthouse occupant of the new Paradigm Arts Building at 12 North 3rd Street! Our new studio in Old City overlooks the neighborhood featuring views of the Ben Franklin Bridge, the steeple of Christ Church, and the Bourse Building through our east and west facing windows. We acknowledge the care and stewardship of the Lenape people over the land known as Lenapehoking where the printshop resides in Old City, Philadelphia.

BYO Print is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors, all printmakers active at the printshop:

Katie VanVliet, President & Co-Founder

Lauren Fischer, Treasurer & Co-Founder

Elisabeth Imperiale, Secretary

Ted Mosher

Jennifer Manzella

History

Co-founders Kate VanVliet and Lauren Fischer opened the printshop during Philagrafika 2010, a citywide printmaking festival and conference, in a modest, grungy loft overlooking a motorcycle shop in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. The studio emerged during a boom in coworking spaces for artists and entrepreneurs. Recognizing a lack of accessible printmaking studios to emerging artists like themselves, the two sought to fill that gap.

Over the years, new members and new equipment prompted us to seek bigger and brighter workspace. In 2013 we moved to Sharktown Studios, in the Old Kensington neighborhood, and in 2024 moved to our ‘forever home’ in the Paradigm Arts Building. We make artwork, learn from each other, and create opportunities for collaboration through our special projects. Visit our Projects page to see examples of what we’ve done together.