Print making Communities
A celebration of the diverse visions and unique voices within our local printmaking collectives and studios.
Opening Reception: Thursday March 6, 2025: 6-8pm
Exhibition: March 6-29, 2025
We hope you can join us on Thursday, March 6th, from 6p - 8p, to celebrate the unique visions and diverse voices that contribute to our printmaking communities. Lite snacks and drinks will be shared. March is National Small Press Month, which typically highlights small literary publishers—who we honor and adore!—but as a gallery focusing on the visual arts, COMMONWEAL is reframing the idea behind these festivities to highlight some of the most dynamic local printmaking collectives and studios that make Philadelphia such an important center for print as an artform.
These small presses not only give professionals cooperative access to tools that are cumbersome to own and expensive to operate and maintain, but also open up printmaking to their fellow community members in order to educate about the technical processes of printmaking and celebrate its ability to express dynamic imagery and explore complex ideas. The gallery is excited to host members and collaborators of BYO Printmaking Collaborative, C.R. Ettinger Studio, Pressure Club Printshop, Second State Press, and Soapbox Community Print Shop, whose prints will be exhibited and available for purchase in COMMONWEAL's design gallery from Thursday, March 6th through Saturday, March 29th.
BYO Printmaking Collaborative participants: • Rhonda Babb • Bill Brookover • Reece Farness • Emma Foster • Lisa Imperiale • Tori Kimberley • Jenn Manzella • Erik Ruin • Nicole Saltzer • Mike Sgier • Kate VanVliet • Ellyn Womelsdorf
BYO Print is a nonprofit organization recognized as a 501(c)3 charity, educating artists and the public about printmaking by providing access to a printmaking studio and equipment; and conducts artist residencies, internships, public art exhibits, collaborative printmaking, and other activities. 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. We've been printing together and enabling others to do the same since 2010.
C.R. Ettinger Studio participants: • Don Colley • Dufala Brothers • Cindi Ettinger • Darwin Nix • Serena Perrone • Randall Sellars • William Smith
The C. R. Ettinger Studio was established in Philadelphia in 1982 by Cindi Royce Ettinger. In 1978 Ettinger, a native New Yorker, earned her degree from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts). After graduating. Ms. Ettinger worked for two years in a New York print shop and then returned to Philadelphia to start her own studio. Working as a master printer for over four decades, Ms. Ettinger has collaborated on a diverse group of projects and has had studio exhibits both locally and abroad. The studio, specializes in intaglio and relief techniques. All artwork is original and produced collaboratively with the artist.
Pressure Club participants: • Grayson Cox • Cameron Jarvis • Jennifer J. Lee • Christine Rebhuhn • Meredith Sellers • Asha Sheshadri • Chloe West
Pressure Club is an artist print shop and small gallery located in Philadelphia. We focus on the production and exhibition of solo and collaborative print projects. Our print shop is equipped with facilities for etching, relief, and silkscreen printing.
Second State Press participants: • Madeleine Conover • Veronica Hanssens • Erin Margaret Murphy • Erin Moore • Natalie Manes • Kassadie Nieto • Amira Pualwan • Magdalena Rieders• Alicia Rinier
Founded in 2010 and located in the Crane Arts Building, Second State Press is a nonprofit 501(c)3 community printmaking studio whose mission is to foster the development of ideas and innovation in printmaking by providing our neighborhood with a professional, affordable, and supportive workspace. SSP advances the growth of a sustainable printmaking community by offering professional facilities through membership, affordable communal workspace for emerging and mid-career artists, community arts programming and professional development opportunities. We believe in the power of printmaking and the ability to affect change through art.
Soapbox Community Print Shop (Participants TBD)
The Soapbox is a West Philadelphia-based 501c3 non-profit that fosters the creative and political voices of the community. We provide resources, equipment, and instruction in printing, binding, and related self-publication arts, The Soapbox seeks to empower individuals and non-profit community organizations to disseminate information and creative voices. The Soapbox values art-making, word-smithing, and skill-sharing towards a vision of social justice wherein all people have access to the means of production, and learn to produce materials that are accessible to the many rather than the few.
We hope you can join us on Thursday, March 6th, from 6p - 8p to celebrate these amazing organizations and their members as well as to have the opportunity to collect important works by these terrific printmakers.
About Commonweal
COMMONWEAL is a contemporary art and design gallery that exhibits works which engage critical dialogues that thoughtfully reflect the capacities of our shared experiences. The gallery advises individuals and businesses to assist in the development of art collections guided by personal taste and values, along with a focus on market dynamics.
