Spudnik Press is delighted to officially announce the new 2019-20 fellowship class: Efrat Hakimi, Marc Benja, Teresita Carson Valdez, and Vero d. Orozco!

Efrat Hakimi

Hakimi received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2019) and is the recipient of the Katz International Photography Award (2018). She graduated from Hamidrasha School of Art (2016, with honors) and holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering (BGU, 2010). Her work had been exhibited in Chicago, Tokyo, Shanghai, Medellín, Marseille, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and is included in the Joan Flasch Artists Book Collection in Chicago, The Nahum Gutman Museum collection and the IBM Collection in Tel Aviv.

Marc Benja

Benja received his Bachelors of Arts from Columbia College Chicago with a focus in painting, printmaking, and photography. His experience with printmaking is especially focused on  intaglio processes, such as drypoint and photo-sensitive printing plates, monotypes, relief printing, chine collé, and gel plate printing, using various inks and paints. After a substantial, successful corporate career, Benja is entering the Fellowship to pursue his lifelong passion for the arts.

Teresita Carson Valdéz

Teresita Carson Valdéz is a Mexican, Chicago-based artist working in film, video, photography, printmedia, fiber, sound and installation. She is co-director of the alternative project space INTERSECT, which aims to foster relationships with diverse communities and is invested in facilitating artistic and educational gestures propelled by empathy and generosity. Recent venues presenting Carson’s work include Adds Donna Gallery, Mana Contemporary, Sullivan Galleries, Moving Image and Spudnik Press. She holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts from the School of the Art institute of Chicago.

Carson has been a member at Spudnik Press for two years, and was recently interviewed by an intern. Read all about the conversation here!

Vero d. Orozco

Vero d. Orozco is a Nicaraguan-American born in San Francisco, California. She is a mix-medium visual artist and art administrator. Her artistic process has evolved from nurturing her alternative way of screen-printing; Being born with one hand, she screen-prints each image onto paper intuitively, creating final pieces that live between printmaking and painting. Being a youth advocate in the arts and having worked in youth development for 5 years she considers her art practice an essential tool to her mental health and tapping into her inner wisdom. Vero strives to be a cheerleader for reflective conversations of knowledge and hopes to provide spaces for collaborative understanding around equity in the arts.

Congratulations to the four selected artists, and we hope you will enjoy the fellowship as much as we will enjoy having you here!

On Saturday, November 9 the Chicago Printers Guild (CPG) will hold its fourth iteration of the Chicago Printers Guild Publishers Fair at Constellation in Roscoe Village. As the organization celebrates its 10th anniversary, the level of its members’ print work is on the rise. Over 30 of these printmakers will be present to sell their self-published print work and will include the Guild-sponsored recipient of the 2019 CPG Student Award and Instituto Grafico de Chicago, a print organization dedicated to maintaining the critical activist tradition of Latino printmaking. This event provides a unique opportunity for Fair attendees to meet the artists and ultimately engage in the tradition-rich print landscape of our region. (more…)

Spudnik Press Cooperative is thrilled to announce that we will be exhibiting at the 2019 Editions/Artists’ Books Fair,(October 24 – 27, 2019) at The Caldwell Factory in New York City.

The Spudnik Press booth will exhibit recent print from our Publishing Program, including Ryan Travis Christian, Edie Fake, Kelly Kaczynski, Brittney Leanne Williams, Judy Ledgerwood, Steve Reinke, Kay Rosen, and Alice Tippit.

Editions/Artists’ Books Fair has been New York’s premier showcase for the discovery of new and contemporary prints, multiples, and artists’ books for over 20 years now. Renowned for its cultivation of an international community of publishers, E/AB Fair provides a platform for their growth in the art market. Each year, the Fair presents a thoughtfully curated exhibition of works by hundreds of emerging and established artists and an informative program of talks.

The E/AB Fair will take place during New York’s Print Week, to coincide with IFPDA’s Print Fair, and dozens of special exhibitions, talks, and workshops throughout the city. The fair is free and open to the public.

E/AB Fair
October 24 – 27, 2019

The countdown to our 2019 Annual Benefit is upon us!

The Price is Nice Auction is now live on Paddle8. Check out the collection of Spudnik Press’ newest editions, generously donated artworks from Chicago artists, and works by Spudnik Press Members.

Support us from afar and bid remotely OR join us for a fun night of games, bidding, and networking on October 19th at The Price is Nice: Annual Benefit for Spudnik Press.

New Editions By:
Candida Alvarez, Andrea Carlson, Ryan Travis Christian, Brendan Fernandes, Arnold Kemp, Faheem Majeed, Paul Nudd, Steve Reinke, and Joe Tallarico.

Plus Artwork By:
Alberto Aguilar, Deborah Boardman, Emmy Star Brown, Elijah Burgher, Lilli Carré, Alex Chitty, Don Colley, Andreas Fischer, Chris Flynn, Brad Freeman, Cameron Harvey, Anita Jung, Joshua Kent, Sandra Leonard, Miller & Shellabarger,Viraj Mithani, Audrey Niffenegger, Betsy Odom, B. Ingrid Olson, Sherwin Ovid, Roni Packer, Melissa Potter & Maggie Puckett, Karen Reimer, Deb Sokolow, Ruby T, and Anne Yafi.

Member Artwork guest juried by Stephanie Cristello:
Reevah Agarwaal, Lisa Glenn Armstrong, Teresita Carson Valdéz, Cat Chen, David Krzeminski, Dutes Miller, and Joshi Radin.

Image: Still from The Price is Nice video by Lya Finston. Watch the whole video here!

Paddle8’s online bidding platform and iPhone app allows for seamless bidding on featured lots in this benefit auction.

Bidding starts October 3 at 11:00 AM CST.

To register and start bidding, visit Paddle8.com or download the Paddle8 iPhone app.

How to Participate

Online

• Visit Paddle8.com to register to bid and to follow your favorite artists, designers, and lots.

On Your iPhone

• Download Paddle8’s free iPhone app from the App Store. You’ll be able to register, bid, monitor auctions, and follow lots by your favorite artists and designers even when you’re away from a computer.

How to Bid

• Enter your maximum bid. The system will then automatically bid on your behalf up to this amount as necessary to maintain your position as highest bidder.
• You’ll be automatically alerted if you’re outbid.

Check Out

• If you are the highest bidder at the close of the auction, you’ll receive an email about next steps for payment and shipping or pick-up options.

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Spudnik Press Cooperative is excited to debut many new 2019 Editions at EXPO Chicago (Navy Pier, September 19-22). Please visit booth #433 to see and learn about the many special projects we have completed with a selection of well-recognized Chicago artists in 2019.

New 2019 Editions:

Candida Alvarez
Brendan Fernandes
Faheem Majeed
Paul Nudd
Steve Reinke
Joe Tallarico

Selections from Our Residency Program:

Andrea Carlson
Jonathan Herrera Soto

Featured Returning Editions:

Judith Brotman
Dana Carter
KG
Jeroen Nelemans
Kay Rosen

In the Flat Files:

Claire Ashley
Elijah Burhger
Lilli Carré
Holly Cahill
Edie Fake
Richard Hull
Kelly Kaczynski
Raeleen Kao
Arnold Kemp
Chad Kouri
Benjamin Larose
Judy Ledgerwood
David Leggett
Caroline Liu
Miller & Shellabarger
Steve Reinke
Viraj Mithani
William J O’Brien
Roni Packer
Alice Tippit
Orkideh Torabi
Amanda Williams
Brittney Leeanne Williams

In addition, our flat files will include select work from our Residency Program, publications, Ten x Ten collections, and more.

EXPO Chicago Sneak Preview:

Candida Alvarez
Henri y Rei conmigo, 2019
Screenprint
20″ x 23″

Brendan Fernandes
Stud II, 2019
Screenprint
30” x 36”

Paul Nudd
Chunk Hugger 2, 2019
Collograph
15” x 18”

Joe Tallarico
Unstable Table, 2019
Aquatint Intaglio
15″ x 18.5″

Learn more about EXPO Chicago

The Price Is Nice: Annual Benefit for Spudnik Press Cooperative

Honoring Audrey Niffenegger

Hosted by KG

Saturday, October 19, 2019
6:00 p.m.

Low Res
1821 W Hubbard
Chicago, IL 60622

Download the Press Release

Chicago, IL (August 10, 2019) – With a gameshow theme, The Price Is Nice, the 12^th Annual Benefit for Spudnik Press Cooperative takes place on Saturday, October 19, 2019, 6:00 pm at Low Res Studios.

This event is as much showcase as it is showdown. Friends outbid friends–and strangers alike–on both live and silent auction artworks, which include many of Chicago’s most notable emerging and established visual and print artists. Beyond the bidding, participants can partake in gameshow and printmaking inspired activities that would make an impression (pun intended!) on Bob Barker himself. Everyone, of course, will be a winner when we raise crucial funds for Spudnik Press Cooperative.

The Price is Nice  also serves as an occasion to honor Audrey Niffenegger. A prolific artist, author, educator, and community organizer, Niffenegger has influenced a generation of artists and printmakers in Chicago and beyond.

While Niffenegger is perhaps widely known for her bestselling book, The Time Traveler’s Wife, which was adapted for film in 2009, she is also an accomplished printmaker and co-founder of the renowned Center for Book & Paper Arts (CBPA) at Columbia College Chicago. Established in 1994 as a resource for both students and community members, the CBPA was a cultural center that has shaped and strengthened Chicago’s printmaking and book arts scene. Niffenegger’s dedication to fostering collaboration among printmakers, book artists, writers, and interdisciplinary artists has in many ways inspired and supported the mission and vision of Spudnik Press Cooperative.

“Niffenegger’s surreal visual novel, The Adventuress, intaglio printed while she was a student at SAIC, was inspirational to me as a fledgling printmaker,” said Angee Lennard, Spudnik Press Cooperative Founder and Executive Director. “Today, she continues to inspire my efforts to provide evermore support to the community of artists at Spudnik Press.”

The Benefit aims to raise $50,000 to support programs ranging from a drop-in Open Studio program to an eight-month Studio Fellowship. In addition to Plink-O and Punch-a-Bunch inspired games, silent and live auctions will feature about 35 artworks including new editions from the Spudnik Press Publishing Program by Candida Alvarez, Alex Chitty, Ryan Travis Christian, Brendan Fernandes, Arnold Kemp, Paul Nudd, Steve Reinke, and Joe Tallarico.

Media Contact

Angee Lennard, Founder + Executive Director
angee@spudnikpress.org
312-563-0302

The staff and board of directors of Spudnik Press are honored to announce our 2019-2021 Strategic Plan that will guide the work of our organization for the next 36 months. Created with support from the Arts & Business Council‘s program, Business Volunteers for the Arts, this document is designed to strengthen our organization through four aspects critical to our mission. Facilities, Audience, and Fundraising all feed into the final goal and fundamental purpose of our organization: Artist Support.

This plan lays out overarching goals as well as a road map to what we hope to accomplish in the next three years. For more details or to becoming involved as a volunteer or committee member, please contact Executive Director, Angee Lennard.

Support our 2019-2021 Strategic Plan 

Facilities & Equipment:

Spudnik Press facilities and equipment are able to fully accommodate the programmatic and administrative needs of the organization while ensuring a welcoming, accessible, efficient, and safe work environment for staff and visitors. A capital expenditures plan enables the organization to make cost-effective decisions regarding all facilities and equipment improvements.

Key Activities:

• Assess all facilities, equipment usage, digital tools, safety, studio and office workflow.
• Establish a capital expenditure fund.
• Schedule short- and long-term facility and equipment improvements.

The Bottom Line:

• Better equipment, better work flow, more opportunities to print

Artist Support:

Through better understanding the needs of the artists we support, specifically those who are seeking opportunities to develop their artistic and professional skills, Spudnik Press Cooperative will identify and provide impactful professional opportunities that enable artists to sustain and advance their artistic careers.

Key Activities:

• Collect feedback from current and past program participants.
• Modify, enhance, or expand current opportunities.
• Build relationships with more art enthusiasts, curators, art consultants, gallerists, collectors, and peers.

The Bottom Line:

• Our programs provide pivotal career-advancement opportunities.
• Artists can financial support their art practice.

Audience Development:

Spudnik Press Cooperative will increase the diversity of our audience, both those we serve and those who support our mission in regards to race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, and physical ability. To ensure that the organization remains accessible and approachable to all who wish to benefit from our programs, the organization will employ a range of approaches, including clear and compelling public communications and ongoing outreach efforts to new audiences.

Key Activities:

• Evaluate opportunities to increase accessibility and value of programs to various audiences in regards to race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability.
• Increase outreach events throughout the city.
• Develop partnerships with arts organizations throughout the city.
• Update marketing materials to better communicate our value and inclusivity.

The Bottom Line:

• Spudnik Press supports more creative people through out the city.
• Spudnik Press is more accessible and more equitable to more people.

Income Development:

Spudnik Press Cooperative is able to garner new sources of revenue from a broad range of supporters including but not limited to individual donors, corporations, foundations, and institutional partnerships for the purpose of bolstering Spudnik Press Cooperative programs. In order to achieve this goal, the organization will maintain a full and diverse board.

Key Activities:

• Seek additional corporate support in the form of grants and in-kind donations.
• Grow the Annual Benefit to garner additional funds for the organization.
• Welcome more individual donors to the Giving Circle.
• Generate new art sales through art fairs and online platforms.

The Bottom Line:

• The Studio Fellowship Program is funded through grants or sponsorships.
• Artwork produced at Spudnik is placed in local and national private collections and museums.
• Increased financial stability to ensure long-term viability for the organization.

Because each goal feeds into other goals, staff is beginning to work across all four goals this fall. As the plan gets underway, the organization plans to seek feedback from the community through a mix of online surveys, in-person meetings, and volunteer committees.

Our 2019 Annual Benefit, The Price is Nice, will be held on October 19. Spudnik Press aims to raise $50,000 to support our Strategic Plan and ongoing programs.

In collaboration with Comfort Station for the international artist exchange project Close to There < > Perto de Lá, João Oliveira will be our Resident Artist during the week of August 11-18.  We are pleased to welcome João and look forward to the prints he will produce at Spudnik. On August 14 please join us for A Conversation with Spudnik Press Resident Artist João Oliveira and Jessica Cochran as they discuss João’s work.

“Little amusements: i’m going to love you, hold you, squeeze you, until you’re in tiny pieces is the result of the impression of plastic animals bodies, torn apart by the same method that I used as a child (and experimental medical coroner). After being misplaced and shredded, these animals undergo a heating process, developed by me, to turn them into two-dimensional matrices that I print with the same procedures traditionally used in engraving, resulting in a kind of graphic stain; a unique mark of violence that links the author to his act.”

–João Oliveira, 2019

João Oliveira is a visual artist with a BA in Visual Arts from the Universidade Federal da Bahia (2011), and a Master’s in Creative Process in Visual Arts from the same university (2017). He is trained in lithography and metal engraving through the Workshops at the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia (MAM-BA). He works on the encounter of metal engraving with other supports, appropriating personal experience in order to create works with a forged autobiographical nature, obtained through small rituals of self-fiction.

Close to There < > Perto de Lá is an international artist exchange project between Comfort Station (Chicago, USA) and Projeto Ativa (Salvador, Brazil), in collaboration with Harmonipan (Mexico City, Salvador), made possible by the MacArthur Foundation International Connections Fund. By bringing members of these two artistic communities in proximity with one another, this project aims to gestate long-term artistic collaborations between the participants, share arts-organizing models from their respective socio-political-artistic contexts, and encourage creative discourse around ideas such as the African Diaspora and contemporary Latinx/Latin American identities.

The exchange will begin with a multi-disciplinary group of Salvador-based artists visiting Chicago August 9th – 29th 2019, carrying out a variety of programs, performances, and research through Comfort Station and its partner spaces across the city. In February of 2020, a group of Chicago-based artists will in turn visit Salvador to engage with the city’s creative landscape via Projeto Ativa’s network of artists and cultural institutions.

Learn about all of our upcoming 2019/2020 Resident Artists

Learn about the Spudnik Press Cooperative Residency Program

Carlson has been working in the studio to create a series of screenprints during her residency at Spudnik.  The content of Carlson’s work intimately relates to her Indigenous identity. to her Indigenous identity. “I’m an Ojibwe person, and have long worked in Indigenous language revitalization efforts. Although I use language and titles in my work, I’ve never shared my ancestral language in my work before….There is also a secret joy when Native people see our languages represented widely.”

Andrea Carlson (b. 1979) is a visual artist currently living in Chicago, Illinois. Through painting and drawing, Carlson cites entangled cultural narratives and institutional authority relating to objects based on the merit of possession and display. Current research activities include Indigenous Futurism and assimilation metaphors in film. Her work has been acquired by institutions such as the British Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the National Gallery of Canada. Carlson was a 2008 McKnight Fellow and a 2017 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors grant recipient. Carlson is represented by the Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Learn about all of our upcoming 2019/2020 Resident Artists

Learn about the Spudnik Press Cooperative Residency Program

Spudnik Press is thrilled to announce our Resident Artists for Summer 2019 through Spring 2020.  These Resident Artists will bring new resources, perspectives, and professional connections to the various audiences that Spudnik Press serves, including first-time printmaking students, emerging artists, professional artists, art collectors and supporters. The Residency Program provides mid-career to established artists one to six weeks of full studio access and the support necessary for the production of new print-based artwork. The Residency Program supports a range of local, regional, and national artists with each residency adapting to the interests and needs of the individual artist.

Resident Artists 2019/2020:

Andrea Carlson, May/June 2019

Andrea Carlson (b. 1979) is a visual artist currently living in Chicago, Illinois. Through painting and drawing, Carlson cites entangled cultural narratives and institutional authority relating to objects based on the merit of possession and display. Current research activities include Indigenous Futurism and assimilation metaphors in film. Her work has been acquired by institutions such as the British Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the National Gallery of Canada. Carlson was a 2008 McKnight Fellow and a 2017 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors grant recipient. For further inquiry, please contact the Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Joao Oliveira in partnership with Comfort Station, August 2019

João Oliveira is a visual artist based in Brazil who works with techniques such as engraving and drawing, its intersections and unfoldings into other processes. Selected exhibitions include “Esquizópolis”, MAM, Salvador-BA, “Prêmio Gravura EVA Parque Lage + MUL.TI.PLO Espaço Arte”, EVA Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro – RJ, two editions of “Salão de Abril”, Fortaleza – CE, and five editions of “Salão de Artes Visuais da Bahia”, where he was granted awards and honorable mentions. Other accomplishments include residencies at Museo Universitario Del Chopo, México, and Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Italia.

Celeste De Luna, November, 2019

Celeste De Luna is a self-taught printmaker whose work includes large-scale woodcuts and fabric installation. Her political subject matter is social commentary with a feminine sensibility. In addition to her studio practice of creating large-scale relief prints, quilts, and installation, De Luna works in collaboration with community in Brownsville, Texas as a cofounder of the socially engaged arts collaborative Las Imaginistas.  Las Imaginistas are recipients of a 2017 Artplace America Creative Placemaking grant and 2018 A Blade of Grass Fellows.  Currently, De Luna is managing her print shop, Metzli Press, creating curriculum for a community printmaking collaborative, Taller de Permiso, (Permission Workshop,)  and a lecturer at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley  and lives with her family in Harlingen, Texas.

Benjamin Merritt, February 2020

Benjamin Merrit’s research intersects with the discussion of chronic illness.  According to Merrit, chronic illness is continually based around cure and cause, often times with a language that puts the patient at fault (stigma around weight, smoking, alcohol consumption) in situations where those are proven to not be causes for the illness.  Recently, the ways language is used in clinical settings and text have become more important in his work.  Merritt aims to bring attention to the complex relationship between the body and language in medical discourse, and to encourage the viewer to consider compassionate and affective methods of discussing illness.

Andrew Bearnot, March 2020

Andrew Bearnot (MFA, University of Chicago) is a self described “materialist”: he thinks with and through the substance of things. Informed by a background in material science (ScB, Brown University) and glass (BFA, Rhode Island School of Design), Bearnot explores moments of transcendence in the everyday. He was awarded fellowships from Fulbright and the American-Scandinavian Foundation for research on glass-making traditions in Sweden and Denmark and has been an artist-in-residence at the Hyde Park Arts Center (Chicago, IL), Museum of Arts and Design (New York, NY), Marble House Project (Dorset, VT), and Creative Glass Center of America (Millville, NJ).

Learn more about the Spudnik Press Artist Residency

2019 Chicago Print Crawl
Saturday, May 4, 2019
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
www.chicagoprintcrawl.art

On Saturday, May 4, 2019, Spudnik Press Cooperative, in collaboration with 36 venues, presents the second annual Chicago Print Crawl, an annual, self-guided tour of printmaking production, publishing, exhibition and sales venues throughout the City of Chicago.

The Chicago Print Crawl offers a behind-the-scenes peek into Chicago’s vibrant printmaking industry. 34 eclectic printmaking venues throughout the city are inviting the public to stop by for a day of free activities including studio tours, print sales, hands-on art projects, gallery exhibitions, and printmaking demonstrations.

Chicago has been a hub for commercial printing since the late nineteenth century with dozens of mail order catalogs (Sears Roebuck and Co.), magazines (Time Magazine via RR Donnelley), and maps (Rand McNally) all produced in the area. While the printing industry has undergone tremendous change, the Third Coast continues to boast an impressive spectrum of print shops from private artist studios to commercial facilities to collectives and educational spaces. Some venues proudly house cast iron presses, tradition stone lithography, and analog processes. Other favor digital design, modern technology, or a blend of old and new. Connected to these distinctive production sites are a range of unique galleries, local businesses, and DIY spaces that bring printed items (i.e. stationary, fine art, books, posters, apparel, and more) to an audience of print-enthusiasts, art collectors, and anyone interested in craftsmanship and shopping local.

With open houses in neighborhoods from Evanston to McKinley Park and from Oak Park to Michigan Avenue, participants are invited to print their way through Chicago.

Download the Press Release

Participating Venues

2X1Y Studio
a. favorite design
All Star Press*
Anchor Graphics Archive and Chris Flynn at Columbia College Chicago*
Baker Prints*
Bert Green Fine Art
Candor Arts*
Chicago Printmakers Collaborative
Crosshair*
Current Location Press*
Dan Grzeca / Ground Up Press*
Depression Press*
Double Trip Press*
Elephant Room Gallery*
Expressions Graphics*
Fata Morgana Press
Flax Art and Frame*
free range
Galerie F
Halftone Projects*
Hoofprint*
Jeffrey Hirst Studio*
Lillstreet Art Center*
MAKE Letterpress Studio*
MANA Contemporary Chicago*
marimacha monarca press*
Matt Bodett and Megan Sterling
Neighborly
One After 909*
Renee Robbins Studio*
Rockwell Artist Collective*
Sonnenzimmer*
Spudnik Press Cooperative
Starshaped Press
Steel Petal Press
Weber Studio*

*first-time participant

Media Contact: Angee Lennard , angee@spudnikpress.org, (312) 563-0302