Featured Artists:

Daniel Mellis

Dates:

January 12 – February 23, 2013

Location:

The Annex

Opening Reception:

Saturday, January 12, 2013
6:00 – 9:00pm

Press Release:

Daniel Mellis’s work explores the instability of language and the poetics of the philosophical fragment; the relationship between memory, photography, historical documents, and the inaccessibility of the past; the physical remnants of things now absent; and the combinatorial potential of letterforms through prints and artist’s books. His constant experimentation in a wide variety of print media including letterpress, offset lithography, and digital printing results in unified expressions of content and form.

The show consists of four of his larger projects, some smaller works, and a print triptych created especially for the show at Spudnik Press.

Harold Washington and Spudnik Press Cooperative proudly presents:

The Gig Poster Project

January 24 – February 1, 2013

City Colleges of Chicago
Harold Washington
Room 102

Public Reception: Thursday, January 24th, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Live Printing at 4:30
Awards at 6:30

Featuring posters by students from:
Chicago Talent Development High School
Farragut Career Academy
Perspectives Math and Science Academy Charter School

The Gig Poster Project is a multi-faceted arts program engaging students with their communities through music and design.

This fall, Teaching Artist Phil Parcellano and Poster Designer Johnny Sampson led a series of workshops in three Chicago secondary schools, guiding students through the process of designing a poster.

On exhibition is the culminating artwork from all three campuses. From this astounding selection of work, 18 students will be awarded a screen printing apprenticeship at Spudnik Press Cooperative. One grand prize winner will be commissioned to design and print a gig poster for Mucca Pazza, the marching band that thinks it’s a rock ‘n roll band. Please join us on January 24th for a hands-on printing demonstration, food, and celebration.

Please contact Vanessa Smith at vsmith50@ccc.edu with any questions. Gallery hours are Mon-Fri 12 to 6 p.m.

Join arrow as aarow at The Annex at Spudnik Press on Monday, November 12 from 6:30 – 11:00pm for Open Studio.

arrow as aarow is a poetry press edited by Michael Slosek and Luke Daly. They will be on-hand for the duration of Open Studio, working on their projects, and showing you the ropes at one of the first Annex Open Studio sessions!

Guest Artists will be featured at each Monday’s Annex Open Studio. Download the Fall Calendar

“Growth”

Juried Exhibition at Spudnik Press Cooperative

Hosted by Spudnik Press Cooperative’s Exhibition Committee

Spudnik Press Cooperative is growing into an expanded print shop and facility, and is excited to host its first juried exhibition in its new annex space. This open call, “Growth,” will bring new and old audiences together to celebrate exceptional work in the field of printmedia.

CALL FOR ENTRIES
Growth is: changing in size, number, significance, maturing, a new stage of development, moving from something simpler to something more complex. “Growth” is a juried show exploring the idea of metamorphosis in all its forms as interpreted by print artists.

ELIGIBILITY
Any 2D printmaking-based medium is eligible. Mixed-media works are acceptable if the print-based portion is 50% or more of the artwork. No digital prints. All accepted artworks must be framed. Maximum framed size is 3’x4′.

ENTRY FEE
Entry is free to this exhibit. Not all work submitted will be shown. Artists are invited to submit 3 entries.
If accepted to exhibit, artists are responsible for delivering the artwork in person to Spudnik Press, or paying for original and return shipping in a sturdy reusable container.
Entries must be received by December 20, 2012

JUROR
TBD

CALENDAR
December 20, 2012 – Entries and fees due (not a postmark date)
January 20, 2012 – artist notification of acceptance via email
February 20, 2013 – work must arrive at Spudnik Press for inclusion in exhibit
March 1, 2013 – Exhibit opens at Spudnik Press Cooperative
March 29, 2012 – Exhibition closes
April 10, 2012 – Artwork returned to artists

DOWNLOAD FULL PROSPECTUS: Growth Prospectus

ENTRIES PROCEDURE AND DETAILS
All selected artwork must be framed.
Selected artists are responsible for dropping off artwork in person, or shipping artwork to and from Spudnik Press.
Spudnik Press will take all reasonable precautions to hand work carefully.
All entries must be sent electronically to angee@spudnikpress.com with the subject “growth Exhibition Entry”
Each entry must include one word document with the following information:
1. Artist’s name
2. Mailing Address
3. E-mail Address
4. Telephone Number

For each artwork, list:
1. Entry Number (i.e., 1, 2, or 3)
2. Title of Work
3. Medium
4. Dimensions
5. Year Completed
6. 2-3 sentence statement addressing the artwork in relation to the theme “growth”
Each entry must also include up to 3 digital jpeg images (300 dpi, 1000 pixels, longest side) attached in an e-mail. The name of each file should correspond to the image list: lastname_firstname_entrynumber.jpg
Late or incomplete entries, or entries that do not follow this format, will not be considered.

All work will be shipped to:

Spudnik Press Cooperative
c/o growth Exhibition
1821 W Hubbard, Suite 302
Chicago, IL 60622

The Annex Open Studio

with special guest Carolin Picard

Tonight!
Monday, November 5, 2012
6:30pm
Free

The Spudnik Press Annex
1821 W Hubbard, Suite 303
Chicago, IL 60622

Open Studio hours are designated times for the community to come and utilize our resources for making a broad range of projects. The studio can be used as a meeting place for a small group of collaborators or as a production house for a new comic. Mondays throughout 2012 will be hosted by a wide array of local writers, small presses, and collaborative projects, beginning with Caroline Picard of Green Lantern Press.

November 27 – December 4
Reception and live performances Sunday December 2, 5 to 7 PM

The Annex at Spudnik Press Cooperative
Hubbard Street Lofts
1821 W Hubbard St, Suite 303
Chicago, IL 60622


Presenting new works and works in progress by:
Anne-Marie Akin
Tisa Batchelder
Stephen Combs
Rod Gingrich
Sabba Elahi
Jamil Khoury
Angee Lennard
Suzanne Makol
Silk Road Rising

Nine on The Prairie features visual, musical and theatrical work created on retreat at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, as well as notes and ephemera from conversations about teaching practice and artistic process.

In August 2012, nine teaching artists came together in a two-week retreat to explore what it means to be both teacher and artist. Visual artists, playwrights and musicians were given ample time and studio space to pursue their individual projects as well as opportunities for collaboration and conversation. Each left the retreat with new works, new curricula, and returned to their home organizations (arts education pioneers Marwen, Silk Road Rising, and Old Town School of Folk Music) with new ideas about teaching and artistic practice.

Reception is Sunday, Dec 2 from 5 – 7 pm and will offer live performances of new musical works. The show runs November 27 – Dec 4 and will include photographs, painting, embroidery, collage, video and audio.

The Teaching Artist Residency was funded by grants from the National Endowment from the Arts and the Ragdale Foundation.

We have been quite busy here at Spudnik…
With our recent expansion and build-out plus fall classes in full-swing, we want to take a moment to highlight some of our Spudnik printers that have been in the news.

Polly Yates was featured in Chicago Weekly Online after showing her recent work from the Spring Artist Residency program at Spudnik Press. “Trialogues” opened at Plaines Project on October 5, 2012.

Examiner.com wrote a piece about Spudnik Press and Brandy Barker, a featured artist with Chicago Artists Month, leading up to the Hubbard Street Lofts Open House event on Friday, 10/12.

Private Studios available at Spudnik Press Cooperative

Artist work spaces are available in both The Annex & The Printshop

All spaces available November 1, 2012

This Fall, Spudnik Press Cooperative is expanding to create a multi-purpose cultural space. The Spudnik Press Annex will contain a gallery and classroom, and shared work space for writers, bookmakers, artists, students, and others. A reference library of small press and experimental book projects is under development. The private studios will be housed within these community studios, with full access to all the onsite resources.

In the Annex: $250/month

In the Printshop: $325/month

Both spaces:

Contact Angee Lennard for more information (angee@spudnikpress.com, 312-563-0302).

Spudnik Press Benefit Auction
In Progress

Saturday, September 29, 2012
6:00 – 10:00pm

See more of Dianna’s amazing work on her website.
See more about our fundraiser here or on facebook.

Spudnik Press Cooperative: The Annex

A New Home for Underground Publishing in Chicago

This Fall, Spudnik Press Cooperative is expanding to create a multi-purpose cultural space. The Spudnik Press Annex will contain a gallery and classroom, independent studios, and shared work space for writers, bookmakers, artists, students, and others. A reference library of small press and experimental book projects is under development.

The Annex will work towards bridging communities. Chicago has a strong history of self-publishing, alternative comics, independent start-ups, and experimental writing. The city continues that rich history with spaces like Read/Write Library, which has an all-inclusive collection of Chicago-specific media, and Quimby’s, a bookstore selling independently-published and small press books, comics, zines and ephemera. Our new addition will be the hub where these self-published artworks can be created. Artists and makers of all disciplines can work in proximity and conversation with one another.

Our current printing facilities offer access to a broad range of processes such as screen printing, intaglio, letterpress, and offset printing. To this we are adding photocopying, collating, hot foil stamping, and other necessary resources to create one’s own publications. Our current printshop will remain the space for individuals to get inky and produce editions of fine art prints. The Annex is designed to better facilitate group projects and provide a flexible clean space for activities like drawing, writing, brainstorming, and classes.

Spudnik Press class offerings are also multiplying to include classes and workshops in writing, self-publishing ,bookbinding, and topics that blur the line between writing and visual art. The classroom will also host more professional development opportunities like Portfolio Review and workshops like “Best Practices for Working Artists”, led by lawyer Charles C. Valauskas.

The gallery will feature our own homegrown artists, work from throughout the country, and collaborative and interdisciplinary projects.

Luke Daly from Arrow as Aarow will be spearheading our writing and book projects program. Daly states, “The merging of writing and publishing activities with those of a fully functioning print shop will provide an environment where writing is approached as a form of making.”

Throughout the fall, the new annex will host a variety of workshops, special engagements, and first time events, welcoming all to our new facilities.

Please contact the Writing and Book Projects Coordinator, Luke Daly (luke@spudnikpress.com) or Spudnik Press Executive Director, Angee Lennard (angee@spudnikpress.com) with any questions about our new programming.

Opening Events:

Benefit Auction: In Progress
To be held in The Printshop and The Annex
Sep. 29, 2012
6-10pm

Hubbard Street Loft Open Studios
with debut of The Annex
Oct. 12, 2012
7-10pm

Private Studios available for rent
beginning Nov. 1, 2012
Email angee@spudnikpress.com for more information

Inaugural Open Studio
Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, 6:30-11pm
With Guest Artist Caroline Picard
The Annex Open Studios will be held weekly on Monday evenings and will feature weekly guest artists.
More details to follow

New classes in The Annex:

Best Practices for Working Artists
Begins Oct. 2, 2012

Text as Image / Collage as Writing
Begins Oct. 24, 2012

Comics Workshop: Comic Book Ins and Outs
Community Workshop
Nov. 7, 2012

Drink and Draw
Positive and Negative Space
Dec. 5, 2012

Help Us Out:

Between the September 26th and October 12th, we will need all hands on deck to help get the studio in shape. Please e-mail angee@spudnikpress.com to sign up for a shift. We are also seeking the skilled labor of an electrician to help add lights and electrical outlets.

Wants and Needs List:

Up to 2 Additional Computers; with Intel CPU
B&W Laser printer; prints at least 8.5×14, double-sided preferred
Epson color printer; Epson 4800 preferred
Photocopier; prints 11×17; capability to scan and to print from a computer preferred
Adobe Creative Suite license; CS4 and up preferred
General Bookbinding supplies: book thread, beeswax, needles, awls, bone folders, corner rounders, other
Nipping press
Staplers: regular or long-range
Paper Cutter and/or Ream cutter
Comfy chair(s) for reading
Large clean work tables; with or ability to add locking castors
20+ folding or stackable chairs
10+ stools; about 24” tall
Benches or pews

Cash donations will support build-out costs including electrical improvements, constructing new walls, adding connecting door between studios, painting, moving supplies, organizing, and cleaning.

Spudnik Press Benefit Auction
In Progress

Saturday, September 29, 2012
6:00 – 10:00pm

The popular Chicago print and art studio Spudnik Press wants to invite you to its upcoming benefit auction, In Progress. Join them at the Spudnik space for beer, signature cocktails, food by Antique Taco and, of course, bidding on works by a wildly diverse group of artists—to help the studio pay for its recent expansion into the Annex.

True to its name, In Progress will feature a curated selection of studio detritus, sketches, drafts, drawings, notes, ephemera—any visually or textually interesting remnant—by artists from all over, including: Michelle Grabner, Lief Goldberg, Deb Sokolow, Tony Fitzpatrick, Trubble Club and many more. All work will be framed and offered at a starting bid of $35.

Additional auction items will be provided by Star Lounge, Busy Beaver, Eye Works Festival, Bloom Yoga Studio and Museum of Contemporary Art, to name a few.

In the five years since it started (especially in the three since relocated to Hubbard Street), Spudnik Press has embraced and united an expansive, diverse community of artists and makers. With the help of that community, Spudnik has grown in size and widened its offerings—like the Gig Poster Project and donation based workshops—making the company a constant work in progress itself.

In Progress will be more than a celebration of art and a chance to bring artists, buyers, collectors and friends together. All of the money raised from auctioned items will help pay for Spudnik’s Annex expansion let the company continue its work in the Chicago art community.

IN PROGRESS, Saturday 9/29, 6-10pm at 1821 W. Hubbard Street, Suite 302 & 303
Admission is free. However, $20 donors can choose a customized woodblock t-shirt, printed on demand.

Confirmed Artists:
Tony Fitzpatrick
Kristina Paabus
Ryan Kapp
Jeremy Lundquist
Tom Burtonwood
Oli Watt
Amy Lockhart
Edie Fake
Lilli Carre
Peter Mars
Arts of Life
Will Sturgis
Rafael E Vera
Jo Dery
Alec Thibodeau
Morgan Calderini
Sara Greenberger Rafferty
Paul Nudd
Andrew Jeffrey Wright
Erik Ruin
Anne Toebbe
Rachel E Foster
Dan S. Wang
Ryan Richey
Edra Soto
Maria Gaspar
The Franks
Kate McQuillen
Dianna Frid
Holly Holmes
Karen Reimer
Heidi Norton
…More to come!

Hubbard Street Loft Open Studios

Oct. 12, 2012
7-10pm

Building-Wide Celebration

Chicago Artist Month Featured Event
Hubbard Street Loft’s artists and art spaces will share their creative practices through exhibitions showcasing studio artists, demonstrations, refreshments, and music. 1821 Hubbard Street Lofts houses an array of Chicago’s best art-based businesses including Spudnik Press Cooperative, Platform Studios, Front Forty Press, The Post Family, Saverio Truglio, and more. By sharing what we do, we hope to better illuminate how we all work together to strengthen our community and the relationships we have with our neighbors.

Debut of The Annex

Chicago’s New Home for Underground Publishing
Spudnik’s newest addition, The Annex hosts a gallery and classroom, independent studios, and shared work space for writers, bookmakers, artists, students, and others. A reference library of small press and experimental book projects is under development.

I’ll Let You Go 1.5
New Work by Brandy Barker

Chicago Artist Month Featured Artist
Working primarily in letterpress and relief, Brandy explores the psychology behind manipulative communication. Role reversals and disorientation are two reoccurring themes in her print work, blurring the lines of recognizable letterforms and “new symbols” of communication.

Plus Ex Libris is on view in The Printshop