Thursday, November 19, 2020
6:00 p.m. via Zoom
Free for Spudnik Press Members

Featuring:

• Elizabeth Burke-Dain | Geometric Line Drawings / Warm-Up Drawing

• Don Widmer | Bookbinding: Basic 3-hole pamphlet + classy variations

• Angee Lennard | Round Table Discussion: Maintaining our Practice in 2020

Every other month, members are invited to share a skill, process, or technique with their fellow members. Designed as a way to instigate organic “peer to peer” support among members, Skill Share events provide a platform for members to connect with each others creative practice. Demonstration are casual and conversational.

Presentations will take place in the first hour. Members are welcome to continue the conversation at the end of the official program.

Registration Details:

Please RSVP by emailing angee@spudnikpress.org. A link to a zoom meeting with be emailed the week of the event. If you are not a member and wish to participate in this member opportunity, please join or renew your membership.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. via Zoom

Free for Current Spudnik Press members
$15 for the General Public
Register Online

As artists we spend so much time creating our work and honing our crafts. But what comes next? How do you get the word out to people who will support you, and get them excited about your practice?

Now more than ever, artists need skills, tools, and support for the ongoing Art Hustle that is our professional practice. Created for artists by artists, this online Zoom workshop will take you through the fundamentals of self-promotion and communications, whether you’re generally trying to build your career or make quick money on a super specific project. From newsletters and press releases, to social media takeovers and handling sales, we will cover many different ways to show people what you do and (most importantly) how and why they should support you! You will get personalized feedback from peers about your current online presence, and leave with a plan for very manageable projects tailored to your own needs.

About the Facilitators

Julia Arredondo is an artist entrepreneur who is heavily influenced by the family-based businesses she grew up around. Specializing in bootstrapping small businesses, Julia has started up two independent publishing entities (Vice Versa Press / Curandera Press), launched a live sales media channel (QTVC Live!) and recently concluded a cooperative social media outlet (COVIDtv). Julia believes that business and marketing involve incredibly creative problem solving. She is an advocate for entrepreneurship as class representation in the fine art world. 

For more than a decade, Anders Zanichkowsky has been raising money and rallying support for nonprofits and community groups. Anders has also done the same for their own artistic practice, using cheap or free tools adapted from their career in nonprofit development and communications. One of their favorite things to do for their community is teach these skills to other artists so we all feel confident, optimistic, and authentic when we put ourselves out there and invite people to support us.

Registration Details:

The event is free for members. Members can register by sending an email to anders@spudnikpress.org. Everyone else can register online. A zoom link will be sent to participants the day of the event.

The Spudnik Press Annual Benefit Committee is excited to announce our first ever virtual benefit,  Blue Print, which is moving online due to COVID-19 restrictions. This is an unexpected yet exciting shift which allows us to reach more supporters beyond the city of Chicago! As always, we will be reserving space in our art auction to highlight the work of Spudnik Press members, this time for a much wider audience.

Each year our art auction is viewed by hundreds of people and brings together over 150 people including curators and gallerists from the MCA, DePaul Art Museum, AIC, Hyde Park Art Center, and many more.  This year, the artwork will be featured in an online auction which will be open for bidding by anyone around the world.

The Annual Benefit, our largest fundraiser of the year, is a crucial component to supporting Spudnik Press studios and programs. More than any year before, these critical funds are needed to keep the Spudnik doors open through 2020 and beyond. It is our aim to raise $35,000 to ensure the future of Spudnik Press, and we need your submissions to help us do that!

In recognizing that this isn’t just a difficult time for Spudnik, but a difficult time for so many of us, we are also offering the option for Spudnik members to retain up to 25% of the sale. We look forward to getting through these challenges together.

Details:

• Submissions are free and open to all current Spudnik Press members.
• Artists may submit up to 3 artworks for consideration by staff and the Annual Benefit Committee. (Some, none, or all may be selected.)
• Selected artists may retain 25% or 10% of the sale price, or choose to donate the entire amount to Spudnik Press.
• Selected artists will receive two virtual General Admission tickets to our online event. 

Requirements:

• You must be a current member of Spudnik Press Cooperative.
• Work must be valued over $100* (our average bid is over $400!) It’s encouraged that work is submitted unframed, since we will be shipping work after the auction. If any work requires special installation instructions, please include that in the submission form. 

Complete the Online Submission Form by Sunday, August 9, 2020 (midnight). This form requires a Google login. For questions or issues, please contact Anders Zanichkowsky, Program Assistant, before August 6 at 5pm.

Submission Requirements:

• Upload one to three works and up to two files representing each work. Files must be named Name_Title_FileNumber and can be up to 10MB each. Only the first three works, and only the first two files of each work, will be shown to the committee. These files will be what the committee uses to select work for the Benefit.
• Completed Google Form which will ask details about the work including File Name, Title, Dimensions, Year, and Media for each file submitted.
• Work Statement (Optional, Up to 100 words) addressing the work you are submitting and any details that you would like listed with the online auction, should the artwork be accepted.

Artists will be notified by August 23, 2020 and selected work must be delivered to Spudnik Press by September 4th at 6:00 p.m.. 

*Are you interested in submitting a lower price point item? We appreciate that many of our members are making affordable print-based work and we want to offer an opportunity to highlight those makers as well. Our VIP guests will be receiving a gift package with items like zines, prints, and goods created by our members. If you’re interested in submitting work for these gift packages, please fill out this form.

Deadline for online submissions: Friday, July 31 (midnight)

Exhibition Dates: November 1, 2020 – January 9, 2021

Spudnik Press is excited to announce Ruby T as our inaugural juror for the 2020 annual Member Exhibition. New in 2020, Ruby T will be selecting two Spudnik Press members to receive Juror Awards meant to support their artistic practice: a First Award of an Annual Membership and a Second Award of three Open Studio passes. Spudnik Press will also produce an exhibition publication in conjunction with the show and hold a private event for the selected artists to meet personally with Ruby T during the exhibition.

The annual Member Exhibition is a celebration of recent artwork by members of our printmaking cooperative. It aims to includes a wide variety of work by members of the organization, from brand new printers to established artists, working in a wide range of print and non-print media. This opportunity supports our members’ careers with public events and press, online representation, and the production of a printed publication featuring the selected artists into the exhibition. The exhibition also aims to inspire new interest in printmaking and its relationship to all forms of contemporary art, within Chicago’s larger arts community.

For the first time we are inviting a Guest Juror to select and curate the final works, and creating two new prizes, in order to showcase our members in Spudnik Press’ most prestigious exhibition to date.

About The Juror:

Ruby T’s work is an experiment in translating fantasy to reality, and she is fueled by anger, desire, and magic. She was named a 2018 Breakout Artist by Newcity and has had solo and two-person exhibitions at Western Exhibitions, Randy Alexander, Roots & Culture, and The Back Room at Kim’s Corner Food. Her work has been written about in the Chicago Tribune, Newcity, The Chicago Reader, and Chicago Artist Writers. She is a member of the organizing collective Make Yourself Useful.

As a Juror, Ruby T sees herself as an admirer who facilitates a narrative about the work she observes. She is excited about the range of artists who will apply, and looks forward to identifying threads and pathways within the multiverse that is Spudnik. A longtime community artist and collaborator herself, she believes in the power of a group show to create new meaning out of fellowship. In that same spirit of community, Ruby loves printmaking for its generosity, which she sees in both the repetition and dissemination inherent to printmaking, and also in the ethos of the printshop. As a communal space, she believes Spudnik has an alchemical power to let artists’ ideas and concerns seep into each other’s work, supporting a shift from the singular and private towards the collective and public. With that, Ruby believes the most important thing artists can do is use our gifts to resist the rightwing capitalist agenda, whether through overtly political artworks or by committing our resources to social justice movements.

Details:

• Submissions are FREE and open to all current Spudnik Press members.
• Artists may submit up to 3 artworks for consideration by the juror. (Some, none, or all may be selected.)
• If work is available for sale, Spudnik Press retains 50% of income from the sale of artwork during the exhibition.

Requirements:

• You must be a current member of Spudnik Press Cooperative.
• Work must be from the last 18 months.
• Work must have some relationship to printmaking. However, it does not have to include a printed element or be made at Spudnik Press.
• Work must be ready to install in the Spudnik Press Annex (i.e. framed, able to be hung with magnets, or some other installation system included with the finished work).
• Three-dimensional or fiber-based works are welcome and must be ready to install with instructions for installation. Spudnik Press has a limited ability to show video and audio pieces.
• Shelves may be provided by Spudnik Press for publication-based work as well as small objects.

For questions about the content of your submission, please contact the Program Assistant Anders Zanichkowsky: anders@spudnikpress.org before Friday, July 31.

Interested in submitting, but not a member? Join or renew your membership today!

To Apply:

Complete the Online Submission Form by Friday, July 31, 2020 (midnight).
This form requires a Google login. For questions or issues, please contact Anders before Friday, July 31 at 5pm: anders@spudnikpress.org.

Submission Requirements:

• One to three works and up to two files representing each work. Files must be named Name_Title_FileNumber and can be a single image, video, or audio file up to 10MB each. Only the first three works, and only the first two files of each work, will be shown to the juror.
• Image List (PDF) with File Name, Title, Dimensions, Year, and Media for each file submitted.
• Personal Statement (Up to 250 words) addressing the work you are submitting and its relationship to print. You are encouraged to include a link to your website, and may also include any background information about yourself as an artist.

Artists will be notified by August 20 and selected work must be delivered to Spudnik Press (ready to install) by September 30. The Juror’s Awards will be announced the week before the Opening Reception, and presented at the event.

This event has been postponed for COVID-19 closures. We look forward to announcing a new date in the future.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020
5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
@ Spudnik Press Cooperative 

$5 for Spudnik Press Members
Register Online

Are you pulling together a proposal for an arts grant, MFA program, or residency? Does your online presence need an overhaul? Up against a deadline and want a “Buddy System” to help structure your time, or get a second pair of eyes on your materials?

Come join other members for a super productive session dedicated to the visual aspects of proposals, applications, and websites!

Spudnik Press staff will start the evening by presenting some useful information like best practices for art documentation, website platform and template options, and the selecting and sequencing of images for applications.

Breaking off into smaller work groups, everyone will be able to get focused feedback and support from staff and peers where they need it most, be it their website, their social media presence, digital file editing, file management, etc.

The Study Session will also offer an overview of photography tools free for members to use at Spudnik, including our artwork documentation stand, a light kit, and a digital SLR camera.

Building off the brilliance of the Buddy System to stay on task and enjoy the process, our Study Sessions encourage camaraderie and skill sharing among our talented group of member artists.

Registration Details:

Advanced registration is very much appreciated to allow staff to best plan for the event.  If you are not a member and wish to participate in this member opportunity, please join or renew your membership.

Sunday, March 8 2020
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The University Club of Chicago
76 E. Monroe Street
Chicago, IL 60603

$10 for Spudnik Press Members
Register Online

• How do private venues like Chicago’s University Club contribute to the larger context or “ecosystem” of artist opportunities in Chicago?
• How can emerging artists connect with collectors and galleries, to promote and sell their work to a larger audience?
• How does the context and site of an exhibition space effect how an artist will create, produce, and install their work for that particular show?

To answer these questions and more, Spudnik Press members are invited to a tour of The University Club on Sunday, March 11 from 11am – 12pm. Founded in 1887 to promote literature and arts among college and university graduates, the Club has members from nearly every profession and boasts a library, private art collection, and gallery. Through these resources, the Club continues to build a museum-quality art collection and offer world-class cultural programming inspired by the can-do spirit of Chicago.

Our visit will begin with a viewing of pieces in their private collection normally only open to Club members, led by George William Price, the Director of Collections. We will also be joined by artist Andrew Bearnot (coming to Spudnik for a residency in March 2020) who currently has a solo exhibition on view, to talk about the sculptural artist books he created specifically in response to this unique exhibition opportunity in the Club’s library stacks. Finally, George will lead us in a conversation about how Spudnik members can build their professional practice by connecting with collectors, curators, and private arts organizations such as the University Club. Come get inspired about Chicago’s possibilities as we peak behind the scenes of this prestigious establishment!

Registration Details:
Advanced registration is required and the non-refundable registration fee can be paid online. We will be meeting at The University Club, located at 76 E. Monroe Street in downtown Chicago. Please note the Club has a weekend dress code that prohibits “distressed” denim (no rips or tears) and menswear must include a collared shirt.

If you are not a member and wish to participate in this off-site visit, please join or renew your membership.

Image: Artist Book by Andrew Bearnot in stacks, an exhibition in the University Club library.

Sunday, October 11, 2020
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Spudnik Press, 1821 W Hubbard, Suite 302

$20 for Spudnik Press Members
Register Online

As part of our mission to unite our community of artists with art professionals throughout Chicago, we offer portfolio reviews throughout the year. Each artist that signs up for a portfolio review will receive a 30-minute, private review with a curator, educator, gallery director, or arts administrator.

This is a unique opportunity for artists to receive feedback on a current body of work or upcoming project, as well as suggestions on how to prepare for other professional opportunities. Participating artists should bring a portfolio of current work to share with the guest reviewer.

Guest Reviewer: Cecilia L. Vargas

Cecilia Leonora Vargas is a Chicago-based contemporary art curator and writer. Currently, she is the Art Coordinator at Waubonsee Community College, where she works with the exhibitions, visiting artist and collections programs. Vargas received a dual M.A. in Art History, Theory and Criticism, as well as in Arts Administration and Policy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC); and a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has been a Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Cultural Affairs Studio and Curatorial Residency, 2016 – 2017 and a Curatorial Fellow with ACRE Projects, 2014 – 2015.

Vargas has organized solo exhibitions and group exhibitions featuring dozens are artists including Susan Giles, Alberto Aguilar, Brent Fogt, Lisa Lindvay, Edra Soto, Mahwish Chishty, Carla Fisher Schwartz, Paul Nudd,  Erik L. Peterson,Claire Ashley, Sam Jaffe, and Sarah and Joseph Belknap. She has authored and edited six exhibition catalog essays, including essays published by Aurora Public Art Commission, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Carthage College, Garcia Squared Contemporary, Waubonsee Community College, and What It Is.

Registration Details
Space is limited to five artists. Advanced registration is required. The non-refundable registration fee can be paid online. Please register by Monday, October 5. Staff will notify artists of what time slot they have been assigned on or before Tuesday, March 10. Please contact staff if you would like to request a specific time slot. Registrants are encouraged to arrive 10-15 minutes early to their scheduled appointment.

Saturday, December 14, 2019
12:30pm – 4:00pm
Spudnik Press, 1821 W Hubbard, Suite 302

$20 for Spudnik Press Members
Register Online SOLD OUT

Guest Reviewer: Aron Packer

As part of our mission to unite our community of artists with art professionals throughout Chicago, we offer portfolio reviews throughout the year. Each artist that signs up for a portfolio review will receive a 30-minute, private review with a curator, educator, gallery director, or arts administrator.

This is a unique opportunity for artists to receive feedback on a current body of work or upcoming project, as well as suggestions on how to prepare for other professional opportunities. Participating artists should bring a portfolio of current work to share with the guest reviewer.

Aron Packer Bio:
Starting in the late 80’s as an American folk art dealer, Aron Packer built his early career focusing on outsider and self taught artists. Also exhibiting unusual objects such as sideshow banners, tattoo drawings, and wild looking magic tricks, his early venue was an apartment gallery, and he became known for a broad yet unusual vision. He added contemporary art and established his first public gallery in 1992 in Wicker Park, joining an alternative gallery scene that included Beret International, Ten in One, and Oscar Friedl Gallery. As business forces changed over the past 25+ years, Packer migrated to locations in River North and the West Loop, continuing to expand his notable group of artists. In 2015 he closed Packer Schopf Gallery on West Lake Street after nearly a decade of ambitious shows. Aron Packer Projects had a pop-up space in the offices of the Chicago Gallery News through 2018, and continues to program exhibitions in locations throughout the Chicago area. The Gallery lives on!

Registration Details
Space is limited to six artists. Advanced registration is required. The non-refundable registration fee can be paid online. Please register by Friday, December 6, 2019. Staff will notify artists of what time slot they have been assigned on or before Monday, December 9th. Please contact staff if you would like to request a specific time slot. Registrants are encouraged to arrive 10-15 minutes early to their scheduled appointment.

Hey members! We’ve got a fun opportunity for you!

Spudnik Press Cooperative is holding a design contest for a 2020 New Years greeting card! These cards will be gifted to people who donate to our End of the Year Campaign. This is a great way to market yourself and your design finesse to a larger public while supporting our studio. Staff will print the chosen design in the studio for you.

We want YOU to submit a design for this greeting card. Your name and website/Instagram handle will be printed on the back of the card along with our logo in the following format:

Design by John Appleseed | www.johnappleseed.com
Published by Spudnik Press Cooperative

To submit, please fill out this online form.
The design will be chosen by a blind jury of staff and interns.

Prize:

• $50 check + 15 greeting cards with your design!

Parameters:

• 4.5″ x 6.25″.
• 3 colors maximum.
• Will be produced as a letterpress or screen print, based on design.
• Please avoid biased, religious, or political content.
• Selected artist will be required to deliver final files as a high-quality .psd or .ia file with each color in a separate layer.

Timeline

• Please fill out this online form and attach a clean draft (digital or hand drawn) by Monday, November 18th 11:59 PM CST.
• We will announce the winner on Thursday, November 21st.
• The final file must be delivered by Wednesday, November 27th at 11:59 PM CST.
• Your check and greeting cards will be sent out by December 10th.

TO SUBMIT, CLICK HERE!

Image Credits: Jennifer Ackerman

Monday, November 18, 2019
5 – 9 p.m.
@ Spudnik Press Cooperative (in the Annex)

$5 for Spudnik Press Members
Register Online
RSVP on Facebook

Are you writing an application for an arts grant, MFA program, or job in the arts? Up against a deadline and want a “Buddy System” to help structure your time, or get a second pair of eyes on your materials?

Come join other members for a super productive session of writing, editing, and polishing! Perfect for working on project proposals and budgets, artist statements, letters of interest, research for your personal goal setting, and more. Bring your roughest drafts and we promise you’ll leave feeling highly accomplished!

For people wanting extra support, Anders Zanichkowsky will be on hand to give feedback on written materials, help brainstorm, and provide samples of successful applications. Anders recently joined Spudnik Press staff and brings many years of experience writing grants and serving on selection committees. He’s a huge fan of using the Buddy System to stay on task (and make the process as enjoyable as possible)!

The Studio Session will also offer an overview of the City of Chicago’s Individual Artist Program grants (due December 5) and a recap of their public information workshops.

Registration Details:

Advanced registration is very much appreciated to allow staff to best plan for the event.  If you are not a member and wish to participate in this member opportunity, please join or renew your membership.

Friday, October 11, 2019
2 p.m.
The Block Museum’s Eloise W. Martin Study Center
40 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208

$10 for Spudnik Press Members
Register Online

Join Spudnik Press staff for a private viewing of original WPA prints housed at the Block Museum’s Eloise W. Martin Study Center. Spudnik members will have the chance to speak with Block Museum curators about these special posters, their lasting effect on fine art printmaking, and their contribution to the visual arts in Chicago.

After the 2pm private viewing and conversation, we’ll head over to the galleries to check out prints in the Pop América exhibition.

About the WPA Posters

In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and the Federal Art Project (FAP) as part of his New Deal program to put millions of unemployed Americans back to work. The FAP employed more than five thousand artists in various art projects, including the many poster divisions that were created throughout the United States.

The WPA posters are some of the best known works to be produced through the FAP program. The silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters produced between 1936 and 1943 depicted government programs and projects, ranging from health and public safety, to promoting newly formed national parks. Throughout the duration of the WPA art projects, over two million posters were printed from 35,000 designs. Today, only about two thousand are known to exist anymore. Richard Floethe, head of the New York poster division, wrote in a 1930’s essay that “the government unwittingly launched a movement to improve the commercial poster and raise it to a true art form.”

About The Block Museum’s Eloise W. Martin Study Center

The Block is a dynamic, imaginative, and innovative teaching and learning resource for Northwestern and the surrounding Chicagoland communities. The museum features a global exhibition program, in which diverse time periods and cultures interact, serving as a springboard for thought-provoking discussions relevant to our lives today.

Current Exhibition: Pop América, 1965–1975

Pop América, 1965–1975 challenges and reframes familiar notions of Pop Art by bringing together artists from North, Central, and South America, as well as the United States and the Caribbean. Pop América is the first exhibition to unify Latin American and LatinX expressions of Pop and explore how artists working across the hemisphere embraced its bold and colorful imagery, references to mass culture, and representations of everyday objects, signs, and symbols.

Registration Details:

Advanced registration is required as the tour is limited to 15 participants. The non-refundable registration fee can be paid online. The Block Museum is easily accessible via public transportation; however, staff will assist with transportation by coordinating a carpool to and from Evanston, as needed.

If you are not a member and wish to participate in this off-site visit, please join or renew your membership.

Did you know that our Equipment Fund Committee is raising money for a new computer station? We are raising $6,000 to purchase two new iMacs and a high-end tabloid laser printer.  We are 25% there and need your help!

How you can help:

1. Reach out to your place of work.

Many businesses help their employees fundraise through matching donations, sponsorship, or a simple in-office fundraiser. Does your office offer free coffee?  Setting up a simple donation jar for a day can help us reach our goal!

2. Purchase items from our “Little Delicious Planet” snack bar.

Our snack bar, located just inside the doors to the Spudnik studio, offers items for a donation, and that money goes DIRECTLY to the Equipment Fund. Just by quelling your hunger, you’re helping us get closer to new technology.

3. Donate equipment or technology to Spudnik.

We recently received a donation of an iPad from one of our members, and we are SO APPRECIATIVE! Spudnik is a non-profit and we make every dollar and donation stretch. The new iPad will allow us to offer better experiences at our events and better organize our inventory when we’re at fairs representing member artwork!

4. Join the Equipment Fund Committee.

Join current members Jennifer Ackerman and Veronica Siehl and Jessica Christy, Development Assistant. The more help we have, the more we can raise! We meet once a month and work together on fundraising opportunities.

Spudnik Press knows that you rely on the equipment in our studios and our computers certainly need a boost. Please consider helping us get there. To get involved, reach out to Jessica Christy, Development Assistant.