Posts Categorized: News

Residency Program Call for Artists

Applications Due November 1, 2026

The Residency Program at Spudnik Press offers studio space to artists working in printmaking media to produce new work. We welcome experienced printmakers from Chicago and beyond to work at Spudnik Press for a period of two to six weeks. Resident Artists enjoy 24-access to the entire studio and receive general support from our printmaking staff. We design the duration, focus, and activities of each residency based on the needs and priorities of each individual artist. It is our intention to  provide resident artists with a supportive environment where they can develop a body of work, fostering creative growth and exploration of both traditional and innovative printmaking techniques.

In exchange, resident artists play an integral role in the Spudnik Press community, bringing new perspectives, experiences, and knowledge to our members and the broader public through a variety of public events and leaving a part of their prints with our press. Public programs are shaped by each artist’s skills and interests and have included artist talks, panel discussions, portfolio reviews with Spudnik members, workshops, and exhibitions.

Expectations

  • Residents are expected to make full and regular use of Spudnik Press facilities (Roughly 3+ days per week, depending on the project and duration of the residency). Resident artists receive one flat file drawer, 24-hour access, the option to reserve equipment, and shared workspace, but no private studio.
  • Residents receive a thorough orientation to Spudnik Press facilities and light technical support from staff. However, residents should be knowledgeable enough to generally work independently in the printmaking processes required for their project. Please address any need for specific or additional assistance in the cover letter.
  • Resident Artists will present some form of public program or event, customized around the skills and interests of the artist and the Spudnik Press community.
  • Spudnik Press will retain a portion of the finished artwork produced through the residency. Sales of these artworks provide the critical funding to sustain this program.

Eligibility
The Residency Program is committed to serving:

  • Artists who are able to commit 2-6 weeks to a single, print-based project.
  • Artists with a clear proposed residency project that is specific to their unique practice.
  • Artists with an interest in engaging with the Spudnik Press community.
  • Artists who are able to provide or coordinate their own travel, lodging, and local transportation during the residency.
  • Artists with enough printmaking experience to work independently in the studio, with only light technical support from staff.

Important Dates

  • Application Deadline: Sunday, November 1, 2026
  • Finalists Selected: by Monday,  November 16, 2026
  • Final Notification:  by Monday December 8, 2026
  • Residency Period: February 5 – December 31, 2027
  • Duration: Two to six weeks (local applicants are encouraged to apply for the full six weeks)

To Apply
Please submit the following materials to residency@spudnikpress.org. All documents should be PDFs:

  • Project Proposal & Letter of Intent (one to two pages): Please submit a single statement detailing the scope of your proposed project, required printmaking equipment and materials, your relevant experience, ideal residency timeline, date restrictions, and ideas for public programming. Include any additional context relevant to your application.
  • Portfolio of 7-10 Images: Images must not exceed 1MB each and should be titled with your name and a file number. Work should be recent and include your printmaking work when possible.
  • Image List: For each work, include the file name, title, medium, year of completion, and dimensions.
  • Current Resume or CV (optional)– A lack of exhibition history or formal art school training should not deter potential residents from applying

We will also accept a video submission of no more than 10 minutes for those who may need to use a different format from a written proposal. Please reach out to us at Info@spudnikpress.org  if you need assistance in creating an application or if there are additional accommodations needed concerning the submission format.

Spudnik Press Cooperative encourages applications from artists from all backgrounds, including underrepresented groups that include (but are not limited to) artists of color, LGBTQ artists, women artists, and artists with disabilities. Our Accessibility page includes additional information about getting to the studio and using the equipment. Any requests for accommodations can occur upon finalist notification or acceptance.

Selection Process
Residency applications are reviewed by a jury comprised of staff, studio members, and artists. Decisions are based on the quality of the proposal, the strength of the portfolio, and the applicant’s ability to work independently while maintaining their own point of view. While résumés and CVs may provide helpful context, the jury’s main focus will be on the applicant’s work, process, and residency proposal. A lack of exhibition history should not deter potential residents from applying. Staff will conduct in-person or virtual studio visits with all finalists to assess technical skills and discuss public presentation and programming opportunities.

Our Facilities
Our studio houses professional facilities and rare equipment for a wide variety of traditional print processes and fine art publishing. The 4,800 sq. ft. space includes shared work areas, private studios, and mixed-use spaces for exhibitions, classes, and community events.

Our print studio supports a range of techniques, including intaglio, relief, risography, and screen printing. For a detailed list of our equipment and facilities, click here

Any inquiries regarding our Residency Program can be directed to info@spudnikpress.org

 

Programs at Spudnik Press are partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Driehaus Foundation, and the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

Subsidized Workshop Call

Applications due September 23, 2026

In our commitment to ensure the rich tradition of printmaking remains accessible to Chicago’s  communities, we are excited to invite Chicago-based organizations to apply for one of our subsidized workshops.Subsidized Workshops at Spudnik Press aim to provide organizations with the opportunity to explore the art of printmaking in a supportive and creative environment. Each workshop will be taught by a resident Teaching Artist at Spudnik Press and participating organizations may choose from an array of printmaking topics or techniques.

Application Period: August 28 – September 23, 2026

Notification Period: September 25–30, 2026

Workshop Schedule: The recipient organizations will have the opportunity to schedule their free workshops to take place between October 19 and December 11. Spudnik Press will work with the organizations to determine the most suitable workshop date and time.

Workshop Options:

  • 1-Day Relief Printing
  • 1-Day Screenprinting on Paper
  • 1-Day Monotype 101
  • 1-Day Letterpress DIY Postcards

Note
For the purposes of this program, “organization” is broadly defined to include groups, collectives, associations, institutions, unions, and community groups that come together around a shared purpose. Groups do not need to have a formal organizational structure, legal entity, or nonprofit or tax-exempt status to be eligible. If you are worried about whether you qualify, please email infor@spudnikpress.org

How to Apply:

Interested organizations are invited to submit their applications through this form.

We are kindly requesting the following details on your application:

  • brief description of the organization
  • your organization’s mission
  • how or why it would benefit from a subsidized printmaking workshop at Spudnik

This initiative aims to support and engage Chicago’s vibrant community organizations in the art of printmaking. We encourage organizations of all sizes, structures, and missions to apply. Our Accessibility page includes additional information about getting to the studio and using the equipment.

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Programs at Spudnik Press are partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Driehaus Foundation, and the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. 

Palak Patel: Can I get my friends to hold my hand?

September 11- October 9, 2026
Reception September 11, 5-7pm

In a new exhibition at Spudnik Press, artist Palak Patel transforms the flat, traditional print into something heavy, structural, and spatial. Originating from her residency, Patel’s project explores a simple but demanding question: can a screenprint function as a piece of architecture or a standalone sculpture?

Patel’s process relies on a constant, physical back-and-forth in the studio. Working on canvas, fabric, and paper, she builds her surfaces through contrasting layers—allowing water-based crayons and transparent inks to sink into the weave of raw cloth, while crisp silkscreened ink sits perfectly flat on top. This physical layering creates a distinct tension on the surface, where color and material are constantly pushing against one another.

The imagery driving this body of work bridges the private mind and the moving body. Patel translates the kinetic, high-energy rhythms of her boxing and dance practices alongside the quiet, text-heavy pages of her personal journals into monumental, large-scale drawings. By printing these fluid movements on an expansive scale, the resulting pieces shift from mere images on a wall into massive, physical interventions that dictate how a viewer moves through the gallery space.

In connection with the movement driving this body of work, the opening reception will feature a salsa dance lesson during the event by Studio E

Palak Patel is a Chicago-based printmaker and painter whose work centers on material weight, physical repetition, and the hidden texture of daily life. Raised in Vadodara, India, she finds her creative footing in the tangible things she carries—specifically the tattered, peeling notebooks in her tote bag that overflow with collected ephemera. Her practice is equally shaped by her time spent outside the studio at the boxing gym and within Latin dance socials, where she studies the mechanics of rhythm, impact, and human movement.

Palak earned her degree in painting and drawing from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Vadodara, before moving to Chicago to complete her MFA in Printmedia at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has developed her work through residencies at Farwell House in Illinois and Poor Farm in Wisconsin. Her pieces have been exhibited across Chicago at venues including the South Asia Institute, the Research House for Asian Art, Color Club, and free range.

Programs at Spudnik Press are partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Driehaus Foundation, and the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

From the Vaults / For the Studio: Spudnik Press’s Annual Print Drive

We’re launching our annual print drive today because the reality of running a community space has changed. In a way, we’re all NPR now—we need regular, reliable support to stay operational, especially as funding for the arts has shrunk over the last two years. Last year, you stepped up in a massive way to keep our lights on and our equipment running. We’re still here doing what we love because of you.

While we’re on more solid ground today, making a community print shop run smoothly takes ongoing care, maintenance, and investment. Right now, things are tight, and a few crucial pieces of shop equipment—like our beloved but extinct paper guillotine (RIP)—need to be replaced.

We also want to make sure we can continue paying our staff fairly and finally add a modest stipend for our resident artists.

To raise $25,000 for these studio needs, we’re opening up our archives for our second annual print drive.

Starting today, we’re putting a large selection of archived prints, rare editions, and shop work up for sale. When you buy a print, you aren’t making a donation—you’re getting incredible, hand-printed artwork for your walls, and 100% of the proceeds go right back into the shop floor.

Browse the Archive Collection Here

 

Thanks for supporting us and keeping Spudnik equipped for everyone who prints here (and shoutout to you for bringing a beautiful new work of art into your home—we hope you love it!).

MadMade Print Fair Call for Entry

Deadline to Apply: October 5, 2026
FREE: No Application Fee, No Tabling Fee

Event Date: Saturday, November 14, 2026 from 12-4:30PM
Location: Access Living, Chicago: 115 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60654

You are invited to apply to MadMade

MadMade is a one-day, community-centered event designed to celebrate, support, and showcase the creative work of artists living with psychiatric disabilities and mental health challenges. This is not just another craft fair—it’s a space built on inclusion, care, and cultural empowerment.

MadMade is open to printmakers, Illustrators, artists, designers, and zine makers working across a wide variety of print including prints, screenprinting, lino cut, risograph, etching, or other print techniques. MadMade is open to individuals and collectives with a focus on first person experience.

This fair is a mad-positive, disability-affirming event focusing on individuals themselves, rather than their involvement in diagnosis or treatment, highlighting first-person experience regardless of formal diagnosis. It offers a counter-narrative to both the clinical and romanticized depictions of mental illness. Instead, it centers real people making real work that is beautiful, messy, joyful, angry, thoughtful—that opens conversation and creates community experience.

Access statement: MadMade is dedicated to creating an accessible space. We will be thoughtful in how the space is set up for mobility devices. We will have a seperate room set up as a quiet space (one for the general public and a break room for tablers). Additionally we will have dedicated volunteers to allow individuals to leave their things to take body breaks, CART and ASL for presentation portions of the event, and access doulas for all making spaces. 

 

Apply here

 

MadMade is organized by Dylan Sturdy in conjunction with Spudnik Press, The Center for Mad Culture, and Access Living. Graphics designed by Iliana Haven.

Community Mentorship Program at Home Grown Vol. III

Spudnik Press is excited to be a part of the creation of work for the brilliantly sprawling exhibition Home Grown Vol. III.

For the latest iteration of the Community Mentorship Program, Spudnik Press has partnered with the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) and Unpacked Mobile Gallery to immerse a new cohort of artists in the Risograph printing process. Moving away from traditional one-time workshops, this program focuses on deepening technical skills over time fostering long-term artistic growth. Over consecutive weekly sessions, taught by Alex Hohnsen, participating artists worked with eco-friendly soy-based inks on recycled paper, experimenting with the interplay of precision and spontaneity to translate their ideas into layered print editions.

The resulting Risograph works are fully integrated into Home Grown Vol. III, an exhibition exploring the deep entanglement between human and plant life. Curated by Lauren Iacoponi, Home Grown transforms the gallery space into an urban ecosystem of live plants and artwork rooted in bioregionalism, local ecology, and collective care. At Spudnik seven featured artists were able to channel those exact themes of environmental stewardship directly into a sustainable print medium.

Risograph works by: Aimée Beaubien, Christine Forni, Maven Kennedy, Tulika Ladsariya, Katelyn Patton, Monika Plioplyte, and Reina Sundara.

While developed in the print shop at Spudnik Press, the final works will be exhibited off-site as part of the Home Grown Vol. III exhibition and mobile tour, facilitated by Naomi Elson and Lauren Iacoponi of Unpacked Mobile Gallery.

Exhibition & Tour Schedule:

  • The Flagship Exhibition: On view at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) from July 11 to September 6, 2026.
  • The Home Grown Tour: From Saturday, July 11 to Saturday, July 18, 2026, Unpacked Mobile Gallery will travel the exhibition directly to public parks, forest preserves, nonprofit spaces, and community gardens to reflect on the vital connection between humans, nature, and art.
  • July 16, 6-9 pm: Unpacked Mobile Gallery will be at Spudnik Press. 

This cross-organizational partnership between the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Unpacked Mobile Gallery, and Spudnik Press was made possible through the Terra Foundation for American Art Community Engagement Grant awarded to UIMA. The project is also partially supported by an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).

About Home Grown Vol. III
July 11 – September 6, 2026
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art: 2320 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Curated by Lauren Iacoponi

Home Grown at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art is an immersive exhibition exploring the deep entanglement between human and plant life, featuring Midwest artists working with natural pigments, dyes, plant reliefs, hand-pulled paper, and organic materials that include botanics, mycelia, and artist-made bioplastics. Home Grown serves as a green space within an urban environment, with thought-provoking, nature-focused work integrated into a landscape of live plants.

Home Grown Tour
Saturday, July 11 – Saturday, July 18
Click here for the schedule

Unpacked Mobile Gallery is traveling Home Grown to public parks, forest preserves, nonprofit spaces, and community gardens to reflect on the connection between humans, nature, and art.

Exhibiting Artists
Aimée Beaubien, Kris Casey, Christine Forni, Naomi-Hamlin Navis, Hillary Irene Johnson, Noelani Jones, Tulika Ladsariya, Jaclyn Mednicov, CV Peterson, SK Reed

Risograph Works
Aimée Beaubien, Christine Forni, Maven Kennedy, Tulika Ladsariya, Katelyn Patton, Monika Plioplyte, Reina Sundara 

About the Partners

Spudnik Press is a community printmaking studio where artists and makers come together to create, learn, and collaborate. Rooted in the belief that art should be democratic and empowering, Spudnik offers an affordable, welcoming space for printmakers of all levels — from seasoned professionals to first-time students. By sharing equipment, skills, and creative energy, members build something greater than any one artist could alone. Committed to accessibility and equity, Spudnik extends its reach through classes, exhibitions, free workshops, and community programming.

The Spudnik Press Program Mentor, Alex Hohnsen, is a Chicago-based artist, designer, and animator. They earned their undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago and recently completed a Master’s in Animation and Motion Design at DePaul University, culminating in a solo exhibition titled Meditation on Creation and Destruction: Anxiety of a Shared Resource.

The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) preserves and promotes contemporary art as a shared expression of the Ukrainian and American experience. UIMA develops, utilizes and encourages artistic talent through exhibitions, concerts, readings, lectures and films to serve the cultural needs of our community and city, and thereby strengthen cultural understanding and diversity. 

Unpacked Mobile Gallery provides accessible exhibitions, docent-led tours and workshops across the Midwest. Our mission includes museum and gallery accessibility; the importance of art as experience; and the relationship between institutions, society, and artists. Unpacked exhibitions expand free community art outreach and engagement programs with organizations such as Lubeznik Center for the Arts and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.

This project is partially supported by an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. 

Programs at Spudnik Press are partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Driehaus Foundation, and the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. 

The exhibition is also made possible through the Terra Foundation for American Art Community Engagement Grant, awarded to the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. This grant helped fund a partnership between the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Unpacked Mobile Gallery, and Spudnik Press to create Risograph work as part of Home Grown.

Palak Patel Residency

Spudnik Press is pleased to welcome Palak Patel  for a summer residency. During her time at the studio she will work to transform the flat, traditional print into something heavy, structural, and spatial. Her project explores a simple but demanding question: can a screenprint function as a piece of architecture or a standalone sculpture?

Patel’s process relies on a constant, physical back-and-forth in the studio. Working on canvas, fabric, and paper, she builds her surfaces through contrasting layers—allowing water-based crayons and transparent inks to sink into the weave of raw cloth, while crisp silkscreened ink sits perfectly flat on top. This physical layering creates a distinct tension on the surface, where color and material are constantly pushing against one another.

The imagery driving this body of work bridges the private mind and the moving body. Palak translates the kinetic, high-energy rhythms of her boxing and dance practices alongside the quiet, text-heavy pages of her personal journals into monumental, large-scale drawings. By printing these fluid movements on an expansive scale, the resulting pieces shift from mere images on a wall into massive, physical interventions that dictate how a viewer moves through the gallery space.

Palak Patel is a Chicago-based printmaker and painter whose work centers on material weight, physical repetition, and the hidden texture of daily life. Raised in Vadodara, India, she finds her creative footing in the tangible things she carries—specifically the tattered, peeling notebooks in her tote bag that overflow with collected ephemera. Her practice is equally shaped by her time spent outside the studio at the boxing gym and within Latin dance socials, where she studies the mechanics of rhythm, impact, and human movement.

Palak earned her degree in painting and drawing from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Vadodara, before moving to Chicago to complete her MFA in Printmedia at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has developed her work through residencies at Farwell House in Illinois and Poor Farm in Wisconsin. Her pieces have been exhibited across Chicago at venues including the South Asia Institute, the Research House for Asian Art, Color Club, and free range.

Printer’s Row Walking Tour

Join Chicago for Chicagoans for a walking tour of Printer’s Row, covering neighborhood history, architecture, and current events.

REGISTER HERE

Chicago for Chicagoans is excited to bring back our popular Printer’s Row tour! Join our Executive Director (and hobbiest letterpress printer) Patti Swanson for a walking tour that explores the important history of this inky pocket neighborhood.

You can probably guess what industry once dominated Chicago’s Printer’s Row, but do you know what they printed there — or how they did it? Discover how printing works, how the printing press revolutionized the world, and how the needs of Chicago printers fueled the invention of the world’s first skyscraper. Along the way, you’ll also learn stories of the neighborhood’s early beginnings (as a key part of the salicious Vice District), and all the trials and tribulations that paved the way for the vibrant community found there today. The walk will end with an on-brand visit to Sandmeyer’s Bookstore, one of the city’s best!

Looking to learn printing for yourself? Check out classes & programs offered by this tour’s nonprofit partner, Spudnik Press.

​Chicago for Chicagoans happily exists as a “pay-what-you-can” tour service. A suggested tip of $10-20 per person is always appreciated, but reviewing us on Yelp, liking us on Facebook, spreading the word, and attending future tours tells us how much you love us too! We are a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit that creates inclusive walking tours by & for Chicago residents, designed to represent the histories of all Chicagoans. Donate online fee-free at chicagoforchicagoans.org/donate.

To view our tour route maps, click herePlease note: routes are subject to change at any time.

Dasha Klein Residency

Spudnik Press is pleased to welcome Dasha Klein for a spring residency. During his time at the studio, he will develop a series of artists’ books and editioned zines centered around objects collected from the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. Drawing from an ongoing practice of beachcombing, the project gathers bones, fossils, rocks, and discarded materials into a printed archive reflecting migration, memory, and environmental time.

After relocating to the Midwest from coastal New England, Klein became deeply attuned to the geological history of Lake Michigan and the traces embedded within its shoreline. Collecting organic forms and debris evolved into a meditative practice through which he began studying patterns of erosion, transformation, and sedimentation. The resulting works trace his movement from Michigan to Chicago, using found materials to consider grief, transition, and the emotional residue carried through place.

Through artists’ books and zines, Klein will combine experimental printmaking processes with collected imagery and textures derived from his beach finds. Working across lithography, Risograph, cyanotype, relief, and other analog techniques, he explores the tension between slow material processes and rapid image reproduction. By enlarging, fragmenting, and abstracting details from fossils and debris, the work shifts between microscopic and landscape-like perspectives, creating visual studies of accumulation, decay, and imprint. Klein also plans to experiment with printing on translucent fabrics layered with textures drawn from bones and stones, evoking the shifting surface and atmosphere of the lake itself.

Throughout the residency, Klein will use Spudnik Press’s facilities to further expand his print-based experiments and develop this evolving body of work. A public event will be announced in conjunction with the residency.

Dasha Klein (he/they) is a Chicago-based printmaker and art educator originally from Connecticut. Growing up in coastal New England, he developed an obsession with beachcombing and exploring old graveyards. His practice uses discarded materials and experimental printmaking to investigate burial, mourning, and transformation, often approaching fossils and tombs as physical records of past lives. Klein works across lithography, screenprinting, intaglio, Risograph, relief, and cyanotype. He received a B.A. in Studio Art from Oberlin College in 2023 and formerly served as Print and New Media Studio Manager at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency. He currently volunteers at the Chicago Maritime Museum.

 

Harlem Masimba West Residency

Spudnik Press is pleased to welcome Harlem Masimba West for a spring residency. During their time in the studio West will create an oracle and playing card deck produced through cyanotype and mixed-media collage. Drawing from personal history and experiences across Chicago, the project revisits formative moments through acts of revision, speculation, and remembrance, imagining how memory shifts when revisited through image-making.

These decks are designed in reflection of a “re-telling of” or alternate ending of specific memories they’ve experienced throughout the city. The deck is formed from reworked quilted prints of inherited photo archives depicting people, homes, and third spaces throughout the South and West Sides. Each playing card displays specific places, bodies, and moments in time that have deeply affected them.

The deck functions as an intimate record of relationships, neighborhoods, and encounters that continue to shape their understanding of place and belonging. Accompanying the cards will be a large-scale visual mapping project tracing patterns of movement, care, and connection between significant people and locations throughout the city.

In tandem with the deck, they’ll be cyanotyping a personalized quilted ecomap to track the movement patterns of people and places in the city that they hold reverence for. West’s practice is rooted in analog experimentation and archival inquiry, often exploring how Black life is carried through memory, sound, image, and everyday ritual. Through layered photographic processes and material transformation, their work considers the ways personal archives can become sites of reflection, inheritance, and world-building.

During the residency, West will use Spudnik Press’s facilities to expand their experimentation with cyanotype and print-based processes while continuing to develop this evolving body of work. West will give an artist talk on June 3 at 6 PM to speak about their work and time at Spudnik.

Harlem Masimba West is a playground, sonic griot, and archival imagemaker from Out South Chicago. Anchored in analog media, their work centers the crossroads and portals that find Black folks. They’re a fellowship alum of Brooklyn Poets and Earthseed Family Archive Project, having been published in APOGEE and the Chicago Reader. They’re presently the 2026 Curatorial Resident at Elastic Arts, and artist in residence at Spudnik Press, ILA, and the Kimball Arts Center. At their center, West is an eldest sibling doing their best to honor the name their momma gave ’em.

First Annual Chicago and Vicinity Riso Exhibition

May 3-July 4, 2026
Reception: Sunday, May 3, 2–5pm

The Chicago and Vicinity Riso Biennial is a regional exhibition celebrating risograph printing as it is being made right now across the Midwest. The show brings together artists from Chicago and Illinois along with the surrounding states — Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana — working in a medium defined by experimentation, accessibility, and the particular beauty of ink on paper.

Risograph printing occupies a unique space — rooted in zine culture and independent publishing, but increasingly embraced by artists pushing at the edges of what the process can do. Its layered spot colors, soy-based inks, and analog unpredictability make it a medium that rewards curiosity and collaboration.

This biennial is both a survey and a celebration, and a cheeky nod to the Art Institute of Chicago’s now defunct Chicago and Vicinity exhibition. This show is a chance to bring Midwest riso work into conversation with itself and honor a tradition of showing regional art, grounded in the independent, artist-driven print culture of the Midwest.

Work By: Abby Rodriguez, Aiden Workman, AiLinh Nguyen, Alec Espínola, Alex Cox, Alex Hohnsen, Ally Maurer, Ana Burgoon, April Behnke, Arianna Unabia Aquino, Ava Tankersley, Avery Johnson, AWE Society Press, BEVERLY FRESH, Cassian Blashka, Cassidy Kulhanek, Cedar Heffelfinger, Celia Shaheen, Charlie Yellow, Connor Frew, Conor Stechschulte, Daniel Mellis, David Arnevik, David Nasca, Echo Elise Gonzalez, Elena Hsuanyi Whitwam, Ellie Pritts, Emma Brooks, Gabriel Howell, Gwen Schilling, Hannah Sellers, Hazel Vernon, Hui-min Tsen, ignafruit, Igor Arume, Imara Sanchez Rivera, Isabella Tsanov, Jaiya Everett, Jamie Weinfurter, Janet Lee, Jasjyot Singh Hans, Jason Dunda, Johnny Willems, Junior Pacheco, Kacie Lees, Katie Edwards, Katon Black, Kristin Z, Kristina Swarner, LA LUZ, Liana Fu, Lily (Basil) Maclachlan, Lily Leigh, Louisa Zheng, Luke Daly, Maco Soto, Madai Huerta, Marian Rosado, Marjorie Hellyer, Marlene Schwier, Martin Melto, Marylu E. Herrera, Matt DeLoughery, Meg Duguid, Modius Modi (Michael King Jr.), Nathan Olsen, Nicholas Waguespack, Omnia Sol, Patricia Swanson, Patti Swanson, Pearl Lomax, Philip Bell, Rachel Delmotte, Ramon Santos, Rashad Madison, Riesling Dong, Riley Hannon, Ryan Davis, Saffie Miles, Sam Grenier, Sara Varon, Sarah Anderson, Saumitra Chandratreya, Sean Mac, Sierra Kruse, Sophia Malone, Taj Richardson, Ümlaut Press, Victoria Granacki, Will Arnold, Yan Wang, Yukun Chloe Ba, and ZACHATTACK

Epiphany Center for the Arts
201 S Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60607

RSVP for the opening reception on Sunday, May 3rd from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the link below:

Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.

This exhibition is a part of a summer of midwest riso exhibitions organized by Spudnik Press.  A sister exhibition, 1st International Milwaukee Riso Invitational,  is curated by Duncan MacKenzie, Ryan Peter Miller,  and Christopher Sperandio. will be taking place at Spudnik Press: 1821 W Hubbard St, #302, Chicago, IL 60622 from June 26-August 14, 2026 (opening June 26, 6-8pm)

Spudnik Press is a community printmaking studio where artists and makers come together to create, learn, and collaborate. Rooted in the belief that art should be democratic and empowering, Spudnik offers an affordable, welcoming space for printmakers of all levels — from seasoned professionals to first-time students. By sharing equipment, skills, and creative energy, members build something greater than any one artist could alone. Committed to accessibility and equity, Spudnik extends its reach through classes, exhibitions, free workshops, and community programming.

Workshop Series: Design for Print — with Amira Hegazy

Spudnik Press is thrilled to present a new series for designers Design for Print with Amira Hegazy

This workshop series is built for designers and other digital image makers to translate their digital skills to physical making. We will take specific elements of the design process and decode them to print processes. We will highlight historical and theoretical elements that have woven through design practice from days of physical production to our digital workspaces. Expect to leave each workshop feeling more knowledgeable about your day-to-day design workflows and how to realize your designs through hands-on print practices at Spudnik Press. 

Note: Each workshop in this series is enrolled individually. You can register for a single workshop or sign up for the full series.

 

Workshop 1: Thinking Through Color — Understanding Single Color Production with the Risograph
May 10, 12-4pm

Print is, at its core, a subtractive and sequential medium — color is built layer by layer.  For designers who have worked primarily on a computer screen, developing an intuition for how color behaves in print is about reorienting how you see. This workshop, led by designer and educator Amira Hegazy, digs into the thinking behind color separation: how an image is decomposed into its constituent parts, how printing inks interact, and how the relationships between layers are designed rather than assumed. The Risograph serves as the workshop’s primary teaching instrument — its single-color-at-a-time process makes visible what is often invisible in more automated digital print workflows, giving designers a direct, tactile experience of the logic that underlies every multi-color print process, from offset lithography to screen printing.

Register

 

Workshop 2: Slow Type — Letterforms & Typesetting on the Letterpress
May 17, 12-6pm

Designers work with type constantly, but often take for granted the rules and nuances of elegant typesetting and type design. This workshop, led by Amira Hegazy, is an invitation to slow down and develop a more considered relationship with letterforms: their history, their construction, and the decisions embedded in their design. Drawing on a survey of typographic history, the session moves into a close examination of letterform anatomy — the relationships between strokes, counters, spacing, and proportion that give each type its unique voice. The workshop culminates in a hands-on letterpress activity, where setting type by hand makes abstract principles concrete. There is no better argument for understanding type as a physical, spatial thing than having to reckon with it as one.

Register

Workshop 3: Designing for the Printed Book
May 31, 12-4pm

Designing a book digitally can feel linear, spreads seamlessly connect and sequencing is quick and direct. But, a physical book is an object with its own logic. Books make demands that a computer screen never does — it has a spine, a sequence, a physical weight, and a relationship between recto and verso that no amount of scrolling can replicate. For designers, working in the book format means grappling with a set of structural and spatial considerations that are distinct from any other medium: how content is organized across a signature, how imposition shapes what is possible on press, how the rhythm of a layout accumulates across pages rather than resolving on one. 

This workshop, led by Amira Hegazy, approaches the book as a design problem in the fullest sense — one where form and content are inseparable, and where every decision, from margins to binding method, is also an editorial one. This workshop briefly explores the historical development of book form and how physical possibilities of the book have developed with the needs of production and readers.  Whether you are working on a zine, a monograph, an artist book, or a longer publication, the workshop offers both practical grounding and a more expansive framework for thinking about what a book can do.

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Workshop 4: Containers — Presenting Your Work Through Box Building
June 7, 12-6pm

Presentation is not packaging — it’s a critical design decision, the one that determines how a body of work is first encountered and held. For printed matter especially, the container is an extension of the object itself: it sets expectation, establishes care, and frames everything inside it. 

This workshop, led by Amira Hegazy, focuses on the design and construction of custom enclosures to explore how structure, material, and proportion work together to create objects worthy of what it holds. Participants will build their own boxes by hand, developing both the technical vocabulary and the design sensibility to think about containment as an intentional act. We will discuss how engineering containers go hand in hand with print design preparation and consider how the design and fabrication process are inseparable. Essential for designers working with product development, book editions, print portfolios, or any work where the experience of receiving matters as much as the work itself.

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Amira Hegazy is a Chicago-based designer, printer, bookmaker and educator whose work lives at the intersection of print, publication, and community. This four-part workshop series is designed specifically for graphic designers looking to deepen their print knowledge — from file setup to finished object.