Ten x Ten is a collaborative project between visual artists and musicians. Now in its fourth and most ambitious iteration, Ten x Ten 2015 will bring together 20 notable Chicago visual artists and musicians under the curatorial guidance of three distinct Chicago organizations: Elastic Arts, Homeroom, and Spudnik Press.

Below is a full list of collaborations and events for the project that will unfold throughout 2015. Graphic Notation 101, a free public lecture on February 8, will serve as the kick off event for the project.

Please join the Ten x Ten mailing list to hear updates as the project develops over the course of the year and visit tenxtenchicago.com for weekly blog updates.

Visual Artists

Salvador Andrade Arévalo
Jerome Bryerton
Uriel Correa
Rob Funderburk
Trevor Goosen
Andrew Holmquist
Hannah Ireland
Vesna Jovanovic
Alexander Stewart
Cynthia Weiss

Musicians

Josh Berman
Paul Giallorenzo
Anton Hatwich
Keefe Jackson
Peter Maunu
Eli Namay
Ryan Packard
Cameron Pfiffner
Jason Stein
Phil Sudderberg

The vision of Ten x Ten is to go beyond a typical call-and-response collaboration by encouraging artists and musicians to deeply investigate the creative process. Over the course of eight months, participants will stretch and explore their artistic practice in a cross-media collaboration with another artist, with the results reflected back to the public through exhibitions, performances, and a collectable compilation.

The 2015 iteration brings together visual artists and musicians that incorporate improvisation into their art practice. Elastic Arts joins the project as Guest Curator to highlight the Chicago jazz community and to investigate how artists across media interpret improvisation. Dave Rempis and Paul Giallorenzo, both well-known as musicians and organizers in the Chicago jazz scene, have hand-selected ten musicians to create an ensemble whose members will compose the new works commissioned through this project. Visual artists were invited by Homeroom Curator Colin Palombi, and represent a broad spectrum of styles and traditions, from street art to abstraction.

Ten x Ten 2015 Kick Off Event: Graphic Notation 101
Sunday, February 8, 4:00pm
Spudnik Press Cooperative, 1821 W Hubbard St. #302
At this free lecture, Jordan Martins (visual artist and curator) and Katherine Young (composer and bassoonist) address improvisation and the use of visual symbols outside the realm of traditional music notation. Ten x Ten artists and musicians will meet their collaborators and begin developing their contribution to the project. 

Improvised Music Series: Ten x Ten Working Performance
Thursday, February 19, 9:00pm
Constellation, 3111 N Western Ave.  
Visual artists and musicians will workshop their ideas in a collaborative performance for an audience to witness the creative and collaborative process as it happens.

Improvised Music Series: Ten x Ten Recording Performance
Thursday, March 19, 9:00pm
Elastic Arts, 3429 W Diversey Ave. #208  
Final compositions will be recorded live and visual artists will present a refined iteration of the accompanying visual component. Music will be mixed, mastered, and pressed to vinyl while Spudnik Press publishes each artwork as a limited-edition print.

Ten x Ten 2015 Release Event
Saturday, September 12, 9:00pm
Constellation, 3111 N Western Ave.  
Ten x Ten culminates in a live performance of final compositions and exhibition of works on paper. The final project will be released as a collectable compilation of music and artwork that documents, celebrates, and promotes Chicago’s artistic community. 

One of Spudnik Press’ six private studios will be available March 1.

For all the details please download our 2015 Call for Class & Workshop Proposals.

To apply, please submit a resume and work samples in addition to the following documents:

2015 Workshop Proposal Form
2015 Class Proposal Form
2015 Supply Request Form.

Dear friends and family;

Between December 18 and January 1, we were able to raise $2235! This exceeded our goal by $400 and will help Spudnik Press begin 2015 on strong financial footing. As part of our fundraising efforts, everyone who contributed $25 or more was entered into a drawing with items donated by friends in our community. Congratulations to the following winners:

Suite of limited edition Chicago Design Museum posters:
Amanda Ramirez

$10 Blick Gift Cards:
Jennifer Keats, Judith Mayer,  Tempestt Hazel, Jane Erlandson,  and Jeremy Lundquist

 Invitation for you and a guest to attend a Perch Symposium Dinner:
Andrew Ghrist, Nancy Flemm, and Gage Salzano

2015 Open Studio Hours:

Mondays 6:00 – 10:00pm
Thursdays 6:00 – 10:00pm
Fridays 1:00 – 5:00pm
Saturdays 1:00 – 5:00pm

In 2015, we are introducing new Open Studio hours to align with the needs of our staff, other programs, and most importantly, our members and students.

For those out there who want to keep on printing until 11pm, midnight, 3am… Please consider becoming a Keyholder.

Our Keyholder program allows uninterrupted access Spudnik Press Cooperative. Keyholders receive 24 hours access, one flat file drawer and limited personal storage. Available to all current members who are able to print and use the studio without supervision or assistance, Keyholder access is the most affordable way to make art at Spudnik Press.

Woodblock Printed T-Shirts have long been a staple of Spudnik Press fundraisers and our online store. Each year, we add designs to our t-shirt line.

New in 2015, we invite friends of Spudnik to take on the challenge of designing the 2015 Woodblock, slated to debut at the 2015 Hashbrown. The 2015 Woodblock will be available for printing onto t-shirts, in addition to all new tote bags and handkerchiefs throughout the calendar year.

The parameters are simple:

Guidelines:
Design should be roughly 8″x10″ and must fit on a t-shirt.
Work samples should include examples of relief prints.
The selected artist is expected to execute the design as a relief woodblock.
Spudnik Press Cooperative will provide birch plywood.
Deadline to apply is Friday 1/4/2015
Winning design will be announced by 1/12/15
Carved woodblock is due by 2/15/15
Selected artist will receive complimentary printed swag, 2 VIP passes to The Hashbrown, and will be featured online.

To Apply:
Submit an image of the proposed design (i.e. scanned drawing or mock up) and 3 image of past work to angee@spudnikpress.org.
Artists may submit a URL instead of 3 images.
All documentation should be jpegs.

Spudnik Press memberships, classes, and studio access can all be great gifts for the creatively-minded. This year, we ask our friends and family to shop locally, and give gifts that encourage making, community, and healthy habit building.

Here are some top picks of giftable experiences from Spudnik Press:

1. Annual Membership: $60

Perfect for people who have been talking about taking classes or getting back to the studio, and might appreciate getting discounts every single time they use Spudnik Press through 2015.

2: Back to the Studio Special: Membership + 3 Open Studio Sessions: $100

Combine a membership with coupons for Open Studio sessions will allow artists time to complete a full project at Spudnik and become familiar with the studio before becoming a keyholder, taking a class, or continuing to print at Open Studio sessions.

3. Ten x Ten: $30-35

Ten x Ten is a collaboration between visual artists and musicians exploring visual and auditory interaction that culminates in a limited edition collection of prints and music. Each suite features 20 of Chicago’s most talented artists, including visual artists, musicians, and composers. Each year, we have published the music in a different format; 2010 includes a download code for MP3s. 2012 includes a CD. In 2013, we pressed vinyl. Regardless which year you select, you are getting a great deal: 10 limited edition screenprints for under $50!

4. Private Lessons: $125 for 3 Hours

Private lessons allow students to design their own class that fits to their schedule, their projects, and their level of previous knowledge. A 3 hours session is a great introductory into any process or can be used as a refresher or an Authorization Lesson for letterpress. Most students take 3-4 private lessons before they are ready to print independently.

5. Choose Your Own Amount Gift Certificate: $5-???

Spend what you want and let the recipient decide what is best for them. We’ll send a commemorative certificate written to any amount with fun Spudnik stickers and a catalog of upcoming offerings.

Browse our Online Shop 

Spudnik Cooperative Fellowship Program expands the pathways available for young and emerging artists to become involved with Spudnik Press Cooperative by providing community, support, and guidance, along with access to our facilities for a six month period. Each fellow monitors one Open Studio session per week throughout their fellowship.

Spudnik Press proudly announces our next cohort of fellows, Heather Anderson, Ashley Shaul, and Caroline Walp.

Heather Anderson Heather produces design work and imagery for campaigns and brands. She has worked extensively within the theatre industry the past four years. Her printmaking interests include lithography, screens, and monotype. She is a multi-disciplinary artist, organizer, and designer, who believes in the power of a good story. Collaborations: summershortschicago.tumblr.com; Client/design work: hkanders.com; blog: alldrama.tumblr.com

Ashley Shaul is a Chicago artist, printmaker, and taxidermy hobbyist hailing from Detroit.  She received her BA in 2012 focused on traditional illustration and art history at Columbia College Chicago and her MFA in Print Media from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2014. Her work revolves around figures that depict objectification and zoomorphism. Pieces can be found in the permanent collection of The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and various private collections throughout the US.

Caroline Walp is a printmaker who works primarily in silkscreen and letterpress. Her work focuses on embellishing and exaggerating every day, mundane occurrences while attempting to make you laugh. After receiving her BFA in Printmaking from Ohio University, Caroline worked as a studio intern at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York where she learned how to screen print and assisted in the creation of several artists books.

Current Artist in Residence, Kate McQuillen, has had a busy fall. She just returned from Toronto, where she spent a week mounting a large-scale installation for her solo exhibition, Dead Reckoning, at O’Born Contemporary. A large wall piece and tall, sentry-like glowing pillars are composed of fragmented and reassembled monoprints, many created this fall at Spudnik Press.

Much of Kate’s time at Spudnik press has been spent experimenting with the process of transferring ink to paper. For example, one trial involved inking then folding sheets of paper and sending through the press. Kate was less interested in the original sheet or paper, and more interested in the abstraction that resulted from excess ink transferring to the protective top sheet.

As Kate heads into the last month of her residency, she continues to explore ways to integrate photographic elements, and create images through acts of destruction and fragmentation.

New works, created through the Spudnik residency program, will debut on March 28, 2015 in The Annex at Spudnik Press.

This June, Spudnik Press Cooperative turned 7. Those of us who have been around since the beginning find it hard to believe how far we have come and how much we have grown. Our mission, our values, and core programming, and even our prices have remained consistent. However, our studio has 10x the space we started with in our original work/live studio. We’ve added a Residency Program, Youth Programming, Exhibitions, Fellowships, and in 2013 alone, we served 2864 people through these programs.

As we grow and deepen our programs, we also need to grown and deepen the support we receive from the community. We are incredibly proud to announce that this year we have received support through both a CityArts Program Grant and the Arts Work Fund. We also hosted our 7th Annual Benefit that raised over $7000 towards our $10,000 end-of-year goal.

Between now and December 31, we hope to raise the final $2,600. In the coming weeks, we’ll be announcing more ways that people can contribute to this goal and more gifts that we’ll share with those that do. To begin with, anyone who contributes a minimum of $25 will enter a raffle with many great prizes, including an invitation to a Symposium Dinner host by The Perch and a suite of posters donated by Chicago Design Museum.

Support Spudnik Press with and End-Of-Year Donation!

Spudnik Press is announcing our 3rd annual holiday sale and potluck– Prints from Paradise: A Holiday Shopping Getaway! 

We are inviting members to participate in the sale and sell their handmade wares at our studio on Friday December 5th, 2014, 6-10pm. We are accepting artwork in any medium, including but not limited to prints.

We have 17 six-foot wide wall spaces and six tables available for crafts, publications, and prints. Those using a wall space can fill their space with as much work as they like and are also welcome to bring a folding table to place in front of their wall. Keep in mind that smaller, inexpensive, and giftable pieces tend to sell more frequently. We will serve beer and cocktails and as for the potluck, any contributions from our featured artists will be greatly appreciated!

Submission fee is $15 to participate. This fee is waived for members! The deadline to apply is Monday November 10th, 2014 and is first come first serve so hurry up!

To Apply:

1. E-mail info@spudnikpress.org 2-3 jpegs of your artwork that can be used for promotional purposes. Use the subject line “Holiday Sale”.
2. Either complete this form and attach it to the email to info@spudnikpress.org OR complete this online survey with the same information.
3. Submit the $15 participation fee online. If you are a current member, this fee is waived.

Questions? Interested in volunteering?
E-mail Holiday Yasmin or Michelle, Studio Assistant Interns and Art Sale Coordinators, with the subject “Holiday Sale” at info@spudnikpress.org.

A lot has happened since beginning Spudnik’s Printing Apprenticeship in February.

Through the Publishing Program I’ve been able to hone my screen printing, letterpress and relief printing skills. I’ve printed work for some talented artists and designers, including Nate Beaty, Alex Fuller, Keith Herzik, and Strand Design, as well as for some great local organizations, such as the Dill Pickle Food Co-op, the Center for Conflict Resolution, and the Read/Write Library.

I came into Spudnik a novice printer, lacking confidence about working through the process of screen printing, but have since learned how to problem solve and think on my feet to produce consistent, successful prints. These new skills truly reinforce my belief that all work should have a high level of craftsmanship and intentionality. The only thing I enjoy more than the work is the people I interact with on a regular basis. Whether it’s in the studio printing, or helping out at a community event, the Spudnik staff and the local printing community have never ceased to amaze me with their level of support and encouragement.

Throughout the past eight months, in addition to Publishing work, I’ve been researching, sketching, concepting, testing, printing, and producing a personal project that works to bridge my formal education in communication design and my personal passion for printmaking into something that utilizes and compliments one another. The final project will be a series of prints inspired by Chicago’s graphic design and typographic history. The content of the pieces includes found and reappropriated imagery, illustrations inspired by my research, and quoted text from relevant figures. I hope the project, having originated in a historical design setting, will prompt discussions of history’s influence, permanence, and relevance in our current culture.

Ultimately, I will be displaying the completed print series in a gallery show next year. Following my apprenticeship, I hope to catalog this completed work, my process materials, and contextual historical information in a book format. All in all, through this project I’m looking to add my personal and professional voice to the evolving narrative of Chicago’s art and design community.

If you’re interested to see more of what I’m working on, please stop by the studio and say hi!