Center on Halsted
3656 N Halsted
11:00am – 6:00pm
FREE!

The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo [CAKE] is a weekend-long celebration of independent comics, inspired by Chicago’s rich legacy as home to many of underground and alternative comics’ most talented artists– past, present and future. Featuring comics for sale, workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and more, CAKE is dedicated to fostering community and dialogue amongst independent artists, small presses, publishers and readers.A marketplace and summit of ideas surrounding comics focused on self-expression and experimentation. Check out our guests & exhibitors, and our slate of programming!

1821 Hubbard Open House / Closing for Long Arm Stapler First Aid

Open Studios, Live Music, Food & Drink!

Friday, May 17, 2013
6:00 – 10:00pm

1821 W Hubbard, Suite 303
Chicago, IL 60622

Come roam three floors of open studios, unexpected spaces and  galleries at the HUGE ART SHOW. Music will play, drinks will be served and you might just find that piece you’ve been looking for. Multiple studio open house!

From chic hairstyles and large scale photography to letterpress printing, intricate oil painting, and raw furniture manufacture. 1821 W Hubbard is home to a wide array of creative work.

Join us in The Printshop for our Member Meeting. We will discuss upcoming events and activities, plus ways that you can be more involved at Spudnik Press! Have any suggestions or ideas for us? The Member Meeting is the perfect time to share your thoughts.

Chicago Writers House and Curbside Splendor Publishing present:

A Pop Up Book Fair!

Sunday, April 14, 2013
at The Empty Bottle
1035 N. Western Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60622
2:00 pm

$5 or Free with RSVP

Chicago’s finest independent publishers will be on hand displaying their goods. Quimby’s Bookstore will also stock a table with a selection of books/zines penned by Chicagoans. Enjoy cocktails and listen to live music all afternoon as you pan through your new Spring reading materials.

Check here for an upcoming list of participating publishers and musicians.

21+ unless minors are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Karaoke Idol

Beauty Bar on Thursday, March 14th, at 8PM!
@ 1444 W Chicago Ave

Featuring Megan Klawitter

The March installment of Chicago’s favorite live karaoke battle KARAOKE IDOL hits the stage at Beauty Bar on Thursday, March 14th, at 8PM! One singer from each the following cool Chicago-based companies and organizations will battle it out to determine who will wear the crown of KARAOKE IDOL!

SPUDNIK PRESS COOPERATIVE
BEST FRIENDS GALLERY
READ/WRITE LIBRARY
826CHICAGO
& RETURNING CHAMPS
CHICAGO WOMEN’S HEALTH CENTER

Megan Klawitter, one of Spudnik’s board members and teaching artists, will be competing on behalf of Spudnik Press to raise money for our new Vandercook Press.

YOU DECIDE THE WINNER!

Ultimately CHICAGO DECIDES who wins based upon audience applause so come ready to cheer for your favorite performer! All sales will be rewarded to the contestants and their sponsors. In addition, one extra contestant will be chosen from the crowd to compete for prize $$$, fame, a stack of PBRs, and a crown.

Be sure to stick around afterward for OPEN KARAOKE w/ “Shameles Karaoke”! Come early and stay late so you can sign up & belt out your favorite songs!

KARAOKE IDOL is brought to you by Curbside Splendor Publishing, Another Chicago Magazine, & Quimby’s Bookstore.

21+
$5 cover

It’s Time For A Spring Clean!

Spring cleaning can be overwhelming, but not with a Spudnik Volunteer Task Force! We are clean-sweeping the Printshop as well as the Annex and could really use your help! Many of the jobs are small ones and will go by quickly, but we will be so glad to take care of them. We can do it with many hands and a motivating playlist. Our list includes, and is not limited to:

– Organizing Screens
– Painting
– Securing Shelves/Replacing Hardware
– Cleaning Floors/Table Tops
– Scrubbing Sink/Wash-Out Room
– Emptying Trash and Recycling
– General Studio Wash/Maintenance

*Heads up to members and studio users:
Anything that has not been name/dated/touched in a very very very long time will go in a re-sale pile. These items might include old prints, abandoned items, scraps, ect.

Please email info@spudnikpress.com to sign up/submit ideas.
Include your name + friends’ names, time you plan to join, specific task (if any) you want to tackle.

And….THANK YOU! We ask our members to volunteer 4 hours a year. The spring cleaning day is a great opportunity to get involved in Spudnik as well as to remind you that we are here for your printing convenience 🙂 Happy Printing!

*Get a sneak peak at the 2013 Member Swag, partially pictured above!

Spudnik Press welcomes two fantastic printmakers to Chicago — Mickey Zacchilli (Providence, RI) and Lauren Pakradooni (Spartanburg, SC) — for an artist talk on Saturday, February 9!

Mickey Zacchilli was born in 1983 and is know for her popular mini-comics series Rav (available at Quimby’s) as well as her wild silkscreened rock show posters. She has a monthly comic strip in Mothers News, has been published in anthologies like Thickness and Monster, and contributed illustrations to the New York Times.

Lauren Pakradooni’s interdisciplinary work incorporates drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and sound. She gravitates towards exploring space, making use of the graphic qualities of print, enveloping character of sound, and the literal space of sculpture and performance. Lauren spent 2011 teaching printmaking in Doha, Qatar, and this year will be an artist in residence at the Wassaic Project, in Wassaic, NY.

We’ll have a presentation from each artist, and they’ll have prints with them that you can check out!

Stay tuned for more artist talks held at Spudnik Press in 2013!

The Hashbrown 2013

A cut-throat Chili Cook-Off featuring the best of Chicago’s Print Community

Saturday, February 23, 2013
at Spudnik Press Cooperative
1821 W Hubbard, Suite 302
6 pm – 10 pm

Cook-off winners announced at 9:30 pm or when chili runs dry

Purchase Tickets in Advance

Tickets also available at the door.

$10 for 5 tickets / $20 for VIP Package*
Redeem tickets for chili and tamales
*VIP guests receive 5 larger chili portions throughout the night, a golden spoon and a complimentary signature cocktail.

The tradition continues: On February 23rd, The Hashbrown will bring together twelve of Chicago’s finest organizations devoted to printmaking and self-publishing. Each contender in this annual competition provides a pot of chili in support of Spudnik’s mission to keep printing and publishing approachable and affordable.

The 2013 chili cook-off roster includes last year’s winners, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative and The Printstitute, as well as new chefs: Homeroom, Center for Book and Paper Arts, Read/Write Library, and Chicago Alternative Comics Expo. The lineup is rounded out by Fugscreens Studios, SAIC Student Printshop, Dan Grezca, One Horse Press, SP Members and Spudnik Press will contribute a special House Chili and homemade sweet and savory tamales. “Golden Squeegee” Awards will be given for vegetarian and meat categories, determined by popular vote.

In addition to warm food and comforting drinks, Spudnik’s newest acquisition, a Vandercook Letterpress, will be up and running. Spudnik’s Annex Gallery will feature a solo show of artist books by Daniel Mellis. The 2013 Collector’s Print by Kristina Paabus will be released, and the 2013 membership swag will be revealed.

In less than six years, Spudnik Press Cooperative has enabled over 800 artists to create their own prints, and it has worked with as many young students through field trips and in-school youth programs. This fall, The Annex was added to better serve Chicago’s writing, comics, and zine communities. Spudnik Press Cooperative continues to increase the support they provide to Chicago’s creative community. Help Spudnik continue their mission by attending The Hashbrown, Chicago’s premier event for chili-based philanthropy.

Beer Sponsored by Artisanal Imports

Homeroom presents: Visual Music 101

With Guest Speaker David Metcalfe

Sunday, February 17th 4pm
The Annex at Spudnik Press
1821 W. Hubbard, Suite 302
Free

On Sunday, February 17th at 3pm at The Annex at Spudnik Press, Homeroom Chicago, Spudnik Press, and Access Contemporary Music present a public seminar exploring the relationship between color and sound.

As music became the inspiration for the movement towards abstraction in early 20th century European painting, artists searched for ever more meaningful ways to incorporate the language and gestures of music into their work. Similarly, the use of the color spectrum to illustrate musical tonality and timbre became common, not only among synaesthetic composers like Scriabin and Messiaen but also in the forms of light displays, color organs, and abstract animation. As we delve deeper into the mixed media possibilities of the digital age: how do color and light inform our experience of sound textures and vice versa?

Writer David Metcalfe will present his research about various theories and practices regarding the relationship between color and sound ranging from Pythagoras to David Lynch, providing specific audio and visual examples as well as methods useful for active artists and musicians.

The event will also serve to kick off Homeroom and Spudnik’s third iteration of Ten x Ten, a collaborative project between Chicago musicians and printmakers.

The event is free to the public. Snacks and drinks will be made available.

Both artists have a history of working with Spudnik Press in different capacities. Written by Julia Hendrickson, Grow No Moss was the first book published at Spudnik Press. Ingrid worked at Spudnik Press as an Artist in Residence during the summer of 2011. During her residency, Olson completed a series of singular screen printed drawings, enlarged from smaller charcoal drawings.

Julia and Ingrid are now coming together to work collaboratively. They will be working on and talking about their current projects during Monday night’s Open Studio session.

Spudnik Press Holiday Art Sale & Potluck Yeti Party

Thursday, December 6, 2012
6:00pm-10:00pm
Spudnik Press and The Annex
1821 W Hubbard,
Suites 302/303
312-563-0302
FREE to attend

Join Spudnik Press for our first ever Holiday Art Sale!! On December 6th, we will be hosting a variety of artists who will be selling their work to the public.

Artists include: Joanne Vena, Emily Serruto, Jessica de la Cruz, Masha Gololobova, Amanda Sukenick, Double Blind, Elke Claus, Tara Leigh Zanzig, Andrew Lautner, Andrew Ghrist , Liz Born, Ashlee Mays, Brad Rohloff, Grace Culloton, Xerox Candy Bar, Sean McKay , Craig Hansen, Daniel Ireland, Vincent Martin, Allison Taylor, Cara Dailey, Polly Yates, Back To Print, Devin Harries, Jasmine Basci, Brandy Barker, Ness Rago, Rachel Calderon, and Sam Schultz.

Spudnik press has had over 120 members this year alone making awesome work and helping the space expand into what it is today! This holiday season, we will be displaying and selling work from our faithful members and artists from around the city. Not only that, but we are inviting everyone to participate in our holiday potluck! This is a thank you to all our members for being so wonderful and an invitation for everyone else to come celebrate the season and check out the new space: The Annex!