The Mid America Print Council’s biennial conference was originally scheduled for Kent State University this weekend. In lieu of a face-to-face conference this year, KSU and MAPC co-hosted a remote symposium. The conference was free to MAPC members. Over 600 people registered for the event!
The theme of the symposium was “The Power of Print”.
“Prints have cultural relevance. Prints hold the power to promote social change and create a timely commentary. As a medium, print is invested in the multiple, distribution, and popular culture; printmakers have a stake in politics, resistance, and social justice.”
TLP board member Carole Winters “attended” day one of the event, posting Instagram on behalf of herself and Tiger Lily Press.
The keynoter was Delita Martin, former faculty at the University of Arkansas, now a full-time artist in her studio, Black Box Press. She showed beautiful hybrid prints combined with stitching and patterns.
https://blackboxpressstudio.com/
Following that was “Visible Figures, Black Womanhood in Printmaking”, a panel of black women printmakers, chaired by Tanekeya Word, founder, Black Women of Print. Other panelists included Angela Pilgrim, Ann Johnson, LaToya Hobbs, Jennifer Mack-Watkins, and Stephanie Santana. Wonderful work and great discussion. www.blackwomenofprint.com.
Typically there are many demos and workshops at the live conference. A few were set up for the virtual conference. “Accurate, Accessible, and Experimental Solar Exposure for Silkscreen” was organized by Andy Holliday demonstrating a low-tech approach to screen printing harnessing the power of the sun. (He noted that if you did not have access to a power washer, take your screen to a car wash!)
Another panel discussion: “Contested Territory and Print Terrain” chaired by Sarah McDermott, featuring printmaking work and print scholarship that engages with the theme of land justice, including such topics as dispossession, gentrification, colonialism, agriculture, extractivism, collectivity and privatization.
Themed Zoom meetings on various topics took place in the evening. Carole attended “Community Workshops”. (Tiger Lily still stands as an incredibly affordable opportunity for printmaking! We are so lucky to have this in our city.)
The popular Open Portfolio event was on Instagram #mapc2020openportfolio all day Saturday.
Various exhibits and themed portfolios were in digital format or video walks-throughs. The MAPC juried members show was hung at Kent State, however. Here is a cool digital presentation of the exhibit:
https://www.addendumkent.art/…/2020-mapc-members-juried…
Outstanding Printmaker Awardee is Amos Kennedy, who operates a studio in Detroit. Letterpress posters.
http://www.kennedyprints.com/index.html
The next MAPC conference will be in 2022 at Kent State University.
For more information about Mid America Print Council: