William Penn Charter School

Impressions: Exploring Printmaking in the 21st Century                            

Taking inspiration from the region’s Philagrafika 2010 celebration, William Penn Charter School is excited to announce Impressions: Exploring Printmaking in the 21st Century, a 10-day exhibition of Philadelphia contemporary printmakers.

The exhibition, which represents more than 30 artists with more than 150 art prints for sale, opens with a reception Friday, March 12, and continues through Sunday, March 21. Admission and parking at the school’s East Falls campus are free.

Curators and Penn Charter parents Elie-Anne Chevrier Lewis, associate registrar of exhibitions for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Julie Zahn, an accomplished printmaker, selected a mix of established and emerging artists, as well as work from diverse communities. Prices for the prints range from $40 to $3,000.

Artists featured in the show include: Daniel Miller, Frank Hyder, Ava Blitz, Elaine Erne, Lesley Mitchell, Meri Adelman, Jennifer Baker, Cynthia Back, Eric McDade, Dan Heyman, Bill Scott, Matt Neff, Nic Coviello, Marisha Simons, Lynn Costomiris, Sarah Bryant, Neila Kun, Hiro Sakaguchi, Chris Hartshorne, Wendy Kershner, Anne Johnson, Madeline Adams, Katie Baldwin, Amze Emmons, Neysa Grassi, Kristin Swoszowski-Tran and Beans-N-Screens.

The art show includes two free workshops, one for adults and another for families. Lewis will offer a workshop on Thursday, March 18, at 7 p.m., for those who are interested in learning more about collecting and caring for prints, plus tips on keeping antiques and art safe and clean. “Surprisingly simple!” she promises. Sheila Ruen, artist and chair of visual arts at Penn Charter, will offer a printmaking workshop for families on Saturday, March 13, 9 a.m. to noon. For the Saturday family workshop, space is limited; to reserve space, e-mail sruen@penncharter.com.

Ruen collaborated with the curators and will visit the gallery with her art classes; most teachers in grades pre-K to 12 will tour the gallery with their students at some point during the 10-day exhibition.

“Twenty-first century printmaking challenges artists to resource a rich tradition, while engaging contemporary themes and ideas,” Ruen said. “Printmakers negotiate a range of cultural references from Gutenberg to Cyborg, and diverse practices from abstract improvisation to precise realism.”

Printmaking is a dynamic and expansive medium, Ruen said, and it includes historic and contemporary processes, techniques and themes. Woodcut, lithography, etching, collography and serigraphy are some of the best-known methods of printmaking. Other processes such as xerography and white line are less well-known. 

“Regardless of technique, the distinctive qualities of these processes, in conjunction with a broad and diverse range of artistic strategies and subjects, make this a very rich and layered art form,” she said.

Penn Charter is a coed Friends school, pre-K to 12 school, established by a charter signed by William Penn in 1689.