Give BIG, 2024
Give BIG 2024 is here, and we hope you’ll consider donating to Seattle Print Arts! SPA directly supports printmakers by providing grants, residencies, scholarships, knowledge sharing, and exhibition opportunities.
Every donation makes a big difference. Your donation supports our mission of creating opportunities for education, fellowship, and access to printmaking for our members and the greater community.
Whether you are an artist, an art enthusiast, or simply someone who believes in the cultural value of what we do, we warmly welcome your support! You do not need to be a member to donate. You can also help us by spreading the word to anyone who may want to contribute to our community.
Pink, Unpacked
SEATTLE – January 30, 2024 - Love it or hate it, the color pink has multitudinous cultural and emotional associations, and armies of fans and detractors alike. On the other hand, pink is also just a range of wavelengths of light that never asked for any of this.
This March at the M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery, Pink, Unpacked, an exhibit presented by Seattle Print Arts, dives into and explores both the color and the concept. The show runs March 11 - May 1 with an opening reception 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 14 coinciding with Capitol Hill Art Walk. The gallery is located at 1701 Broadway on the first floor of Seattle Central College. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Admission is free.
What was in the sixteenth century simply the name of a flower, pink quickly came to refer to its color, and then proceeded to acquire reams of cultural baggage over the centuries: signifying anything from Victorian sentimentality, romance, and baby girls; to Barbie dolls, New Wave music, and Queer liberation. Pink can conjure the constrictions of traditional femininity, yet some feminists embrace it as a symbol of "girl power." But as recently as the 1920's pink was considered a masculine color.
Pink, Unpacked was the brainchild of artists and Seattle Print Arts board members Kamla Kakaria and Jane Richlovsky, and M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery Curator Meghan Trainor, who had contacted the group about organizing a show.
The three had considered the theme of Women's History Month, but decided instead on an indirect approach. "A color is an open prompt for artists to respond to, and, with all the Barbie business, pink is kind of in the zeitgeist," said Kakaria.
The show will feature traditional printmaking, print-based video, and a variety of two- and three- dimensional media by Seattle Print Arts members.
It’s that time again! Join us for the 2023 Annual SPA Picnic
Seattle Print Arts is throwing a picnic on August 13th, 2023 from 3-6pm! Join us at Pratt (1905 Main St. Seattle 98144) for food, drinks, and community. We’ll also have fabulous raffle prizes, an artist talk with Elisa Dore (2022 Larry Sommers Fellow), and an open portfolio session. See you there!
Give & Take: A show of works from SPA Annual Print Exchange
Opening Reception on Thursday March 9th from 4-6pm
M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery at Seattle Central College
This exhibit presents the 2022 SPA Annual Print Exchange entries and a selection pulled from a collection of more than twenty years of similar exchanges. It’s a chronicle of the creative achievements and techniques practiced by SPA members over the last couple of decades, creating a snapshot of the ongoing fellowship, traditions, and explorations of the region’s print artists.
Seattle Print Arts is an association of artists, arts professionals, and collectors who share an appreciation of print media and an interest in the expanding field of print arts. Committed to creating opportunities for education, fellowship, and access to printmaking for members and the greater community, the SPA Annual Print Exchange is open to all. It celebrates all types of fine art printmaking. Techniques range from traditional printmaking, such as etching and linocut, to prints that combine digital prints with traditional processes.
Participants can pick up their portfolio at the show.
SGCI x SPA present: MULTIPLE LAYERS virtual/hybrid conference
As part of Southern Graphics Council International’s second virtual printmaking event, SPA is hosting a live session on Saturday 3/11 from 1-5 at Pratt Fine Arts Center.
The program will include a discussion panel on visibility, opportunity, and representation by PNW Latinx Artists, open portfolio sessions, and announcements pertaining to the new Kristen Ramirez (KTR) Fellowship. As always, we’ll have food, drink, and community. Join us for a truly multi-layered event!
Announcing the 2022 Pratt/SPA Partner Grant Recipients
Seattle Print Arts is thrilled to announce that Ken Coleman, Magda Baker, and Patrick Connelly have been named the 2022 Pratt/Seattle Print Arts Partner Grant recipients.
12th Annual SPA Print Exchange
Deadline is December 11, 2022. For just a $10 entry fee, you can submit an edition of 12 prints and receive a gorgeous portfolio in return. Full details here!
Don’t Miss This Raffle!
Join us for the Seattle Print Arts picnic on August 27th, 2022 from 1-4pm at Pratt (1905 Main St. Seattle 98144)! In addition to food, drinks, artist talks and demos, we’re raffling fabulous gift cards and prizes from our friends at McClain’s, Blick, Artist & Craftsman, Hiromi Paper, Pratt, and more.
Save the Date: SPA Picnic!
Seattle Print Arts is throwing a picnic on August 27th, 2022 from 1-4pm! Join us at Pratt (1905 Main St. Seattle 98144) for food, drinks, and community. We’ll also have fabulous raffle prizes, an artist talk/slideshow with Edie Overturf, and a clay printing demo with Deborah Mersky. See you there!
Announcing the 2022 Larry Sommers Fellowship Award Winner
Seattle Print Arts is thrilled to announce that Elisa Dore has been named the 2022 Larry Sommers Fellowship recipient. Elisa Dore is an artist of Puerto Rican descent born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Born to a white father and a Puerto Rican mother, her work is shaped by her desire to understand the duality of belonging to two different cultures yet not fully fitting into either one. She uses printmaking to explore her identity as well as bring attention to issues that affect the Puerto Rican community. Elisa currently makes prints out of her home in Seattle.
Ausencia Es Presencia by Elisa Dore. Lithograph 15x20.5”, 2021
Announcing the 2021 Larry Sommers Fellowship Award Winner
Seattle Print Arts is thrilled to announce that Edie Overturf has been named the 2021 Larry Sommers Fellowship recipient.
Edie Overturf, “Cracks,” 2021, Linocut and screenprint, 22"X 27",
Gene Gentry McMahon, “Witness Girls,” 2020, dry point and shellac plate, AP
In Person Opening Friday, August 6th 5-7PM
Show runs August 6-28, 2021.
Contemporary works on paper by Northwest artists. Co-curated by Romson Regarde Bustillo and Sam Davidson. Presented by Seattle Print Arts.
Announcing Residency Winners
Seattle Print Arts and Editions Studio are thrilled to announce that Nicole Espy, Storme Webber, and Ixtli White Hawk have been selected as the artists-in-residence for the inaugural Black and Indigenous People’s Residency at Editions Studio beginning January of 2021. Read the full story.
Thirty-two $250 Emergency Stipends Awarded
As of September 23, SPA has paid out $8,000 in emergency stipends for relief during the covid-19 global pandemic and fire season. SPA members applied for the emergency money and each applicant received a $250 stipend to help them cover whatever expenses they choose. Thank you to all of our members and supporters who make Seattle Print Arts viable and allow us to directly help our members during this pandemic and fire season.
2020 Larry Sommers Fellowship Awarded to Christie Tirado
Christie Tirado, America’s Essential Workers, 2020, linoleum print, 9.25 x 12 inches
Seattle Print Arts is thrilled to announce that Christie Tirado has been named the 2020 Larry Sommers Fellowship recipient.
Christie plans to research, document and create a new body of prints that will bring to life the narratives and experiences of Mexican farm workers in the Yakima Valley.
Christie's Hop Series exemplifies SPA's commitment to supporting art that is timely, intersectional, and a compelling catalyst to discussions happening in society and our community. SPA is excited to see the linoleum and woodblock prints that Christie creates moving forward, and share her prints with broader audiences.
View and buy Christie's work at www.christietiradoart.com
Image: America’s Essential Workers, 2020, linoleum print, 9.25 x 12 inches
Kelda Martensen Artist Talk Now Online
On May 16, 2020, the 2019 Larry Sommers Fellowship recipient Kelda Martensen gave an online talk about her artist practice from her Seattle studio. In this recording of her talk, Martensen shows past and present work takes questions from the audience.
2019-2020 Pratt/SPA Partner Grant Awarded to Lynn Rosskamp
Seattle Print Arts is thrilled to share that Lynn Rosskamp has been chosen as the recipient of the 2019-2020 Pratt/Seattle Print Arts Partners Grant!
Rosskamp considers herself an urban naturalist and her current imagery deals with the wild inside the city: plants and animals that even someone who rarely leaves the city limits mighthave opportunity to observe or interact with. She would like to continue her exploration into making modular etchings: using smaller plates that fit together to create larger works of almostvinfinite size or configuration. Lynn is very interested in the history of place and has plans to explore some of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest’s past with a multi-plate series of prints on the vanishing city of even the last couple of decades.
We look forward to seeing what Lynn creates during her grant year!
2019 Larry Sommers Fellowship Awarded to Kelda Martensen
Seattle Print Arts is thrilled to share that Kelda Martensen has been chosen as the recipient of the 2019 Larry Sommers Fellowship supporting artistic excellence.
Martensen plans to create, document and exhibit a new body of prints and artist book based off her work made during her ongoing Residency in Motherhood. The jury was impressed with the quality, technical excellence, and variety of printmaking techniques used in her work, as well as the clarity of her statement and intent.
We look forward to seeing what Kelda creates during her Fellowship.
Jessica Marie Mercy: 2018 Pratt/SPA Partner Grant Recipient
My identities cannot exist in isolation; they are a reflection of the many spaces I inhabit. Through repeating imagery I examine femme invisibility and identity while challenging traditional visual stereotypes. I think of my investigation into queer spaces as a gesture of preservation and reverence, creating a dialogue around the complexities they hold. This exploration manifests itself across the print, digital and ceramic mediums, with each piece influenced by my dysphoria, radical queer political views, and identity performativity as well as how that performance is received. Creating accessible, relatable fine art for my communities is the driving force behind my continual making and is a continual wellspring of inspiration.
Christina Reed: 2017 Larry Sommers Fellowship recipient
Christina Reed is a multidisciplinary artist, immersed in printmaking, sculpture and site-specific installation, my conceptually driven work explores systemic social and cultural issues. Organized as a narrative, projects consist of multiple works in a range of media, grouped around specific concepts.
Her current body of work, WhiteWash, is a response to issues of race in our culture. It focuses on the social construct of race and our country’s historical contradiction of promoting liberty, freedom and equality for all on the one hand while maintaining a system of discrimination and exploitation of people who are non-white on the other. I aim to make visible conditioned
assumptions and behaviors that keep our country’s race construct of inequity and injustice in place. And engage the viewer in reflection and conversation that creates sustainable pathways to racial equity. An artist activist, I believe art can be the bridge between conversation and action; the catalyst for empathy, engagement and change; that through reflection and conversation
we all can do something to combat the continued suffering of racism and its impact which harms us all.
Ju-eun Shin: 2017 Pratt/SPA Partner Grant Recipient
As a native of South Korea, Ju-eun spent her formative years studying fine art in the city of Seoul receiving a BFA and an MFA. After moving to Seattle, she focused on printmaking. After receiving the SPA grant for 2017-2018 she started to create more challenging prints. She is a member of Columbia City Gallery, Seattle where she had a Featured Artist show in June. She was in a juried show in Kent City Hall this summer and received 3 rd place in the recent National Small Works Competition.
Visit Ju-eun’s Website.
