AS220 Print Lottery (Sept. 25)

AS220 Community Printshop’s 2nd Biennial Print Lottery

September 25, 2010 7-10 pm
Main Gallery at AS220
115 Empire Street, Providence, RI 02903

On exhibit at AS220’s Main Gallery at 115 Empire Street throughout September, 200 prints and works on paper hang in a massive, exuberant, salon-style showcase of work from a exceptionally diverse spectrum of artists. 200 tickets are available for the chance to draw a number at random and take home the correlating piece from 200 works on display.This is the second of the Shop’s biennial fundraiser; the first Print Lottery in 2008 was highly successful, attracting donations from artists and printmakers from all over the country and drawing over three hundred people to Empire Street for the culminating lottery event.

A $100 donation to AS220’s Printshop is rewarded with a lottery ticket putting supporters in the running for a number of valuable works of original art, including pieces by Providence print pioneers Brian Chippendale, Xander Marro, Dan Wood, Meredith Stern, Jung Il Hong and Pippi Zornoza or one of the two sold out limited edition Shepard Fairey Providence Industrial prints that were commissioned to commemorate AS220’s 25th anniversary and launch of the Free Culture Award. The fundraising exhibition also includes a print published by Rhode Island School of Designs printmaking department by artist Michael Krueger, Professor of Art at the University of Kansas, a piece from Philadelphia artist, printmaker and 2010 Guggenheim Fellow, Daniel Heyman and work by Rhode Island School of Design printmaking faculty Brain Shure and Cornelia McSheehy. As you might expect from this always unjuried organization, creations from well-known artists hang side by side with contributions from local students and members of AS220’s own Youth Studio. In the same egalitarian spirit, all of the 200 artworks are sold by way of a lottery drawing.

The culminating event on Saturday, September 25th at AS220’s Gallery & Performance Space is part of a month long celebration of Printmaking organized by the Community Printshop, which included lectures by prominent artists and free public printmaking workshops. 2010 program guests included Curator Lauren Hinkson from the Guggenhiem and local creators Dan Wood, Alec Thibodeau, Pippi Zornoza and the founders of Tiny Showcase as well as special events including a formal open house for the Shop and a free workshop on printmaking basics.

Three years ago, a dedicated core of about 20 members began the AS220 Community Print Shop as an effort to develop a shared, accessible resource for printmaking in Providence. The shop built worktables, installed sinks, crafted light safe cabinets, stacked type cases and welcomed presses that may have otherwise been left to rust or gather dust to AS220’s historic Dreyfus building. Since September 2007, the Printshop functioned as an incredible incubator as systems for offering affordable classes, reserving press time, training monitors, publishing print editions and hosting artists in residence quickly began to take shape. AS220’s Printshop has introduced over 800 people to printmaking through a strong roster of small monthly workshops; the facilities have seen more than 9,000 active hours by over 200 Shop members. In Autumn 2010 the Community Printshop will relocate to the newly renovated Mercantile block where it will quadruple its size and unveil its new centerpiece: a massive, never-before-used Takach intaglio etching press with a 4.5′ x 12′ press bed donated to the organization by the Rhode Island School of Design. In the expanded space, the Printshop will provide access to traditional stone lithography and expand screen-printing, letterpress, and offset printing facilities.

People directly support the Printshop’s continued success by purchasing a Lottery Ticket for $100; proceeds help to maintain and purchase equipment, support a full-time manager, replenish shop supplies and facilitate free and inexpensive programming during this year and the next.

For more details visit the Print Lottery web site.
Print Lottery tickets are still available for purchase.