Lower East Side Printshop

Q: Lower East Side Printshop has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1968. Could you tell us a bit about its origins and evolution? What were its original objectives? What were the stages of its evolution, the problems to overcome? It seems that is that over the last almost 40 years it has gone from small time to big time. How did that happen?

A: The Printshop was founded by a group of artists led by Eleanor Magid, an artist and educator, during a prolonged teachers' strike in 1968. They initially gathered in Eleanor's East Village studio, made prints with their kids and invited the community. In 1971, they moved to a city-owned manufacturing building on East 4th Street. The area was full of abandoned buildings and the city was moving in many non-profit organizations in an effort to revitalize the neighbourhood and prevent further decay. The Printshop was a part of the early alternative spaces movement in that it offered open access to printmaking for all, as opposed to the convention of publishers sending their established artists to commercial printers. This policy of openness and diversity served the organization and the neighborhood well, and the Printshop quickly established itself as a valuable community resource.

Its early vision was to offer full access to printmaking without any barriers. Access was free or low cost, eliminating financial barriers. Time wasn't a problem because of the 24-hour access, and inexperience in techniques was easily overcome with other artists at hand and affordable classes.

The Printshop thrived throughout the 70's and 80's, supporting emerging artists and artist collectives. Many of them were politically and socially active, and they chose to express themselves through prints and posters, the rebels' weapon of choice. By the mid-80's, the Printshop established diverse programming, including Keyholder and Special Editions Residencies, poster production subsidy, exhibitions, evening classes for adults and in-school Art in Education classes for local public school students.

The economic recession of the early 90's was devastating for the Printshop. With public funding diminished and no significant income from services or fundraising, the Printshop's survival was in jeopardy. The board of directors knew they needed to make radical changes in the organization. Most of the programming was suspended, with an exception of Keyholder Residencies and Art in Education. The staff had to be let go as well. It was only the near-free rent for the city-owned space and the desire of Keyholders to hold on to the space that helped them keep the doors open during the crisis.

A new board was formed in 1993, and they set out to revitalize the organization by changing its infrastructure and refocusing the programming. By the mid-90's the Printshop recovered, and in 1998 it celebrated its 30th anniversary with a large exhibition. The programming was focused on services for artists and adult education through classes, internships and artist talks. New published editions were of high artistic merit and started to attract a group of loyal collectors.

By 2000, the programs thrived as the demand for workspace grew in the artistic community. The severity of the New York City real estate market was taking its toll on artists. We slowly outgrew the 1,200 sq. ft. space with the amount of equipment, artists, staff, materials, and artwork collection we were housing and servicing. Every aspect of the organization was affected by the space crisis. We couldn't offer more residencies because we needed more staff and we couldn't hire more staff because there was no room, etc. In retrospect, it felt like we had been a teenager for a bit too long and needed to grow up really quickly.

At the same time, in 2000, the city announced its intention to sell the Printshop's building. This started a four-year negotiation between the local non-profits and the city. In 2004, we decided that our needs could not be met by this plan and that we should seek a new home elsewhere. We found an ideal space in an industrial building in the Garment District, with help of Time Equities brokers and a landlord receptive to the organization's needs. We have many, many people and institutions to thank for making our successful expansion possible.

Q: How closely has the Printshop cleaved to its original vision? How has its philosophy changed in the intervening years?

A: The Printshop's founding principles of offering full access and being artist-centered are still the guiding principles of the organization. Collaboration and community building have also been core values from the beginning. We have only expanded on these values and principles to include more artists at various stages in their careers, collectors, students and scholars, the general public, collaborations with museums and educational institutions. The diversity has enabled us to thrive over the years and we are happy to be able to welcome more participants into our world of printmaking.

On-site exhibitions are an exciting new opportunity to showcase new works and prints from our archive collection. We have also become a destination for print collectors, new and established. You can see how our service to artists is not limited to workspace and how these diverse audiences benefit each other. We are actively exploring new opportunities to foster our community, such as slide nights for artists, evenings with curators and critics, an in-house exhibition series and open studio days where various audiences can get a first taste of printmaking or form new relationships between artists and art professionals.

Q: What are the Printshops medium and long-term goals today?

A: We are currently in the long-term planning process so I will get back to you later with a better answer. Our new space offers new opportunities. We will certainly look to raise the bar in everything we do, including technology and equipment, staffing and support services such as financial and exposure support for artists. We will build our community further by expanding our collaborations. We will continue to explore "green" printmaking and introduce it to our artists. There is so much we can do; I don't see a down-time any time soon!

Q: What do you, personally, like best about the Printshop?

A: The way it is able to embrace everyone fascinated me from day one. I started as a volunteer in exchange for studio time. The fact that they allowed me to do that was remarkable enough. The artist community at the Printshop is supportive and professional. One gains an "instant family", as an artist once told me. This has very tangible results; artists often create new work influenced by a collaboration in the studio, they get to show their work as a result of shared information, etc. I learned so much about the New York City art scene in those early days from my peers at the Printshop.

I also appreciate the tradition of experimentation and innovation. We have in our collection printed kites, prints on glass, wood, fabric, metal, boxes, traffic signs and what not. It is evident that people had fun and were not afraid of pushing the envelope a bit. The Printshop was among the pioneers who replaced solvent-based screenprinting with water-based in the early 80's. We continued that tradition with water-based inks for other techniques including etching, and other non-toxic or at least less-toxic materials and processes.

Q: I notice the Printshop has a very complete program of financing and an impressive list of patrons and sponsors. Is this the key to keeping the ship afloat? How much of your time is spend on these efforts?

A: Financial stability is really important because it enables us to offer more to artists. We are able to focus on our participants and their needs rather than "putting out fires" and stress over crises. This results in successful programming and more support. Don't get me wrong, we are far from being comfortable, but we are working on it.

Q: What would your advice be to someone who was trying to find financing for a new open-access printshop?

A: The new establishment has to be justified by a need in the community, whether as a needed resource, or because of special equipment or skill offered. Beyond that, open-access printshops offer many opportunities for participation and therefore many sources of income. One should find a good balance of contributed and earned income and diversify sources of income. Relying on one large source, whatever it may be, can be very dangerous.

Q: The Printshop website (one of the best we've seen, an authentic role model for the printmaking world, by the way: www.printshop.org) reflects what looks like high levels of professionalism throughout every phase of the operation. Is this what it takes to succeed and grow: professionalism? How do you achieve it?

A: Thank you. Professionalism--Absolutely! We have a very inspired and talented staff and a hard-working and supportive board. We are all committed to quality and high standards. Printmaking itself and the needs of our audiences change all the time. So, we constantly look for ways to change and improve what we do and how we do it. Almost every week in a staff meeting someone brings up an issue and we all analyze, discuss and help find a solution. We are still figuring it out and learning as we go.

Q: The website says that you "… joined the Printshop's staff in 1992 as a part-time manager." What it doesn't say is where you were coming from. What was your background? What prompted you to apply for a job at a non-profit printmaking facility?

A: As I mentioned, I first came to the Printshop as a volunteer. I came for a 6-month visit from Yugoslavia with a degree in printmaking from Belgrade University. After a few months, I couldn't stand not making prints, so I applied. I worked with then Artistic Director, Susan Rostow, who now has her own printmaking ink manufacturing company Akua Colors-a fully non-toxic line of inks. She invited me to teach an intaglio class that fall, and later to manage the programs on a part-time basis. I really liked the atmosphere and the people involved, it didn't seem like work to me.

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