Chicago, IL- Spudnik Press Cooperative is proud to host the 2015 Printers Ball on June 27, 2015 at the Hubbard Street Lofts (1821 W Hubbard Street) from 2pm to 10pm. In its 11th year, this annual celebration of literary culture and printmaking will draw inspiration from this year’s theme, Push & Pull. Printers Ball 2015 brings together printers, writers, publishers, artists, readers, collectors, students, teachers, makers, and consumers to embrace the push and pull that is integral to a dynamic community. The interactive and engaging programs that will take place throughout the day all respond to this central question of how communities “push and pull” physically, metaphorically, and politically. This celebratory summer festival will feature live printmaking demonstrations, roundtable discussions, collaborative art-making projects, a marketplace, music, food, drinks and live performances.
Printers Ball 2015 programs blur the lines of presenter and audience, performance and participation, printmaking and authoring, artist and subject. Highlights include:
The Steamroller Spectacular will kick-off the festival. 300 woodblocks, each hand-carved by artists, students of all ages, and creative thinkers throughout Chicago, will be printed outdoors using a construction steamroller to create banner-sized collaborative prints.
Festival guest, Bryce McCloud (@isleofprinting) presents his public art projects through both an interactive project and a keynote session at 7pm, June 27, 2015. For the 2015 Printers Ball, Bryce McCloud will unveil the Bryce Buck, an all-new currency that will be printed onsite at Spudnik Press Cooperative. Rousing the perceived value of currency, Bryce Bucks can be earned through acts of kindness and of sharing and spent on a range of affirming goods. For the keynote session, Nashville-based artist, McCloud will discuss his community-focused art projects, including his most recent project, Our Town. Our Town perfectly exemplifies the “push & pull” of art, community, democracy and the individual. The project facilitates self-portraiture sessions throughout Nashville that are then collected and turned into prints. In exchange for completing a self-portrait, each person receives a print of another’s self-portrait, creating new connections between otherwise strangers.
The full Printers Ball 2015 event schedule will be released June 1. Follow @printersball and @spudnikpress on Instagram and Twitter and search #pushandpull #printersball to receive Printers Ball updates.
View the Printers Ball 2015 Press Release