The 2016 Letterpress Calendar is now available
It’s getting close to the end of the year–and that means that the VisArts Letterpress Calendar is out! This year marks the fourth year that VisArts has released a letterpress calendar available to Richmonders for purchase. Local artists, instructors and VisArts staff members all collaborated to create the calendar printed entirely on a letterpress, which will fund big and exciting improvements to the letterpress studio at VisArts. The title of this edition of the calendar (for the year 2016) is “Big Changes or Transformation.”
Letterpress, a technique of using a printing press to make a repeated impression onto paper, has existed since the 15th century. Each image from the contributing artists is a direct print – either wood cut, letterpress or linoleum cut. Artists need to carve their work as a mirror image of what they actually want the finished print to look like. Colors must be carefully chosen in order to work together and make the print come to life–no more than two colors are used in each print, though some overlap to form a third shade.
The art of letterpress is versatile and can create beautiful layered images such as January’s snowy scene by VisArts registrar Sarah Narum, or bold contrasting shapes like the October ghosts by local artist Matt Lively.
Scenes from the 2016 Letterpress Calendar
Over the years, the calendar has been hugely successful and helped raise thousands of dollars to buy parts, tools and even new presses for the studio. The studio is now equipped with four working presses, new work benches, a full drying rack and an expanded collection of type. VisArts offers several classes a year for adult students to learn letterpres.
Paul Morris, a letterpress instructor at VisArts and a printer at Benj. Franklin Printing Co., “truly helps drive the project,” according to Jordan Brown, VisArts’ Director of Adult Programs. He prints the calendars there–after hand-setting the type and calendar grids–on paper donated from the company.
Presses in the VisArts letterpress studio
“Prepress work (work done to prepare for printing) for me takes about ten hours. When the art is done and printing begins that takes about another 40 hours,” Paul told VisArts. He fits in the calendar after normal work hours over a period of three months.
“One the most fun things to see, when printing the calendar, are the faces of people who have never seen this printing process. They get a whole new perspective of the commercial production and are fascinated with the way the old machinery works,” Paul said.
The Letterpress Calendar is a unique, collaborative piece of art. Come pick up your own calendar from the VisArts front desk or the Valentine’s gift shop for $20, which will go to support additional improvements to the letterpress studio.
-Lindsey Kellogg