How to Run a Printshop at the End of the World

For the first-ever IS Projects blog post, I thought it might be fun and potentially helpful to write about how things have changed at the studio since we closed our doors to the public two months ago. As a business owner, the COVID-19 crisis changed all of my plans and sent what was going to be our year to blast off into what looked decidedly more like a tail spin. Now that it’s starting to feel like we’ve got a couple of good things going for us, perhaps it’s the right time to share how we’ve been coping. 

This new blog is an attempt to document behind-the-scenes stories of what goes into the prints, the presses, the workshops, the books, and the art. This particular post is meant to give us a little space to share, in a time when natural, deep conversations are scarce and to give you something to read, a voice of encouragement and, hopefully, some insight into how to run a printshop at what feels like the end of the world.

1. Breathe and Take Stock

When I opened IS Projects over 5 years ago, I never would have expected that right as the business was truly hitting its stride and expanding to where I had always dreamed it would get to, the entire world would go through a massive setback that it would bring everything I was working toward to a screeching halt. In the beginning, I was in a daze while printing the last few orders for the foreseeable future. It’s okay to let yourself feel the heartbreak of an international tragedy and sit with the feeling of despair and dread that come along with the responsibility of running a business which supports not only yourself but all of your employees. 

Eventually, what I found helpful to moving past the deep sense of loss was taking stock of what resources (staff, knowledge, community, etc) we had to help us weather the storm. I am so grateful to have a team that has been so supportive, understanding, flexible and encouraging throughout the crisis. They handled the transition to working from home with ease and came up with incredible and thorough to-do lists of ways to improve our web presence, tasks that could be done from home, and new digitally oriented projects. Amongst the event cancellations and postponements, my inbox began to receive a steady stream of emails from family and friends offering help and suggesting resources as well as our regular clients reaching out to let us know that they weren’t going anywhere and would send us projects as soon as they realistically could. The energy of the team and the encouragement from the community were a huge morale boost and made it possible to begin to imagine the next steps.

2. Learn All You Can about Available Resources

Our team worked together with determination and compassion to find new ways to adapt and exist in quarantine. After the stay at home order went in place, we spent the first couple of weeks delving into all of the resources available for financial support and increasing our virtual presence. We learned as much as we could about platforms that could help amplify our virtual efforts and make us easier to find and interact with online. Knowing how many other artists and businesses were in a similar position, we created an artist resources page on our website in hopes of creating a succinct space for artists (and ourselves) to more easily locate opportunities.

3. Find a way to share knowledge, provide a reprieve, and see your people (online)

As a public-access studio, the adjustment to quarantine is hugely felt. Not only do we miss our patrons, but so do our presses. Typically, we run anywhere from 4-6 workshops in a given month, and with our expansive collection of equipment, we teach everything from beginning to advanced applications of screen printing, letterpress, book binding, etching, monoprinting, relief and more. Our equipment is also normally available for artists to use through our studio rental program so we have grown used to a constant hum, and sometimes clatter, of print related activity during open hours.

Since going virtual, we have taken a new lens to our offerings, asking ourselves ‘What doesn’t require a press?’, ‘What affordable alternatives can be used in lieu of our specialty tools and supplies?’ and above all, ‘How can we make printmaking and book arts accessible from home?’. With this in mind, we made a plan to transition our workshops into an online format. We decided to run our workshops through Zoom, so they can be easily accessed no matter where you are and at a ‘pay what you can’ rate so that affordability isn’t a concern while so many are struggling financially.

4. Ask for Help

We wanted to make sure we could offer virtual content that matches the standard of quality we expect from our in-person programming, so we teamed up with Johnny Zhang, a professional videographer, to film and produce all of our virtual workshops and create our virtual artwalk and gallery. We pre-filmed the workshops with a three camera setup and professional lighting, enabling us to document even the smallest details of the technique being taught so workshop participants can get a clear view of how to do each step. Johnny documented the entire studio and gallery with a 360 camera and helped us load the resulting images into a virtual tour platform that allows viewers to virtually walk through the space and investigate the details of artwork, presses, items and more. As traditional printmakers, who regrettably lack interest in a second career in videography, we would not have been able to produce virtual video content that fit our expectations without Johnny’s help. It’s easy to get caught in the DIY mentality, especially when funding is tight and uncertain, but it can be beneficial to take a step outside that mindset to examine other options and reach out for help when necessary. 

5. Reach Beyond Your Usual Geographic Boundaries

We’ve since created four workshops - Suminagashi Paper Marbling, Drum Leaf Binding, Monoprinting with Gelli Plates and Accordion Book Binding. We are also offering two fiber-based ‘Visiting’ instructor workshops with our exhibiting artists in Bobbin Lace and Pixel Pattern Embroidery. Our visiting instructors will be teaching from their homes with Christina Humphreys in San Francisco, CA and Sasha Baskin in Baltimore, MD. Before going virtual with our workshops, we would have never thought of a way to have the distance learning and collaborative opportunities that are now becoming the standard. Overall, the reception to our virtual workshops has been amazing. Not only have we connected with familiar faces in our classes, but we’ve been able to meet new people from across the nation and world, allowing both a creative and social outlet for all involved.

Throughout our time in business we have maintained close relationships with local universities and art schools with strong printmaking programs throughout the country. When these schools started to close we received a wave of messages and emails from students looking for options for how to continue and eventually display the projects they had been working so hard on throughout the school year. As a studio full of former art students, we were horrified at the reality that all of the art students who were set to graduate in May were going to have to move their thesis exhibitions online. So we decided to do what we could to help get their work seen by as many eyes as possible and feature student work in our Instagram stories during our Virtual Artwalk programming every Artwalk until higher education institutions are able to reopen and conduct in person exhibitions.

We’re in talks with several artists and arts institutions to discuss potential future collaborations and guest appearances that we never would have thought of before and look forward to being able to share a mountain of new content very soon!

6. Oil the Presses

Any printer will tell you that a press that goes unused is a press that deteriorates. Jim Sherradin from Hatch Show Print coined the phrase “preservation through production” which was drilled into my head when I was just a newbie printer studying printmaking in college. Throughout quarantine our job shop, Nocturnal Press, has remained open for custom printing orders and while the stream of orders has slowed to a trickle, we have made a point to keep the presses oiled and cared for. We have made progress on some long backlogged in-house projects and printed custom orders with fervor. It’s a mini victory each time we’re able to set up the press for a project, so we’ve made it into a little ritual: oil the press, set up the press, print, clean the press, celebrate the successes.

7. Assess, Adjust, and Keep Going

We’ve received a pretty fantastic response to what we’ve done so far and we’re so thankful to have the incredible support of our inky community. As the situation evolves, we’re focused on providing whatever we can to be helpful in whatever way we can. We’re continuing to develop new workshops and ‘stay home’ friendly activities. We’ve completely overhauled Nocturnal Press’ website and released a line of Semi-Custom Wedding Stationery and online business card ordering to make it easier to get quality stationery without having to leave the house. We’ve made several improvements to the IS Projects’ Exhibitions page with lots more web-based updates on the way. We’re making plans for the next exhibition to be virtual and also drive-by friendly. It’s been heartbreaking, challenging, interesting, revolutionary, eye-opening, terrifying, and encouraging all at the same time so we’re doing our best to take it in and turn whatever we can into something positive, like this brand new blog adventure!

Thanks for making it to the end, let us know what you think or if there’s anything you’d like to read more about.

Stay safe!

Ingrid