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| Lower East Side Printshop | |
|---|---|
| Name | Lower East Side Printshop |
| Formation | 1968 |
| Type | Nonprofit arts organization |
| Purpose | Printmaking studio, education, exhibitions |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Location | Lower East Side, Manhattan |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
Lower East Side Printshop is a nonprofit printmaking studio and arts organization founded in 1968 on Manhattan's Lower East Side. It provides facilities, education, exhibitions, and publishing services for artists working in intaglio, relief, lithography, screenprinting, and digital print media. The Printshop has intersected with major figures and institutions across New York's art world and broader cultural networks, acting as a site where artists, curators, collectors, and community organizations converge.
The Printshop was established amid the late 1960s New York art scene alongside institutions such as Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New Museum, and New York University's art programs. Early decades connected it to artists affiliated with Tamarind Institute, Claire Van Vliet, Robert Blackburn, Josef Albers, and peers from Cooper Union and Pratt Institute. During the 1970s and 1980s it engaged with movements and events including Civil Rights Movement cultural branches, the SoHo artist community, and collaborations with curators from Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum. The Printshop's timeline intersects with exhibitions and publications involving figures such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Elizabeth Murray, Kara Walker, Julie Mehretu, Richard Serra, and Alex Katz, reflecting shifts in printmaking techniques and institutional support across decades. Relocations and expansions mirrored neighborhood change alongside development projects like those led by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and community responses linked to Lower East Side Tenement Museum and local preservation efforts.
The Printshop operates a workshop outfitted for intaglio presses, lithography presses, relief carving areas, screenprinting bays, and digital labs comparable to those at Cooper Union and School of Visual Arts. It hosts residencies and open studio hours similar to programs at International Print Center New York and regional centers such as Cleveland Print Room and San Francisco Center for the Book. Ongoing programs include master classes, technical workshops, production services, editioning for established artists, and artist-in-residence initiatives that reference models from Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Yaddo, and MacDowell Colony. Collaborative projects have connected with institutions like Museum of Arts and Design, Queens Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and university programs at Columbia University and Pratt Institute.
The Printshop has supported emerging and established artists including print collaborations with practitioners in the lineage of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Anselm Kiefer, Kiki Smith, Martha Rosler, Barbara Kruger, Nan Goldin, and Cindy Sherman. Educational outreach serves students and faculty from Hunter College, City College of New York, Yale School of Art, and Rhode Island School of Design, while hosting visiting artists from institutions like CalArts and Pratt Institute. Pedagogical programs draw on printmaking theory and practice related to historic workshops such as Tamarind Lithography Workshop and the legacy of printers like Robert Blackburn and John C. Rogers. The Printshop's mentorships and internships link participants to curatorial networks at Smithsonian American Art Museum, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, and international print biennials including Venice Biennale and São Paulo Art Biennial.
Regular exhibitions showcase portfolios, monotypes, and collaborative editions in formats akin to exhibitions held at International Print Center New York, Printmaking Council, and university galleries across CUNY and NYU. The Printshop has produced catalogues, editioned portfolios, and printed matter involving collaborations with publishers and curators connected to Aperture, Artforum, Frieze, Art in America, and Bomb Magazine. Projects have resulted in artists’ books and limited editions distributed to collections at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Library of Congress, MoMA, and university special collections at Yale University and Columbia University. Exhibition partnerships have included exchanges with American Folk Art Museum, Jewish Museum, El Museo del Barrio, and regional galleries tied to Walker Art Center and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
The Printshop engages local community organizations, schools, and cultural groups including collaborations with Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Hispanic Federation, New York Public Library, and neighborhood groups tied to Tenement Museum. Programs address access for diverse participants, partnering with health and social service organizations similar to initiatives by God's Love We Deliver and arts-in-health programs at Mount Sinai Health System and NYU Langone Health. Outreach includes youth programs, bilingual workshops, and community print projects that have been part of local festivals and public art efforts alongside NYC Department of Cultural Affairs initiatives and neighborhood cultural coalitions.
The Printshop is governed by a board and staffed with professional technicians, curators, and educators, modeling nonprofit structures found at International Print Center New York, Roberts Projects, and university-affiliated galleries. Funding sources have included grants and awards from National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, private foundations such as Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, and corporate or philanthropic partnerships with entities similar to Bloomberg Philanthropies and local donor networks. Revenue streams include member fees, commissions, workshops, and institutional collaborations with museums, galleries, and university programs across the United States and internationally.
Category:Art museums and galleries in Manhattan Category:Printmaking