Join us for the Opening Reception of the Ann Arbor Wayzgoose & Printing Festival
Friday, August 24, 6-8pm
Free, drop-in event | All are welcome | Refreshments will be served
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[hr]Traditionally, a wayzgoose was an annual celebration put on by a master printer for his workmen. Nowadays, it’s a festival that celebrates the art and practice of printing by hand.
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The inaugural 2018 Ann Arbor Wayzgoose & Printing Festival will feature some of the most exciting artists working in the field of printing today.
Kickoff event: Join us for a pop-up exhibit and reception the evening of Friday, August 24 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Ann Arbor Art Center, featuring works from Tribune Showprint and Starshaped Press.
Tribune Showprint | Kim Miller
100 years ago, if you wanted to promote an event your options were limited. Radio, television, and online advertising had yet to be invented so you might turn to a local printer. They would use equipment typically considered obsolete today, like wood type and block carvings, to print a one-sided poster called a showcard. These could be displayed in shop windows, tacked to a fence, or plastered onto a wall. They were ephemeral objects, never intended for long-term use, and most were simply covered over or discarded after they had served their purpose.
Tribune Showprint has been printing handbills, showcards, and posters for more than a century. It began in 1878 as the Benton County Tribune, located above a small bank in Fowler, Indiana. The business traded hands several times over the years, before being purchased in 2016 by Kim Miller.
The prints on exhibit here represent over a century of small-town festivals, gatherings, sporting events, political campaigns, and celebrations.
Today, Tribune Showprint makes posters for all occasions, continuing the tradition of setting each letter by hand, one at a time.
Starshaped Press | Jen Farrell
Since 1999 Starshaped Press has stayed true to the original craft of letterpress, disregarding the naysayers that claim antique metal and wood type is too limiting for quality design. As an old-fashioned shop with solid presswork and hardworking midwestern gumption, they buck popular trends in modern, ‘couture’ printing. Starshaped press works to preserve, promote and print entirely like it’s 1929.
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Workshops on Saturday, August 25 – Free, drop-in events | Space is limited
11am – 12pm – Street Art / Chelsea O’Hayer
Come be inspired and create unique prints from historic Ann Arbor manhole covers. All materials will be provided.
1pm – 2pm – EcoPrinting on Paper / Dayna Walton
EcoPrinting is the process of pressings and heating plants on paper, with heat, moisture, and proper mordanting plants will bleed colored impressions onto the paper. A great process to combine with traditional printing methods for a layer of controlled, natural color. I will demonstrate how to create a batch of this paper, talk about the basics of natural dyeing and plant ID. Participants will arrange ecoprinted postcards of their own. After the demo is over I will boil the paper for an hour (in a pot of water on a hotplate) while participants browse the fair, and their prints can be picked up afterwards.