Heavy Lifting - Felicia Rice & Theresa Whitehill

Despite taking my first letterpress class more than twenty years ago, I myself am admittedly newer to the community, but we all start somewhere. That said, I am also a fast learner, with my eyes and ears always open. Social media is sort of great for that. Doom scroll through tons of creative accounts feeds around the world endlessly, no end to the content, hard to be content at times. One can get almost too much info in a short amount of time and burnt out, which is understandable. One can also build some great connections as well, I have connected with several around the world and found quite the camaraderie. I had been following along with Felicia Rice aka Moving Parts Press, well before she unfortunately lost her press in terrible massive fires in the generally quiet mountains above Santa Cruz, where it was located. We here in Sonoma county are by no means strangers to that form of disaster. My cousin and his family were evacuated in the dead of the night when the infamous Coffey Park neighborhood entirely burned to the ground. They lost everything they owned except the clothes on their backs, thier kids and dogs, and the car they drove out on.

So it was great to follow along and finally see Felicia rise up, relocate, and rebuild her press in Mendocino. Moving parts indeed. She makes some amazing stuff, and typically works with a solid cast of creative characters. So when she made the announcement for Heavy Lifting, her first collaborative book project with poet Thersa Whitehill done since the fires and relocation, this was certainly cause for celebration.

Some folks in our circle made the trip up the coast to Mendocino for the premier presentation of the book, and returned with high praise. So I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if they could come down this way and share this project with our community…

Ask and yee shall receive…and receive we did. Felicia was gracious and enthusiastic about dropping NBLA as a location on their book tour. So yeah, long story short they will be here in November. Don’t worry, I have been called verbose for good reason.

While we discussed and planned, I asked her if she would mind that it coincides with our Corita Rules! Spotlight Month, and her reply was “She is my gal. Social justice r us.” and so yeah mark your calendars 11/11 2-4pm.

RSVP HERE

HERE is a link to video about the project, as well there are flyers below for more info.

Best - Andrew Mecum

Book Club of California

Admittedly we have not posted much in this “news” section of the site in quite a while. First of all, pandemic. That was weird and awkward, to say the least. Secondly, a lot of sharing moved to social media platforms, and if you follow us there you’ll see there has been a lot of news over the last few years. Lastly, taking on the leadership role last March as the first and only full time employee, truth be told I am busy. There is a long list with plenty of more pressing issues that take priority over updating this section buried within our site. That said, this news seemed worthy to share and bookmark here on our site.

In 2022 a small group of our Studio Printers took a field trip down to BCC, or Book Club of California, to see their beautiful space in downtown San Francisco. They were founded in 192, so of course have an overwhelming library and reading room, one that has played host to so many guests over the last century. They are one of the two oldest operating book clubs in the United States, and also have a nice collection of beautiful presses on display.

As our group was leaving that visit in awe, the director, Kevin Kosik, graciously offered to feature NBLA in an upcoming quarterly journal. The group returned to the press with a lot of enthusiasm for this amazing opportunity.

So with that, below is a copy of the article we composed as a group, as well some photo’s of the issue.

Change and Continuity in the North Bay

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, familiarly translated as, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” The continuity Karr observed need not be a bad thing, as even dramatic changes may entail the preservation of what is valuable in the status quo.

North Bay Letterpress Arts (NBLA), a mainstay of letterpress printing in California’s Sonoma County for fourteen years, is entering a period of exciting transition. The new executive director, Andrew Mecum, is pressing the organization toward the future and actively engaging in what he refers to as “democratizing letterpress.” This involves increasing community access and usage of the studio, especially for younger and more diverse demographics, as a reminder that letterpress, the original social media, remains a powerful and creative way to use language and communication as an art form. At the same time, he will sustain the culture and many of the practices already established, continuing to offer this well-equipped space to people of all skill levels who are interested in exploring or developing their letterpress printing and bookmaking skills.

Understanding how the future Mecum envisions is also la même chose requires some knowledge of the past: The press owes its existence to the vision, dedication, and generosity of Eric Johnson, who in 2009 moved Iota Press from his garage into a small studio space in south Sebastopol. Johnson began printing late in life, thinking of it as an esoteric art that suited his offbeat writing, and was surprised to discover that letterpress was of great interest to others. Over the next few years, several people joined him at the shop in a mutually inspiring cooperative milieu.

Located just an hour’s drive north of San Francisco in the heart of wine country, tucked between thriving outdoor restaurants and beehive gardens, this print shop has become a buzzing public hub offering letterpress workshops and access to the craft of printing for curious students, writers who want to make books, poets creating broadsides, and anyone who simply wants to explore the medium. Johnson’s impassioned aim since the shop’s inception has been to explore the graphic powers of letterpress, especially its ability to fuse poetry and visual art, and to share those resources and skills with all who come seeking them.

In 2014 the press moved to an adjacent area, doubling its footprint to 1600 square feet, and so began a dynamic expansion of the shop’s use, intent, and place in the community. The shop grew to include many old and rare presses and equipment. Currently the shop houses three platen presses, three cylinder presses, one iron hand press, all surrounding two large stone imposing tables as well as many other pieces of equipment. This larger studio space also allowed the type collection and ornamental printing materials to

grow exponentially, so there are now more than 250 cases of metal and wood type, and over a thousand antique engraved cuts, or plates. All of this has been carefully cataloged for easy access and use. Additionally, there is a library with over three hundred books on letterpress, again carefully cataloged, many of which are available for members to take home for use. Some of this paraphernalia was donated or loaned, some bought for a song. Over the years the shop grew in an organic way as people discovered it and joined in on the action. In 2015 Johnson helped incorporate the press as a nonprofit organization called North Bay Letterpress Arts to enable leadership and fundraising efforts that would further the mission of educating and including the community in the enlivening craft of letterpress printing.

An active group of more than a dozen Studio Printers (SP) comprising artists, printers, and writers evolved from an early group of workshop attendees who in 2010 began printing together and enjoyed each other’s company. Calling themselves the Co-op, they shared with Johnson the governance and work of maintaining the studio. In 2017 those most engaged took on the status of Studio Printers, and as years have passed they have continued printing a wide array of innovative broadsides, cards, book arts, and poetry collections. The SP collaborated on a project called PrintPoetry and published twenty issues of a small poetry edition. They also produced an annual anthology of their work called Erratica and a quarterly subscription mailing. Group shows were mounted for the Studio Printers’ work starting with an exhibit and poetry reading at Quicksilver Mine Company (Forestville) in 2012. The Poetry of Printing group show followed in February 2014 at the Risk Press Gallery (Sebastopol); then the group exhibited at Kitty Hawk Gallery (Sebastopol) in 2016. A well-received group exhibit at the local library was mounted in 2020. In 2021 the group produced a collaborative exhibit in the shop to participate in the global environmentally focused exhibits of Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss. Iota Press and North Bay Letterpress Arts have been represented four times at the Codex International Artists Book Exhibition. Such noted printers as Micah Schwaberow have produced prints at NBLA, sometimes in collaboration with Studio Printers, while work produced by printers at the shop has frequently been accepted into juried shows and in multiple years received awards at the Sebastopol Art Center biannual artist book shows.

Enriching the cultural life of the region, North Bay Letterpress Arts has hosted workshops serving hundreds of people, providing instruction not only in letterpress craft but also in other book arts processes such as collagraphy, monoprinting, and bookbinding. Studio Printers have offered demonstrations and talks at local schools and have hosted all-day workshops for students from Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University. Just as importantly, the North Bay Letterpress Arts space has always provided a drop-in commons for conversation about art, poetry, printing, politics, philosophy, and voluminous showing and telling. Studio Printers rotate use of an exhibit space in the shop, and at the monthly meetings talk about their recent work. Public events have included poetry readings, book launches, artist’s lectures, concerts, movie screenings, and more.

Inescapably, the pandemic forced some alterations, but even beforehand, Johnson and some of the devoted members had been signaling for change, finding themselves drawn toward other creative endeavors. Everyone recognized that NBLA was truly a unique and valuable institution—and one that would best survive by establishing some new structures. So, in the Spring of 2022, the board hired Andrew Mecum as executive director, a development made possible by a generous donor. With this change, the studio’s culture and tradition of engagement and outreach is being significantly enhanced.

Mecum was creative from a young age and started printmaking in high school in the 1980s. At that time, he convinced his counselor that art was a “visual language” and replaced his foreign language courses with additional art courses. In 2000, he completed his BFA in printmaking from the Academy of Art University. At a wonderful studio on Sutter Street, just blocks from Union Square, he studied with such inspiring instructors as James Claussen, Chris Rolik, and Howard Munson. His first letterpress experience was in 2001 at a San Francisco Center for the Book workshop taught by Mary Laird. He immediately fell in love with the art of letterpress, and went home that night to research Vandercook prices.

In 2019, after moving to Sebastopol, Mecum was grateful to discover NBLA and soon became a Studio Printer. Not long after, the pandemic arrived and the shop closed to the public for over two years, but it remained open for members. Because Mecum was offered an office in the shop to use for his day job, he gained familiarity with NBLA’s culture, history, and members. He was invited to join the board at the moment when its main task was navigating a path forward that would allow Johnson and others to reduce their involvement while NBLA continued to thrive.

Bringing experience, optimism, and creativity to his current leadership role, Mecum respects the foundation for the organization that was laid by generous volunteer led efforts. He seeks to build up and expand the press by increasing the core members, offering more robust education and outreach initiatives, adding new programming, and exploring partnerships and other channels for sharing what NBLA does with others. These aims are being supported with two grants from the California Arts Council and, largely as a result of Mecum’s vision and energetic outreach, are being realized. His long-term goals are to bolster the board and their fundraising efforts, and eventually acquire the budget to hire support staff so that the organization can remain sustainable and successful.

An exciting recent change to the programming is the institution of “Spotlight Months.” These are dynamic, month-long series that focus on printers, artists, writers, or movements related to letterpress arts. In November of 2022 the shop hosted the first of these, titled Alter de José Guadalupe Posada, which focused on one of Mexico’s most iconic printers. Opening on the Day of the Dead and continuing each Sunday of the month, visitors could tour the press, learn some letterpress history and Posada history, and then pull prints based on Posada’s images to take home. Thanks to the generosity of Jim Nikas, founder of

the Posada Art Foundation, original Posada prints were on display along with an assortment of original chapbooks. At the final celebratory fundraiser event, Jim Nikas, Art Hazelwood, and Grendl Löfkvist provided a panel presentation about Posada and the impact of his work. This was accompanied by a showing of the 2014 documentary biographic film Searching for Posada: ART and Revolutions, which Nikas produced. Also that night there was a live printing demonstration by Johnson using the Ostrander iron hand press with an original Posada engraved wood block, both about 125 years old, and the guests were then gifted these special commemorative prints.

Following the success of the first Spotlight Month, two more are on the calendar for 2023. For April the series is titled Sunday Funnies, with the spotlight on the place where, in Mecum’s words, “printmaking and comics collide.” The focus will be on the history of printed cartoons and caricatures, which led to comics and political satire and eventually developed into a regular feature in almost every printed newspaper around the world for well over a century. For a month in fall, NBLA will work with the Corita Art Center and shine the spotlight on Corita Kent, also known as Sister Mary Corita, who died in 1986. Events will serve as both a memorial and a celebration of her powerful activism and printmaking, showcasing the use of bold language, large type, and vibrant color in Kent’s and her students’ work. Programming will highlight her efforts to “democratize” printmaking by tying it to her social justice work.

In Mecum’s view, at its core, printmaking has always been a democratizing enterprise. When he teaches workshops, he always points out that Gutenberg’s inventions were very much a disruptive technology because they broadened people’s access to the printed word; he reminds students that the transformations generated by that printing technology were in significant ways comparable to those produced by contemporary social media. Unfortunately, traditional, handmade arts and crafts are now forced to compete with dazzling modern digital media, and hands-on arts play a diminished role in educational curricula. So, like Johnson’s before him, Mecum’s emphasis is on getting people into the press, to learn to use their heads and hands, and to apply critical thinking skills useful well beyond the print studio.

NBLA’s current version of “democratizing letterpress” emphasizes opening up access and lowering the barrier of entry, especially with young people, and working to engage a more diverse section of the community joyfully in the traditions of letterpress printing and book arts. The press has received a substantial Child Youth Development grant from the California Arts Council, which underwrites two years of tours and workshops for local schools and youth groups. Mecum has also been reaching out to similar organizations to build a network of relationships for exchanging ideas and experiences, hoping both to share successful practices for the administration of non-profit arts organizations and to connect with others who share a love and passion for craft.

Looking forward to busy years ahead, Mecum, Johnson, and all the printers at NBLA are grateful for the generous support and enthusiasm from the community that have sustained the studio over the years and remains crucial to its future success and sustainability. The NBLA printers are a welcoming group, so there is an open invitation to anyone reading this to come for a tour or workshop. You can find more information on the website, through the newsletter, and via social media channels. Mecum notes his “door is always open.” He loves to talk; feel free to reach out to him anytime.

Andrew Mecum (415) 312-2361 info@northbayletterpressarts.org www.NorthBayLetterpressArts.org

The product of teamwork, this article was composed by Andrew Mecum and Lynn Keller, drawing on writing by Lyn Dillin and Eric Johnson.

North Bay Letterpress Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group based in Sebastopol, California whose purpose is to educate the public in the art and history of letterpress printing by maintaining an authentic printshop for training and common use. The means of education include classes, shop tours, literary and artistic events, and publications.

A Conversation Between Two Printers

A Conversation Between Two Printers: The NBLA and its Studio Printers remained active and in contact through the pandemic year even when the shop at times had to close. We held monthly Zoom meetings, and to keep those interesting and keep us connected some of us worked on presentations for the group.

Below is the transcript of an interesting conversation between two of our wonderfully creative and longtime Studio Printers Jami Taback and Judi Goldberg

See images below.

JAMI

Because of and due to the quarantine most of us experienced a profound loss of friendship, connections and conversation. The dueling of ideas, the sharing of and working around each other is what we missed the most. Early on Brooke Holve had an idea to counter this by asking us to pair up with each other and continue to create those conversations we so missed.

Doing this in our homes brought out a different kind of conversation which delved deeper into our psyche.

JUDI

It’s not a new conversation, the way letterpress changed our work. My work. My way of working. Of writing. Of translating my writing, my formulation of words, to a page. My way of looking at a page. My way of looking at a blank piece of paper and the forms put on it.

We have been having that conversation at The (North Bay Letterpress Arts) Shop, the shared studio space, for as long as I’ve been there. But this time, I had different answers to a broader question:

The way tools, the tools we use, inform the work we do, the way form and content are part and parcel. Answers informed this time, in late fall, 2020, by the many factors large and small, which overlay, and so changed the question, and the way we had the conversation. And the way we would share it.

We weren’t at the shop. We weren’t in person. We weren’t overlapping. We weren’t seeing just the other faces. Our own faces were part of the conversation. On camera.

And we were in two places at once. At my house in the music room, and hers, in her studio.

We were face to face, with ourselves as well. There were no looming letterpresses. No ambient smell of ink (in the morning) no shared pot of coffee brewing.

And prepared to talk about our printing, Jami instead asked about the music stand behind me. What’s on the music stand she wanted to know.

Never once had a music stand entered into the conversation about ways in which letterpress has changed my work. Never has music entered into a conversation about my work.

And I began talking about the way my newly acquired minstrel banjo, (a replica of a very old instrument) with its integral imperfection demanded a relentless honesty rather than a pursuit of something musically perfect. And talking about the ways playing that particular instrument had begun to change my music, the way I approached my music playing.

And now the conversation was more generally about the ways in which the tools at hand, with their constraint and each their own learning curve, show up, make new demands in the work we do. In the work I do.

And though our talk was billed as a conversation, and we had many between us, to talk about what we were talking about, in the end, much like artists working side by side in a common studio space, we each retreated to our station, to our own easel, to our own press, to our own instruments to answer the question. And came back together to report on, to show and tell, some of the insights we came to working within the confines of our own covidly distant and contrived work spaces.

What follows is a distillation of the conversations Jami and I had. (Including photos we presented when we did this in person at the Studio Printers (resident printers of North Bay Letterpress Arts) monthly zoom meeting.

JAMI

You know what struck me first when judi and I had our first encounter was that judi wasn’t in her studio with a press behind her but rather a music stand and her banjo were in view prompting me to ask my first question which was ‘what’s on your music stand?’ judi proceeded to take out this magnificent new Banjo and strum it for me taking me out of my current space and shifting me over and into her world which she told me was about words, music and lyrics. I often think of judi’s work as lyrical and wonder when the written words, music do and the images you create become lyrical and is this something you are conscious of or does it just occur naturally? When do these 3 elements collide and become one fully investigated idea?

Judi, please equate the fretless banjo to the way you think-is it more dangerous or open without rules sort of thing that attracts you to this instrument.

JUDI

HA! it’s all potentially dangerous! I think risk is inherent in art.

This newest banjo is a replica of an old instrument, it is fundamentally fundamental. fundamentally not fancy, and so it demands a fundamental honesty because that’s all there is. There’s no cover.

My art unfolds in the moment and in the doing, from everything around me paperclips or cats or tea rain wind fire sickness health politics love sex random or directed thoughts and feelings and sounds and words tones and colors shapes

and it all collides and flies apart in the space between the freedoms and constraints of the moment

and the medium and the tools

And like using the presses taught me things take the time they take this not fancy minstrel banjo taught me, demanded that I begin to simply listen, and to hear, to hear its sounds rather than some elusive perfect pitch, and what happened was a willingness to be in conversation with the instrument and its music and the music being played; it’s reminded me of the freedom inherent imperfection. It’s offered me the sounds between the frets.

I’m the adult child of a professional musician and writer, and once wife to a visual artist who left his mfa program saying the hassle wasn’t worth the bummer

it’s also about perspective and how I approach something

is it a conversation or a speech

is it practicing or playing

improv or transcription

is it composing or editing

am I a writer or writing

a printer or someone who prints

and having vocabulary for it all and how much I love using my hands...

and how it is all such grand theater and how problem solving is its own creative endeavor

and if I end up with an artifact an archive of the exploration so much the better

so, Jami, you’ve been an artist and a printer for a long time, but found your way to letterpress recently; what didn’t you know about yourself as an artist and a printer and your art before you started using letterpress and particularly at North Bay Letterpress Arts?

JAMI

Letters seemed more decorative to me and it took a while for me to see that they were the key to our language and put them together into words. I think I was introduced to the world of imagery first, being I grew up in a family of artists and pictures seemed to be important to all of them. My experiences in the museums were looking at art with no information next to it and in time more and more information was next to the paintings until too much was described. With all of this I came to the conclusion that often letters and words should integrate within a work of art. When I met judi and Eric almost 7 years ago-something clicked. It was not an easy jump for me and it took a few years to get to where the words and letters were more like symbols and I reverted back to my original feelings about letters as if I was a little child again getting a second chance at exploring letters as a decorative element.

Letterpress at first began to put order into my words and images but in short time I realized this approach was not for me. I was trying to get my work to fit into a category which diluted my original ideas and forced me to alter it to conform. So I sort of went on a learning adventure to see how letterpress could fit into my ethos, rather than my trying to fit into it.

This realization liberated me to think and construct in my own way. I ceased trying to find words and once again by visiting my childhood I began to look at the individual letters as decorative-from there I was off and running. I am a symbolist and dada creator. I am dancing in my work and flitting and jumping and it is all very physical to me rather than static.

I like to know that my work is speaking to the spectator and I am most interested in the rapport between the viewer and the art.

When we look at a work of art and see something in it, the art will respond by revealing more and the report continues until the spectator moves on.

 

JAMI’S WORK:

JUDI’S WORK:

Update in a Plague year

A LETTER FROM THE PRESS
November 17th, 2020

Hello Dear Friends and Collaborators,


As we find ourselves living through a tremendous fire season, a pandemic, racial injustices and a momentous election, we understand that the uncertainty in the air has everyone questioning what is relevant, what is necessary, and what is valuable. What will we create for the future? How do we show up for each other, and how do we maintain our own healthy state of being? Many things have fallen by the wayside in these trying times, and we apologize that our communication with you, our community, has been one of those things.


For us at the print shop, as artists and writers, we are often working through these questions within our craft, at a micro level. In letterpress a galley is a metal tray with three closed sides, which is used to store our type forms and to facilitate getting them on and off of the press bed. Occasionally a galley will have a form in various states of completion, resting for weeks while we ruminate on changes we need to make, but eventually things are just right, and then... we print!


Our galleys are like our subconscious; full of messy thoughts and promising ideas, waiting to be organized into something new, something valuable and something we can share with others. Who knows what will happen? But we are in this together, and that makes us hopeful!

As an establishment considered 'non-essential' in California, we closed our doors in March, and it wasn't until June that we reopened on a limited basis. We have taken every precaution according to the public health safety guidelines, which means that only three of us at time can work in the shop, we sanitize the equipment and surfaces, wear masks, and do temperature checks at the door. While this has allowed the resumption of printing and work in the shop, we miss the camaraderie and general merry-making associated with our group.  We also miss our interactions with the public, as all events and workshops have been set aside at this time. However, we are looking to other ways we can reconnect with you - our community - and share what we are working on, until we are able to gather in person once again.


In addition to the shutdown, our printing community suffered another shock in March. Almost on the same day as the COVID shutdown, our dear friend and fellow printer Rod Buchignani died of cancer. Rod was a real gem of a person. His interests were wide-ranging, his conversation lively and warm, and he enjoyed printing so much it was a joy to share the shop with him. He was working hard on a book of family recipes at the time his health faltered ...it was never finished, but it is close enough that someday we may be able to help his family complete it.  The COVID crisis meant that we had no way to gather in grief, nor could his family hold a public memorial. Consequently it feels as if his memory has faded too swiftly. Below are some photos of Rod and his printing. Rod, you are missed.

Warm Wishes from,

North Bay Letterpress Arts