Lower East Side Printshop, founded in 1968, is a premier not-for-profit printmaking studio in New York City that helps contemporary artists create new artwork and advance their careers. 

Through the Printshop’s workspace residency programs, artists receive space and time to work, stipends, technical assistance, career development, and public exposure.  With its exhibitions, open studios, education, and other public programs, the Printshop serves as a junction for artists, collectors, museums, galleries, and educational institutions to access and engage in contemporary art.  With over 140 artists served each year, the Printshop is the largest print workspace in the U.S.

Says Kiki Smith: “For me as an artist, I’m not interested in having a studio.  I don’t want a studio; I think the idea of individual people owning lots of equipment for making sculpture is really anachronistic.  I much prefer the models of the print world or the glass world: collective shops where you own equipment together or somebody owns it all and you can rent.  For myself, I would like short-term rental of the studio.”

Background

The Printshop was founded by artist and educator Eleanor Magid in 1968 as an open access art and community center.  It soon became part of the alternative space movement of the 1970s, and it continues to be a major resource for artists, with its groundbreaking 24-hour studio use, open access policy, and other services. 

In spring 2005, the Printshop moved from the East Village to a five times larger facility in Midtown Manhattan.  It also expanded its programming to offer more opportunities to artists and superb services.  It is now the largest openly accessible printmaking facility in New York City, and a major contemporary art center, serving a diverse local, national, and international audience.

In 2006, the Printshop was awarded the Primary Organization status by the NY State Council on the Arts.  This status is reserved for organizations that are, by the quality of their services and their stature, particularly vital to the cultural life of the state.

Artists

Many established artists have worked at the Printshop, often in the earlier stages of their careers, including Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero and Leon Golub, Philip Taaffe, Robert Longo, Barbara Kruger, Juan Sanchez, and Tomie Arai, and groups such as Colab, Group Material, PAD/D, Anti Utopia, and Bullet Space, among many others.

The Printshop has recently collaborated with artists such as Derrick Adams, Mark Bradford, Sebastiaan Bremer, Paul Chan, Amy Cutler, Joanne Greenbaum, Arturo Herrera, Glenn Ligon, Ryan McGinness, Matthew Day Jackson, Chris Martin, Carrie Moyer, Sheila Pepe, Enoc Perez, Dread Scott, Kate Shepherd, Jean Shin, James Siena, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Janaina Tschäpe, Kara Walker, and Hank Willis Thomas.

Collections

Artworks produced at the Printshop are included in permanent collections of major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Public Library, Museum of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, RI, Corcoran Museum of Art, DC, Colby Museum, ME, Baltimore Museum of Art, DE, and the Walker Art Center, MN.

The Printshop houses an archive collection of thousands of artworks created in its studio over the past 46 years.

Artist Residency Programs

At the core of the Printshop’s services to artists is the Artist Residency Programs, offering studio space and materials for artists of all backgrounds and at all career stages. The programs include financial and technical assistance, exhibition and educational opportunities, and a supportive professional environment. 

The program serves more than 140 artists each year, on both open access and competitive basis, regardless of the level of their printmaking skills.  It includes Keyholder, Publishing (both free and competitive), Studio Rental and Contract Printing residencies (open to all at nominal rates).  For the participating artists, the Printshop is a lab where they can explore, experiment, and collaborate, in order to create new work.  The Printshop is an anchor throughout their careers, providing a place to work, find advice, introductions, references, and continued exposure through newsletters, website, and periodic exhibitions.

Educational Programs

Exhibitions, classes, career development workshops, lectures, and artist talks offer opportunities to study and explore printmaking and contemporary art in depth, and hands-on.  Students, artists, collectors, and the general public engage in printmaking, many of them for the first time, through the Printshop’s opportunities.  Other educational opportunities include internships for young professionals and career development opportunities for artists.

Community

The Printshop is an active participant in the field of contemporary art, taking part in major fairs, conferences, and exhibitions.  In 2014, the Printshop became owner and organizer of annual Editions/Artists' Books Fair in order to foster and promote its community of small independent publishers, and offer its artsts a greater exposure platform.

Printers

Master Printer Erik Hougen holds a BFA in Painting from Minnesota State University Moorhead, MN.  Hougen is an artist, educator and printer. Since 2006, he has worked as a printer for the studios of Kathy Caraccio, Pace Prints, Howling Print Studio, Donald Baechler, and KaiKai Kiki Studio (Takashi Murakami). He has taught printmaking techniques at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, and LaGuardia Community College, Queens, NY. He joined the Printshop in early 2011.

Hougen brings extraordinary professional experience in waterbased screenprinting, digital imaging, and collaborating with artists.  In addition, he trains and supervises all interns and serves as their mentor. He has served as the collaborating Printer for many Special Editions, Publishing, and Contract Printing projects since he joined the Printshop team.