Introducing Victoria Eidelsztein and Jasper Duberry
as Printmaking Fellows and HP Co-op Members
We are sending a warm welcome and congratulations to Jasper Duberry and Victoria Eidelsztein as the new Full Color Print Fellows at Highpoint Center for Printmaking. With the guidance of a steering committee, this program has been in development since 2019 for the purpose of creating a more diverse and equitable space for artists of color to participate, create work, and engage in the printmaking community! We are thankful to the steering committee and all of the individual donors and family foundations that helped make this program possible now and into the future!
Jasper Duberry is a printmaker that resides in St. Michael, Minnesota. Jasper learned printmaking at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Jasper often explores themes that are various stages of the Black experience – pain, joy, healing, and resistance to name a few.
As Michelle Alexander, author of The new Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness writes, “Slavery defined what it meant to be black (a slave), and Jim Crow defined what it meant to be black (a second-class citizen). Today mass incarceration defines the meaning of blackness in America: black people, especially black men, are criminals. That is what it means to be black.”
Victoria Eidelsztein is an Argentinian artist and screenprinter based in Minneapolis. Victoria’s artwork reflects on simple yet complex themes like loneliness, self-care, and homesickness. “My immigration process started in 2019 and coincided with the pandemic which delayed my documentation. This created a very delicate situation for me; I found myself very lonely, not being able to work or go back home, and I was feeling very homesick without a sense of belonging. My artwork was shaped by these events and overwhelming feelings, and printmaking became a powerful tool to express them.” In one image, Victoria’s blue women are alone in the middle of the paper, without any background or elements that ground them; they seem to be floating but they always have themselves. Victoria prints her drawings on paper and apparel and is currently exploring large-scale fabric printing techniques, creating tapestries with intricate patterns.
Victoria offered this about her practice and how the fellowship will be a benefit: “My practice now is mainly focused on screenprinting; I also do ceramics and paint murals. Recently, I learned how to sew which expands the limits of my creativity and gives me access to new formats. Being selected for the Full Color Print Fellowship is a dream! Having access to a fully equipped studio, mentorship, and guidance for a year will help me expand artistically but also be able to create on a higher level and even larger scale.”
Full Color Print Panelists
Highpoint would like to sincerely thank the panelists Witt Siasoco and Anika Schneider for their careful review and discussion of the submitted applications and for their generous offer to provide feedback directly to the applicants. More about panelists can be found below.
Witt Siasoco (he/him) is a community-based, visual artist living and working in Minneapolis, MN. His work actively engages the intersection of the arts and civic process through a variety of roles—as an artist, graphic designer, and arts educator.
In recent years, Siasoco was awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Access grant, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Next Step Fund, and Jerome Hill Foundation Fellowship. He has had residencies at the Kulture Club Collaborative, Pillsbury House and Theater, and Minnesota Museum of American Art. Siasoco was selected as a CreativeCitymaking artist, a collaboration between artists and urban planners to develop innovative approaches for addressing the long-term transportation, land use, economic, environmental, and social issues facing Minneapolis. Witt's studio practice is rooted in creating art in public space that catalyzes civic dialogue and collective action.
"Throughout my experiences as an artist in the Twin Cities, I have noticed a need for more resources and access to equipment, so I am thrilled that Highpoint is launching a program that focuses on BIPOC printmakers. I hope that their initial offering grows exponentially."
Anika Hsiung Schneider is a narrative artist who draws on lived experiences, memory, and family history. With an Asian mixed female identity, she resides in a highly racialized body that also exists in a liminal state. This connection to a liminal state closely connects her work to themes of loss, transitional spaces, and visualizing the intangible.
Anika received her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). She currently serves as the Director of Exhibitions and Artist Programs at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and adjunct faculty at MCAD. Anika’s work has been exhibited nationally at galleries such as Soo Visual Art Center, Rosalux Gallery, Gallery B St Paul, Circle Gallery, Visarts, Dumbarton Concert Gallery, and Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture. Anika has also participated in residencies in Wolfsville, Nova Scotia, and Solomons Island, Maryland. She has also been awarded a Windgate University Fellowship, Gettysburg College Provost Grant, and in the InCahoots Residency Boost Prize full grant.
The Full Color Print Fellowship is an application-based initiative for artists with some level of prior printmaking experience. These artists receive a year’s membership to HP’s cooperative printshop, free access to classes and workshops, an unrestricted stipend, mentorship, and the opportunity to participate in semi-annual co-op exhibitions. The long-term goal of this program is to create a welcoming and safe environment, providing opportunities and access to artists who have been historically underrepresented in the co-op space and adult classes. Highpoint should reflect and be more representative of the community we inhabit and serve.
The Full Color Scholarship program provides access for BIPOC artists to Highpoint’s adult printmaking classes free of charge thereby helping to overcome a potential barrier to co-op membership; technical knowledge of printmaking.