We recently interviewed Carolyn Swiszcz, longtime Highpoint contributor, member, artist, and collaborator about their original introduction to Highpoint and what it has meant for their creative practice.
About: Carolyn Swiszcz has mastered the art of shining a rose-colored spotlight on the everyday with her playful style. As an avid creator, Swiszcz turns mundane suburban scenery into jewel-toned landmarks in her multimedia artistic practice, which ranges from music videos to zines to more traditional paintings.
I’m a painter and printmaker based in the Twin Cities. I have a printmaking BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, I’ve been a Highpoint Editions artist, and I'm currently a 2023 McKNight Printmaking Fellow at Highpoint. My husband Wilson Webb, a fellow MCAD alum, is an on-set photographer in the film industry.
I met Cole Rogers while at MCAD and he invited me to make work with Highpoint Editions; I was part of the organization fairly early. Right from the beginning, Cole and Carla set the tone creating a quality, sustainable organization with high artistic and institutional goals. I am so happy to see Jehra Patrick in her new role as Executive Director and I trust that Cole’s successor will also continue the excellence that I have come to expect from Highpoint.
I’ve done two rounds as a Highpoint Editions artist (2004 and 2017), and each time, my artwork has grown leaps and bounds. I’ve learned new processes and ways of working that I never would have come to on my own. The Highpoint “imprimatur” has been, for me, an essential confidence boost that has inspired me to pursue stretch-opportunities and exhibitions.
Carolyn and her husband Wilson printing a monoprint during her McKnight Printmaking Fellowship, fall 2023.
The Editions, co-op and education programs are all top-notch but I’d like to put a shout out for the exhibit space. The shows are something I’ve come to depend on for inspiration and they make Highpoint a destination for the arts community. There have been some recent exhibits that really stand out not just in the context of printmaking but in the Twin Cities art world as a whole. I’m thinking especially of 2021’s “A Contemporary Black Matriarchal Lineage in Printmaking.” There’s always new work that opens up my mind both technically and culturally.
Wilson and I see and appreciate Highpoint's commitment to inclusion in the people it exhibits, publishes, grants, and educates.
Highpoint Editions, Highpoint's fine art publishing and visiting artist program invites artists to experiment with the medium of printmaking, create work in the visiting artist studio, and collaborate with the printing staff to create original editions. Since HP's inception, HPE has worked with dozens of artists and produced hundreds of prints and originals. Over the past year and a half, HPE completed projects with Julie Mehretu, Brad Kahlhamer, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
Thank you, Carolyn! We are very appreciative of your involvement on so many levels! You can find more of Carolyn’s work here.