ACCESS/PRINT & LOOK/SEE Student Exhibition
On display May 19th - June 3rd, 2023
Opening Friday, May 19th, 5:30 - 8 PM
*Also join us for the closing reception
and Free Ink Day on June 3rd, 12 - 4 PM
Join us for the annual student exhibition opening on May 19th, 5:30 - 8 pm. The show will include artwork from the ACCESS/PRINT teen mentorship program, as well as LOOK/SEE, a showcase of youth artwork from Franklin Middle School and works from the Creative Clean Water Stewardship project, generously supported by a Hennepin County Green Partners Environmental Education Grant. Exhibitions are always free and open to all – come support the students and learn about these unique programs!
There will also be live screenprinting! Local artists will assist with the printing process using designs made by the ACCESS/PRINT students.
Interested in helping out? We are looking for volunteers to help with the Student Exhibition opening. See details and sign up here.
“The ACCESS/PRINT class was full of students who quickly fell in love with printmaking and were very eager to experiment with different concepts, techniques, and media.” says the ACCESS/PRINT coordinator and teacher, Gabi Estrada. “These students were all brilliant young artists who were incredibly thoughtful in the conception of their projects and creative with the freedom they had to explore different print techniques. Everyone in this class was so inspiring and it was an immense pleasure getting to know them and watching their ideas come to fruition!”
ACCESS/PRINT is a teen mentorship program that supports creative youth with over 70 hours of studio time, printmaking tutorials, technical assistance, and support as they work to create a body of work. The 2022/2023 ACCESS/PRINT exhibition includes work by Tay Wright, Anastasia Kol-Balfour, Lee Greve, Aiyana Beaulieu, Mia Lambert, Sterling Rouleau, CJ Alexander, Catrielle Barnett, Zara Ridenour, and Emma Zauhar
Creative Clean Water Stewards is a year-long education program designed to teach students about clean water initiatives, rain gardens, and pollinators, and allow them to create artwork around sustainability. The exhibition includes poems and work by Ella Baker Global Studies and Humanities Magnet School, Whittier International School, and Burroughs Community School. Funded by Hennepin County Green Partners.
STUDENT ARTWORK HIGHLIGHTS:
South High School senior Mia Lambert created a final project on the themes of Asian American identity and religious iconography. Her series included a veil made up of screen-printed fabric scraps sewn together, a multi-layer screenprint created with translucent inks on mylar to mimic the appearance of a stained-glass window and relief-printed tree trunk slices.
After learning about the use of printmaking in social movements through Access/Print, Southwest High School sophomore Anastasia Balfour was inspired to produce some of her own protest art. Through her print, she aims to disrupt racist stereotypes that are attributed to Black girls and women by drawing on her own experiences as a Black person, living in the predominantly white neighborhood of Linden Hills.
Perpich senior Lee Greve chose to depict a series of extinct animals who were victims of the Holocene Extinction. Greve intentionally used a monotype technique to present these animals, in order to reflect the impermanence of animal species.
Inspired by the prevalence of the Wild West in their childhood and their current interest in 70s glam rock, Shakopee High School junior Tay Wright created a series of “Rhinestone Cowboy” portraits. Wright chose to pair the more precise aesthetic achievable through screenprinting with more varied techniques like relief hand printing and blotted line monoprinting.
Aiyana Beaulieu, who is also a senior at Perpich, wanted to draw from their Anishinaabe culture and depict the interconnectedness of humanity and nature. Through drypoint intaglio and monotype techniques, Beaulieu depicts a portrait of an Inuit woman surrounded by animals native to Turtle Island, rock formations, and constellations.