A Message from
Print Club President Christopher With
Dear Friends,
2022 was a very busy and successful year for the Washington Print Club!
A rich array of educational programs were offered, each of them finding an enthusiastic response. Many filled-up within hours. Programs ranged from viewing artists’ studios and private collections to museum and university exhibitions and behind-the-scenes offerings.
After a hiatus of several years, the Baltimore Fine Art Print Fair was revived. The WPC established a partnership with the fair and organized a program featuring discussion a among Laura Roulet, an independent curator and WPC board member, and the artistic team of Zorawar Sidhu and Rob Swainston about their suite of eighteen color woodcuts Doom-scrolling.
Another noteworthy undertaking was a Zoom program on the career and creations of William Kentridge. Hosted by the WPC, the program featured a discussion between Aneta Georgievska-Shine, a lecturer at the University of Maryland, and Robert Brown, an owner of DC’s Gallery Neptune and Brown. The exchange was prompted by the exhibition at the Royal Academy, London, and the simultaneous exhibition at Mr. Brown’s gallery, William Kentridge: History, Politics, Memory and Identity.
This year’s annual membership appreciation event and business meeting took place on June 4 at Pyramid Atlantic in Hyattsville, Maryland—the now regular site for these events. Two new board members were elected (Laura Roulet and Katharina Phillips) and six current board members were re-elected (Jordan Benderly, Lorena Bradford, Nancy Hirshbein Joan Root, Lulen Walker, and Eve Stockton). The finances were declared to be sound and Club membership is holding steady at approximately 190.
Embedded within the annual membership event was the presentation of the “Student Printmaker Award,” which began in 2017. This year’s recipient was Theresa Cane from Montgomery College. Introduced by Amanda Miller, her art professor, Theresa was presented with a certificate and a $1,000.00 honorarium.
At that meeting, a new, experimental program was introduced. Four WPC members brought a favorite work on paper and discussed it for a few minutes. The diversity of works and explanations proved a popular success. The WPC intends to make it a regular part of future annual gatherings.
In an effort to broaden and diversity its membership, the Club initiated two new membership categories: “emerging collectors” and faculty. Both categories are offered discounted membership dues.
In conjunction with this membership initiative, efforts are underway to work closely with sister arts organizations throughout the region. One such partnership is with Hamiltonian Artists, whose “Kinetic” program is aimed at cultivating beginning collectors. “Kinetic” members have the opportunity to rent works of art and to attend programs aimed at helping them learn the basics of collecting. One program, supported by the Print Club, was a visit to the home of Beverly and Christopher With where attendees learned first hand about print collecting.
The WPC journal On Paper continues to be among the best of niche publications. This acclaim is due to the tireless efforts of its editor, Lorena Bradford.
On behalf of the entire board, I thank you for your continued support of the Washington Print Club and its mission and programs. We wish you all a safe, happy, and healthy New Year.
Sincerely,
Christopher With
President, The Washington Print Club
Register Now
Tour of the National Museum of Asian Art Exhibition
Underdogs and Antiheroes: Japanese Prints from the Moskowitz Collection
With Curator Kit Brooks
Friday, January 13, 11:00 am
This program is in-person and members-only
Please join us for an in-person tour of the National Museum of Asian Art (formerly known as the Freer|Sackler) exhibition Underdogs and Antiheroes: Japanese Prints from the Moskowitz Collection with Kit Brooks, Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art and Frank Feltens, Associate Curator of Japanese Art. The event will take place on Friday, January 13, 11:00am.
Although traditional Japanese woodblock prints are often associated with depictions of languid women and tranquil landscapes, the genre contains many other subjects that are less often explored. Drawn entirely from the collection of Pearl and Seymour Moskowitz, recently gifted to the National Museum of Asian Art, the exhibition Underdogs and Antiheroes focuses on the captivating stories and urban legends of individuals living on the fringes of society in early modern Japan. Key subjects in theater, literature, and visual arts reveal antiheroes and underdogs whose virtues are often embodied by their rejection of societal norms, making them misfits and moral exemplars at the same time. Now in its second rotation, the variety of artists represented allows visitors to see how the same core stories have been reinterpreted over time, from the eighteenth century until today. You can learn more about the exhibition here.
Due to the intimate scale of the exhibition, the program will be limited to a maximum of 15 participants. Please use the button below to register. You may register up to two people. As always, please RSVP as soon as you are able as programs fill up quickly.
Member News
WPC member Deborah Schindler was awarded the 2022 Park View Artist Award at this year’s Glen Echo Labor Day show. An exhibition of Deborah’s work will be on view at the Glen Echo Park View Gallery, January 8 – February 19. There will be a reception on January 14, 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
Gallery Member News
Gallery Neptune and Brown
Raya Bodnarchuk: A Family. An exhibition of sculpture and works on paper, January 14 – February 18.
At Pyramid Atlantic, Pastports, hand-cut depictions of streetscapes by aritist Rosa Leff. Until January 29. Register for the January 19 virtual artist talk here.
The Washington Printmakers Gallery, Kate Lowman Contructed Prints until January 8.
Also of Interest
The Baltimore Fine Art Print Fair will return March 30 – April 2, 2023. More information is available here.
At the David Driskell Center, University of Maryland College Park: Ringgold/Saar: Meeting on the Matrix. On view January 27 – May 22. Opening reception January 26, 6:00pm. More information here.
Welcome to our Newest Members
Devika Daga is the Director of Market Intelligence at Technology Transformation Services of the US General Services Administration. Devika is passionate about contemporary African art and classical Indian music. Devika is a proud alum of the University of Michigan, a mayoral appointee on DC’s Innovation and Technology Inclusion Council, and a junior board member of Washington Performing Arts.
Joette James says, “Since 2005, I’ve been collecting contemporary art with a focus on artists who are living or once lived in the DMV. I am a clinical neuropsychologist by training and recently completed a Master’s degree in Art History. My collection is focused on abstraction, with the majority of the work being paintings, though with some works on paper, sculpture, and video art. Fellow DC collectors Philip Barlow and Lisa Gilotty are close friends who have been my primary mentors in my collecting journey. After a recent inspiring collector tour of the home of the Withs’ works on paper collection, I’m excited to turn my focus to prints!”
Save the Date
On January 21, 11:00am, WPC members will have an opportunity to visit a DC-based private collection of works by the French Surrealist Yves Tanguy. Further information and a registration link will be coming soon.