In the fall of 2020, local arts nonprofit Craft Alliance expanded its footprint with a move to a 14,300-square-foot facility in the Delmar Maker District where the organization could house larger studios, an expanded exhibition gallery and retail space, and administrative offices.
Now, work is underway to grow the space even more. Thanks to a $66,150 grant from Windgate Foundation, Craft Alliance will soon unveil a new print and paper arts studio, which will allow the group to offer printmaking, papermaking, and book arts classes in addition to the already expansive lineup of crafts in the art space’s educational catalog.
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Craft Alliance Executive Director Mark Witzling says creating a print and paper arts studio is a project the organization has always had in mind, but they previously didn’t have the space for the project. When a 750-square-foot space in the building at 5080 Delmar Boulevard became available, it was a natural next step to move forward with the idea.
“It’s just an area we haven’t been able to teach other than things that we could work into existing studio spaces,” says Witzling. “We have a new education director, Grant Benoit, and he has his MFA in fine art with a focus on printmaking, so we have the skills inside. It’s exciting for him to step in and help lead. He’s the one that’s going to help us define some of the equipment needs and the layout.”
The nonprofit is currently making decisions about those details, but proposed features for the new studio space include two convertible Conrad presses–which would allow for courses in relief, intaglio, engraving, monoprint, screenprinting, and alternative lithographic processes–as well as a paper beater and setup for teaching papermaking courses. Craft Alliance hopes to have all the equipment on site and ready to use by this summer.
“When we share that news, people’s eyes light up, and they’re really excited about it,” says Witzling. “It’s really important to Craft Alliance that we’re able to reach new students. We’re all about educating. We’re an educational resource for the community about craft, and that’s fundamentally what we do. If we have an additional studio like this print and paper art studio, then we just have a one more way to help inspire creativity through craft. And, at the end of the day, that means we’re delivering on our mission.”
For information about Craft Alliance events, membership, and other info, visit craftalliance.org.
