Residency / Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Tyler Green, Adults, 3 hours
This week we had a class of arts educators from the White Bear Lake district in to learn about drypoint. Classes like this are really interesting because typically our students know nothing about printmaking and usually need reminders of each step throughout the process. With art teachers however, many of them have done this process or a similar technique either in their own classrooms or in their own education, and the questions asked are framed more around making it accessible to do from their own classrooms. The kinds of questions asked shift from what to do next to what kind of plate is being used, where to get stylus’, how long the paper needs to soak, etc.
Both of these kinds of classes engage the HP team’s knowledge of the process and the reasoning behind the different aspects; I’ve been finding it really useful to hear about the logistics of framing this kind of work to fit inside of a classroom setting, rather than in a space specialized for printmaking. While the teachers were learning the logistics of drypoint (planning, etching, inking, buffing, printing), they were also learning from us how to demonstrate the different aspects and the kind of language that’s specific to printmaking.
How can process that typically rely on specialized tools be made accessible in generalized classrooms? Should the process be made simpler to subvert the need for these tools (etching presses, etc.) or are the tools an important part of the process?