April 2023 Newsletter
/There’s a lot to do, but we’re doing it all for you, so come through!
There’s so much happening right now and we are so excited about all of it — but the best part of working hard is sharing the joy. If you love the work we do, there are a lot of ways you can support us, but it mostly boils down to this: sign up, show up, and take home the art that you love.
AT IS PROJECTS:
THIS SUNDAY, APRIL 30TH: Project Wall Closing/Studio Sale from 3PM-5PM.
This will be the last chance to see these works installed together before we start the next install. There will be drinks and snacks and additionally, a sale happening on prints, handmade paper, and more! Free to attend, please RSVP through our website to help us with our snack estimate. Featured image is Nicholas Waguespack’s Skin, 2022, Screenprint on textured vinyl, 22x18"
MAY 12TH: Member Night from 6-9PM.
May’s Member Night is hosted by Ingrid, who will be chatting with folks about all the geeky print things they might want to pick her brain about. There will be drinks and snacks, and attendees are invited to spend their time making art. This event is free for all registered IS Projects Studio Members so sign up ASAP if you want in! If you’re already a member, we’d love it if you’d RSVP.
MAY 13TH: Artists Open from 11AM-6PM
Organized by Fountainhead Arts, participating artists all over Miami will be opening their studios and inviting everyone else in! No RSVP required. Brooke Frank and Ingrid Schindall have private studios within IS Projects that will be open throughout the day, and there may be work to see from some of our resident artists, too!
If you want to stay on top of upcoming studio events, you can now find them on the homepage of our website! We’ve reworked it a little and we think you’ll love it. If you want to explore more, just visit our Classes + Events page.
OUT IN THE WORLD:
MAY 18TH: Opening reception for Jason Seife’s solo exhibition at PAMM.
We worked closely with Jason on these prints for his show at Unit London. The prints have just been released for purchase, and it’s one of our favorite commissioned print projects to date. Fourteen screen printed layers laser-cut to reveal papel amate. We’re really excited to see his work handled with such care at PAMM here in his hometown.
MAY 6TH and 7TH: Seattle Art Book Fair
You can find Ingrid at the IS Projects table in Seattle next weekend making friends and finding loving new homes for the books we represent. We have a lot of books worth hauling to the opposite corner of the continental US — don’t miss it if you’re over there!
Come and make it
The folks who make things here are always challenging and exciting us. We love the constant stream of new ideas to explore, new problems to solve, and even new takes on the basics that make up our daily life at IS Projects.
Our Studio Members are a key source of all of those joys. Our members all come in with different goals — they come with personal projects, business ideas, technical skills they want to acquire, fun silly dreams, and/or rigorous creative practices they want to deepen and expand — but whatever their differences, they have a need for print/book/paper in common, and we are really thrilled to be a part of that.
If you have any print/book/paper goals of your own and you think IS Projects might be the right place to explore them, explore our Studio Membership programs. Any questions not answered by our website can be directed to Brooke at brooke@isprojectsfl.com — that email will be a joy, not a bother!
To sweeten the deal, we have released Members Only Studio Passes for May and June, and we’ll have up a bunch of future months posted on our Classes + Events page soon! Each month-long studio pass allows you unlimited access to available equipment during our business hours, free access to our posted Open Studio Sessions, and a discounted rate on one-on-one instruction through Assisted Studio Rental ($45 an hour, usually $65!)
These passes are limited to 4 per month, so if you know you’ll want to buy one to work on a big project down the line, you can buy your pass now! If you’re not a member yet, you can buy your pass now and start your membership later. Talk to us and we can figure it out.
Learn before you leap: Upcoming Workshops
This round, we’re bringing you courses which offer you deep immersion into each topic you could learn. Arrive ready to learn and you’ll leave with a functional understanding of each topic, ready to work independently, and having made something really cool to get yourself started.
Extra special: our next workshop happens to start on May 6th, which is Print Day in May! This day is meant to be a celebration of all kinds of printmaking and there is no better way to celebrate than by taking this weekend-long cyanotype course taught by Lorraine Cruz here at IS Projects. Cyanotype works on all kinds of different materials — paper and fabric especially — and lends itself well to making prints from found objects, drawings, cut paper, photos, and more. It’s very versatile, easy to adjust for limited studio spaces, and you can’t argue with that blue! All you need is a great introduction to get the most out of this technique, and Lorraine is sure to deliver.
We’ve got a few other really exciting courses coming up. Check them out here:
Print Club: Collagraph with Sammi McLean (this one’s short! 2 hours!)
Water-based Monoprinting with Charlisa Montrope (4 weeks, once a week)
Photobook Fundamentals with Gabriela Gamboa (4 weeks, once a week)
Collagraph: Mixed Media Printmaking with Sammi McLean (one single Sunday)
Screenprinting Intensive with Ingrid Schindall (4 weeks, once a week)
Artists’ Book Feature
This month we wanted to share this gorgeous book we made with the artist Christian Feneck in 2019 as a part of our Existent Books publishing initiative. Feneck started making paintings while pursuing his Master of Architecture degree at the University of Florida and has been exploring the way these two disciplines interact in his practice ever since.
The Unmade Room is Feneck’s first artists’ book but has proven to be a beautiful expansion of his practice. It dovetailed beautifully with the work he had been making, and gave him a chance to explore some new ideas he’s still cultivating today. This book has been really attractive to folks with interests across and beyond the disciplines it engages, and has been collected by the libraries at Tufts, and Virginia Commonwealth University, and most recently Harvard, as well as a bunch of other places we’ve been thrilled to say it’s found a home.
We’re really proud of this book, and it’s been incredible to see that it’s been flying off the shelves here, and onto more prestigious ones out in the world. It was produced in a limited edition and once they’re gone they’re gone, so if you’ve had your eye on this one, there’s no time like the present to act!
Additionally, if you’d like to learn more about his work and find yourself in South Florida, a solo exhibition of Christian Feneck’s work can be found at Bailey Contemporary Arts in Pompano Beach until May 24th, with a reception on May 5th. The exhibition is called Borrowed Light and it is not to be missed!