This ain’t AI: It’s Letterpress

Have you ever wondered how people make those cool looking cards, posters, and calendars at your favorite gift shop? You know the kind, where you can feel the design with your hands, where the type is actually pressed into the paper. This class will give you a taste of that fascinating art form known as letterpress printing.

Over the course of 3 hours, I will take you through the history and modern resurgence of letterpress. Most importantly we will experience together how it can be a source of joy for the collector, hobby printer, and aspiring artist. We will focus mainly on printing with supplies you can purchase for your home like the Provisional Press and introduce you to the possibilities of the historic wood type library found at Virginia Book Arts. In this class, you will witness a demo of the Vandercook Universal 1 press and come away with two copies of a letterpress poster that you printed yourself!

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites—only a desire to be curious and learn together. We welcome your accessibility questions!

Who should take this class?

Teachers, designers, artists, librarians, historians, or humans who wants to learn more about the power of hand crafting multiples. Ages 13 and up, and please reach out directly if you would like a child under 12 to accompany you (cost is per person).

Minimum number of participants: 4

If minimum enrollment for the class has not been reached 72 hours prior to the start of class, VBA reserves the right to cancel the class. In this case, you will be notified 72 hours in advance, and your registration fee will be refunded.

Instructor: Holly Odom