Print Media

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Department Philosophy

The Print Media department is characterized by a perpetually expanding view of printmaking through interdisciplinary practice.

Department Philosophy

The Print Media department is characterized by a perpetually expanding view of printmaking through interdisciplinary practice.

This dynamic approach to print encourages experimentation and innovation within traditional and emerging print media. Practices from woodcuts to zines, commercial printing to the digital tools of mass media are all encouraged in our department. It is the space where artists engage with the materials and technologies of reproduction, with a value placed on experimentation and process. Rooted in the concept of democratic media—from Gutenberg to internet memes—Print Media prizes collaboration and diverse forms of dissemination in contemporary art and culture.

Challenge begins in the studio. Each student that enters the department should have a high level of self-motivation to create work, a restless curiosity about self and world, the maturity to handle the interface of life and creative practice, and be willing to work with others for mutual artistic growth within a constructive but demanding learning environment.

Artist in Residence

Emmy Bright

Emmy Bright works in drawing, print, and social practice. Her work investigates subjectivity and desire through the lenses of comedy, art history, pop music, psychology, and philosophy. She has produced social practice projects and exhibited extensively throughout the United States. Bright has taught at RISD, City College New York, Ox-Bow School of Art, Providence College, and Bryant University and has been awarded fellowships and residencies at Ox-Bow School of Art, Vermont Studio Center, New Urban Arts, Penland School of Crafts, and Haystack.

Artist in Residence

Cooper Holoweski

Cooper Holoweski works in print media, video, and sound. In 2015 he was awarded the Media Residency at the Clocktower Gallery and the Keyholder Residency at the Lower East Side Printshop in New York. His prints have been described as “striking” by Paul Coldwell in Art in Print, and his video work has been praised by Sarah Schmerler of Art in America as “magical” and “infinitely watchable.” He was awarded the Prix de Print by Art in Print magazine in 2017.

Program

Print Media at Cranbrook

The Print Media department is a cohort of people from diverse backgrounds who enthusiastically work together in a community of practice. We contribute our efforts toward the shared purpose of researching, discussing and producing work that defines a leading position within the vanguard of contemporary art practice. Our program centers around the studio and supporting individual students’ practices. In addition to studio practice, ongoing critical dialogue is fostered through peer review during weekly critiques, one-on-one meetings with the Artist-in-Residence, weekly reading group, professional practice seminars, studio visits and lectures with visiting artists and critics and through the campus wide critical studies program. The department’s schedule reflects our program’s dedication to the development of each member’s individual studio and research practice, as well as the growth of a shared set of critical thinking, writing, and social practice skills that will contribute to, and advance the discipline of Print Media.

In addition to producing work within the studios, the department is inaugurating an “artist editions” project, where we invite artists from across disciplines to come and work with our students to produce an editioned multiple. We see Print Media’s value as part of an ongoing conversation about distribution, technology and the meeting of image with material. Our department provides a platform for its integration and use in contemporary art.

Emmy Bright + Cooper Holoweski

The Cranbrook Experience in Print Media

Emmy Bright + Cooper Holoweski

The Cranbrook Experience in Print Media

Daniel Bozhkov

2018 Visiting Artist

Visiting Artists

Along with visits by notable artists, critics, and curators from around the world, the department schedules numerous field trips in the city of Detroit. Students have the opportunity to form lasting relationships with with Detroit artists, studio-collectives, museums, and galleries. There are also yearly department trips to other cities for print conferences, studio visits and exhibitions both in the states and abroad.

Select Visiting Artists

Paula Wilson

Mixed Media Artist
Kevin Zucker

Artist, Professor, Rhode Island School of Design
Arnold Kemp

Artist, Curator, Poet
Guadalupe Maravilla

Multidisciplinary Artist
Daniel Greenberg

Artist, Printmaker, Writer
Melissa Hillard Potter

Artist, Writer, Curator

Emmy Bright gives a screen printing demonstration.

Facilities

The Print Media department is located within two adjacent buildings. The department occupies two floors in the Academy Administration building. A cluster of semi-private studios for students, a small computer lab, a critique room, and a kitchen occupy the first floor. The lower level houses recently renovated print shop facilities for water-based screen printing, intaglio, lithography, and letterpress processes. The shop is a flexible space, and we adapt the space and equipment to support experimental print projects.

Additional studios and a large, communal workspace are located across the street. The Academy’s professionally staffed and well-equipped Central Media Lab, Woodshop and Library further enhance the department’s resources. The metro Detroit business and manufacturing community offers many possibilities for outsourcing of work if required.