Island Press - Contemporary Print Editions and Artist Projects

Island Press - Contemporary Print Editions and Artist Projects Collaborative Print Workshop and Publisher Founded in 1978, Island Press is a research-based printmaking workshop at Washington University in St.

Louis that is committed to creating and publishing innovative prints and multiples, educating students and the broader community about print media, and advancing the printmaking field. In the context of intensive visiting artist residencies, Island Press explores the expansive theoretical and material terrain of the print. The Press is project-driven, tapping into the place where the artist's crea

tive activity and research intersect with the philosophical underpinnings of printmaking. Experimentation with new modes and technologies is a natural part of this pursuit, resulting in the creation of innovative and ambitious editions in a wide range of media. Fostering the creative relationships of the printmaking workshop is central to the Island Press mission. Visiting artists work in collaboration with the master printer, faculty, and students to create a reciprocal environment for education and research. Artists reap the benefits of numerous dedicated, energetic student assistants to help push to new levels of complexity and originality in their projects. At the same time, undergraduate and graduate students taking part in the development of artistic ideas gain access and insight into both the technical and conceptual challenges that make each artist’s project unique.

Kalinda Tran is a summer intern with Island Press this June, assisting with the production of recent artist editions. We...
06/23/2026

Kalinda Tran is a summer intern with Island Press this June, assisting with the production of recent artist editions. We’re so fortunate to work with her!

Kalinda is a Philadelphia-based printmaker and painter whose work explores memory, displacement, and the fragile nature of home. Using everyday rituals and family objects as visual anchors, she bridges her parents’ past with her own present—examining how culture lives in small, often overlooked moments. A recent graduate of Boston University, she has received the Jasmine Chobanian Fellowship and the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence, and her work has been exhibited at PrintAustin, PrintHouston, and the Boston Printmakers Student Show.

Image info: (images 2 and 3) kalinda
1. Wonder
2. University City

We’re so pleased to have the assistance of Island Press summer intern, Sally Rifkin, who joins us for the month of June ...
06/23/2026

We’re so pleased to have the assistance of Island Press summer intern, Sally Rifkin, who joins us for the month of June assisting with production on recent editions.

Sally Rifkin is an artist and researcher based in Brooklyn, New York, and a current MFA candidate at Pratt Institute. Her practice engages printmaking, collage, and bookmaking to evaluate 20th-century American history and institutions, diagramming affinities between historical fields and moments that are often kept in silos. Sally engages with archival images– particularly pulp paperback covers, advertisements, and propaganda – to investigate historical and contemporary teachings across q***r life, surveillance, and citizenship. Sally received a bachelor’s degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and worked in progressive politics and government for seven years before transitioning to graduate studies.

Check out her work (images 2and 3)! Sally
1. Why Would A D**e Vote For Genocide? Letterpress booklet and poster, 11x14 unfolded, 2024
2. On Grid, Collage, 20x30, 2025

ISLAND PRESS OPEN HOUSE, MAY 12, 3-5PM.Join us for a public viewing of “Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits...
05/03/2026

ISLAND PRESS OPEN HOUSE, MAY 12, 3-5PM.

Join us for a public viewing of “Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century.”
 
Island Press in the Sam Fox School and partners at five other printmaking workshops nationwide have recently released “Printing Black America.” Created by artist William Villalongo and data scientist Shraddha Ramani, the portfolio is a reimagining of W.E.B. Du Bois’s “Data Portraits” informed by contemporary data and local research. Villalongo and Ramani collaborated with Island Press and conducted research in St. Louis during the 2023-24 academic year as Arthur and Sheila Prensky Visiting Artists.
 
Du Bois originally created his “Data Portraits” as a series of infographics on the progress of Black Americans after Emancipation to be displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Villalongo and Ramani’s reimagined prints were aided by research into official records including the 2020 U.S. census; projects by Black scholars, social scientists, and activists; as well as hyper-local testimonies, data, and archives. The images were created through various printmaking techniques including silkscreen, etching, lithography and archival inkjet.
 
“Printing Black America” includes 30 prints, divided into six thematic portfolios, including the portfolio, Employment, published by Island Press in collaboration with the artists and supported by the research of local scholars and social scientists. All 30 prints plus portfolio front pages will be on view at the open house on May 12th.
 
Printmaking partners and portfolio themes include: USF Graphicstudio, Tampa, Fla. (Portfolio One: First Impressions); Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, Ny. (Portfolio Two: Populations); Highpoint Editions, Minneapolis, Minn. (Portfolio Four: Ownership); Mullowney Printing Company, Portland, Ore. (Portfolio Five: Education); and Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, Calif. (Portfolio Six: Communities).

islandpress webdubois dataportraits graphicstudio paulsonfontainepress mullowneyprinting highpointeditions powerhouse_arts

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Sam Fox School Of Design And Visual Arts, Washington University
St. Louis, MO
63130

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