NCC Brings Highly Acclaimed Printmaking Artists to Campus

Printmaking has been a part of artist Chakaia Booker’s life for over 18 years, but the sight of her prints on display in the Northampton Community College (NCC) Communications Hall Gallery still took her breath away.  

“I couldn’t believe the images,” Booker said at NCC’s gallery reception on Thursday, November 20. “Each time the work is hung, there’s just a different feel that you get. That’s the hope. That every time you see the art, it communicates something different.” 

Booker’s art was presented as part of two joint exhibitions hosted here at NCC: Climate Imprints and Selected Works from the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Archive.  

These collections were on display at NCC’s Pocono campus last semester and have been on display on the Bethlehem campus in Communications Hall this fall, concluding December 3. 

“I’m personally very sad to see it go. I’ve been living with these prints for a year now,” said Rachael Gorchov, NCC professor of fine arts. Gorchov, together with Art Programs Director, Tom Shillea, and Art Programs Assistant, Jillian McLuhan, hand-selected the pieces chosen for the Blackburn Workshop Archive exhibit.  

Having these pieces on display alongside student artwork has been a special experience for NCC’s own art students. For Angelina Simoncelli, fine arts major, the opportunity to network with experienced professional artists is unmatched. “They have so much experience and for someone who is a student, I can learn valuable knowledge from them,” Simoncelli said at Thursday’s reception. "I'm learning so much about the deeper meanings of art.” 

The Climate Imprints collection is an exhibit filled with deeper meaning, as each work represents the artists’ interpretation of living in a world subject to climate change. This portion of the exhibit was curated by Booker, who is known for her sculpture work along with her prints, and fellow printmaking artists Tara Sabharwal and Justin Sanz.  

Sanz, who is also a Master Printer at the historic Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in NYC, joined Booker on Bethlehem campus for both the gallery reception and a series of printmaking workshops presented for NCC students, faculty, staff, and the public. 

At two workshops on Friday, November 25th, Sanz and Booker taught the collagraph printmaking technique using relief inking. Attendees were instructed on how to create their own customized printing plate using flat textured items glued to a backing surface. Once their designs were complete, they were shown how to add ink to the top of the surface, and Sanz helped each attendee run their plates through the printmaking press, allowing them each to create a variety of prints. 

“The Blackburn workshop was a great opportunity to learn about an art technique I've been curious about for years,” said Luis Vazquez, NCC creative director, who attended Friday morning’s session. “I learned a lot from Chakaia and Justin, especially their insights about technique and process. Watching these artists work, and creating alongside them, has inspired me to produce more personal art. I am very grateful for the experience.” 

Workshop participants had the opportunity to hang and display their prints at the end of each session, coming together with Booker, Sanz and their fellow budding artists to analyze and interpret their newly inked pieces.  

“I think there has always been this element of collaboration and labor with printmaking,” Sanz said. He shared that the themes of collaboration and accessibility have always been the backbone of the workshop he has been a part of for over 20 years.  

The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop was founded by Robert Blackburn in 1947, during the era of segregation. “As a black man, [Blackburn] realized there wasn’t a place where he or other people of color could come to print and work, so he started his own workshop,” recounted Sanz. “It was really the first community workshop, and now we are the longest running community workshop in American history.” 

Having these community workshop pieces on display at our community college has been a real point of pride for Northampton over the past year. These exhibitions were a part of NCC’s Art History Survey Speaker Series, a series that examines themes covered in ARTA101 Art History Survey class from within contemporary, global, non-western, queer, feminist, and BIPOC contexts. Launched in Fall 2021, this series showcases one artist or artist group per semester, with previous speakers including Natessa Amin, Jeremy Dennis, and Duwenavue Santé Johnson.  

Though Booker and Sanz’s exhibitions may be traveling to their next home, NCC students are invited to visit the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in midtown Manhattan at any time. As Sanz said, “Anyone can come in, regardless of your skill level, and learn printmaking.”