Featured Photo by Kaleigh Young
Story by Kaleigh Young
The Tulip Popular Press kicked off its first meeting of the semester last Thursday. The Tulip Popular Press is a printmaking club that does various printing workshops, demos and field trips. They welcome all majors. They can be found in Todd 354, the print studio.
The club aims to give students of all levels the chance to experience how entertaining and accessible printmaking can be. At their meeting, they made risograph prints.
Risograph printing is a technique best described as digital screen printing. The process is similar to screen printing but with the added convenience of an office copier. It is known for its specific textures and vivid colors that other printers can’t produce.
The risograph of the evening was baseball cards of all the different members who came today. When someone arrived, they simply grabbed a printing tool such as a brayer or a squeegee for the prop in their photo.
The President Kayleigh Messner had the other members working on a physical magazine collage while the printer took its time on the photos. The magazines consisted of Better Homes, Vogue, Rolling Stones and more. Hectically, everyone ripped up different magazines to fit their pieces together into something visually appealing.
Even when engaging in creative activities the Tulip Popular Press allows a safe space for students to de-stress and make art without the pressure of a grade. They provide a space to join others interested in a common activity and make connections outside of regular means.
Students in creative degrees typically dislike the pressure of an assignment and also dislike their art being graded because art can be so subjective; A professor could depict style and misunderstanding of an assignment that the student wasn’t even aware of. This club gives freedom back to the students.
Their goals for the club during the year are to attend various print conferences such as Rocky Mountain Printmaking Alliance, Wayzgooze and SGC International. They hope to continue to grow in numbers and enthusiasm.
Their upcoming events are print conferences and more workshops such as pressure printing, screen printing and Lego letterpressing.
Candace Boyce, treasurer, is unpictured.
Printmaking is a medium for self expression and making new friends who also enjoy it. The printmakers invite those interested to join the printmakers again on Thursday to see what they have in store.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Destiny Mizell, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, or follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines or on X at @MTSUSidelines.
