cherrypatter nyc
and great ideas for what to do too!
lower east side print shop: a creative outlet for all levels
i went to the quintessential american high school, although maybe not exactly typical because it is in salt lake city – just a slightly different population from the rest of middle america but nice and conservative of course. but the high school was typical enough, at least according to disney, that east high is the setting for the sickly sweet high school musical. since i like catching glimpses of the school, which is a bit fancier than in my day, that is the very only reason i have even allowed 20 minutes of watching this show despite the begging that goes on from a certain member of this household.
when i was at east high, my very favorite required class was graphics. down in the dingy basement, we had a pretty crazy teacher and lots of old equipment, but none of that mattered. i just liked that i could create a basic design and then silkscreen it somewhere — paper, a t-shirt, a piece of plastic and i loved that look that came out. it didn’t really matter how ugly or ungracious the design was, it would always look better once printed somewhere. since i have never considered myself particularly creative — i cannot draw, or really paint anything, or even sew — printmaking was a way to do that without seeming to have a lot of innate skill.
i was pretty excited when i learned about the lower east side print shop from mug. printmaking is what they do all the time, and they have ongoing classes, and studio space. of course, i am sure many of the people who use their facilities are super talented, but at least for me, it seems appealing that maybe i could take a class there and relive my 9th grade years (without all the teenage angst). right now, the les print shop is running a solar plate etching class, a silkscreen class and a monotype class. and next month, they will be starting a japanese waterbased woodcut class (moku hanga, a traditional japanese technique), an intaglio class which is a way to create very detailed images with techniques like etching, dry point and spit-bite — whatever those things are, and an intro to printmaking which would be for me!
for the serious artists out there, the les print shop also rents out the studio for access to the printmaking equipment and they often have small exhibits. right now is enoc perez, monoprints on view till november 1st. the classes and workshops aren’t cheap, at around $395, but it seems like it could be a great distraction for the creatively frustrated like myself. the les print shop is located in the garment district in the west 30s where i found lots of great food options, as well as lots of random shopping ideas (this is the land of the specialty shop). a mini guide with my suggestions for where to hang out before and after class is below. lower east side print shop, 306 west 37th street at 8th avenue, manhattan, new york, .