National Art Education Association

Printmakers Bring Their Art to School

Author(s): Lila Field
Source: Art Education, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Feb., 1965), pp. 7-9
Published by: National Art Education Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3190673 .
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LILA FIELD
HAND IN HAND, in late 1960, an idea and a
fact entered the mind of a member of the Board
of The Print Club of Philadelphia. For fifty years
this Club, the only organization of its kind in the
entire United States, had performed in various
ways its intended function of bringing together
the artist and the art patron as well as making
the public aware of the art of printmaking. Now a
new step was to be taken which would fulfill its
members' hopes of an expanded audience and of
the possibility of rendering service in new ways
both to the public and to the artist-printmakers
of the area.
This new departure stemmed from a patent
applied for by Edward Dickerson, Wisconsin
printmaker, who had succeeded in developing the
first portable press for engraving and lithography.
The fact of this invention came to the attention of
Walter L. Wolf, a member of The Print Club
Board and vitally interested in its program. Wolf's
wife Irene had long been closely involved with
the Young Audiences program which sends musi-
cians into the schools to play for and explain their
instruments to the children; the parallel between
portable musical instruments and a portable press
seemed obvious: "Eureka!" cried Wolf, and the
idea of Prints in Progress was born.
For centuries the weight of engraving or litho-
graphic presses had confined them to artist's work-
shops. But now that a portable press for both
media was available, it seemed possible for an
artist-printmaker to visit the schools as did the
Young Audience performers, and to demonstrate
his art before the children. With this press it
would now be feasible to do etching and lithog-
raphy as well as woodcut and serigraphy; blocks,
stones, plates, or screens could be prepared before
the eyes of the pupils who could then share in
the thrilling moment when the print was finally
pulled. Indeed, it would be possible to provide
materials with which the children could them-
selves prepare and print works of their own. And
the school's own collection could be enhanced by
an edition of the work demonstrated by the artist.
At the Print Club the idea was greeted with
enthusiasm both by the Board and by the Execu-
tive Director, Miss Bertha von Moschzisker, who
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PRINT MA KERS
bring their art to school
placed her energies and talents behind the project.
The autumn of 1960 brought the formation of a
Prints in Progress committee and much vigorous
development work. As always in such projects,
many problems had to be overcome; as always,
the central question was the question of money.
To ensure the widest possible audience, it seemed
best to ask only nominal fees for these demon-
strations from hard-pressed school budgets; at the
same time the honorarium given the artist had to
be commensurate with his skills and sufficient to
compensate him for the time and effort involved.
But the money was found. The Print Club
itself made funds available and more was raised
by Mr. Wolf from public-spirited Philadelphians
and from the Loeb and Philadelphia Foundations,
(the first of which has long been concerned with
the needs of the children of the city.) Other indi-
viduals rallied to the cause, including Francis
Ballard, a Philadelphia lawyer, who volunteered
both to act as treasurer of Prints in Progress and
to take care of such legal details as might arise.
An Artist's Committee was formed, made up of
printmakers Benton Spruance, Jerome Kaplan,
and Samuel Maitin. In October this Committee
held a meeting at the Print Club to which artists
from the Philadelphia area were invited and at
which time the project was explained. So great
was the interest shown by all that it proved pos-
sible to draw up a roster of artists wishing to
participate.
One essential requirement remained, and one
upon which acceptance of the whole idea de-
pended. This was the cooperation of the Phila-
delphia public schools. Such cooperation was
wholeheartedly forthcoming from the school
system's Director of Art, Mr. Jack Bookbinder,
who had attended the artists' meeting and who
had clearly seen the possibilities of the program.
Since that meeting Mr. Bookbinder, his Assistant
Director, Mr. Robert Goldman, and his entire
staff have done everything possible to support and
guide the project through infancy to maturity, and
have assisted in many ways to make Prints in
Progress a model that other communities may
emulate.
With such wholehearted help from all con- 7
 cerned, Prints in Progress was able to begin opera-
tion on a small scale. On December 2, 1960,
Samuel Maitin went to the Masterman School,
accompanied by equipment necessary for an intag-
IJ
lio demonstration. From this first beginning the
project has grown in the two following years until
more than a hundred schools and colleges in the
Philadelphia area participate annually. Over six-
teen thousand children, in groups of about thirty-
five have watched the efforts of over sixty artist-
printmakers in demonstrations of the four princi-
pal printmaking processes: intaglio, lithography,
relief and silk screen printmaking.
In 1964, Prints in Progress expanded its work
in directions which the founders never dreamed.
A generous grant from the Ford Foundation per-
mitted The Print Club to increase its facilities.
The construction of an addition to the building
at 1614 Latimer Street in 1965 will provide a
workshop well suited to the needs of all print-
making media and which will greatly benefit Prints
in Progress. Here it will be possible to store
equipment and institute follow-up programs for
school children which the lively interest of the
demonstration audiences have made so urgently
desirable. The scheme is spreading to the point
where other cities have expressed great interest
in the Philadelphia experience and are starting
drives to gather funds for the support of similar
programs.
Prints in Progress now owns several of the
Dickerson presses which form the technological
basis of the whole enterprise. One of these is kept
in a Philadelphia Board of Education truck and Artists Benton Spruance (above) and Simone Titone
is used for demonstrations in city schools; another (right) during the Prints in Progressdemonstrations.
in a truck belonging to The Print Club, for use at
private schools, suburban schools, and colleges.
A collection of prints of both old masters and direct impact of woodcut or the brilliant color
contemporary artists has grown rapidly as im- contrasts of serigraphy, and the relative simplicity
portant new works have been added, both from of these media made them ideal for demonstration;
the demonstrations and by purchase. A selection for junior and senior high school students, the
of these, specially mounted and protected and more complicated and subtle techniques of intag-
packed in carrying cases, is taken to each demon- lio and lithography have shown great appeal.
stration for display and discussion. The Prints in Similarly, experience has shown that some artists
Progress collection is now large enough to permit have special gifts that permit them to reach and
a wide choice of type and subject and to provide hold the interest of the very young, while others
prints appropriate to any demonstration. communicate more effectively with adolescents of
The now greatly expanded Artist's Committee, high school and junior high school age.
under the chairmanship of Claire Van Vliet, One of the first decisions made during the early
continues to receive offers from artists wishing to organizational period was that a volunteer Aide
take part. Those selected to work with Prints in would accompany the artist to the school to help
Progress are picked not only for their technical establish liaison with the school administration
excellence and artistic integrity but also for their and with the children, to introduce the printmaker,
ability to communicate the excitement of the to bring and display the mounted prints, and to
creative process and the satisfactions of craftsman- provide general assistance in the demonstration.
ship to people of school age. Much has been This Aides Committee, as it became known, was
learned over the months the project has been in organized by Mrs. Michael Egnal and by Mrs.
8 operation. For elementary school children, the Austin Lamont, now President of The Print Club.

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 With the passage of time the duties of the Aides
have been increased and the organization per-
fected by Mrs. Edward Budd, Jr., the present
chairman of Prints in Progress, and by Mr. Wolf,
an associate chairman.
R?:^,:~-::. This group of Aides has been appointed to be
directly responsible for each of the eight school
districts in the city of Philadelphia, while other
groups have been established for neighboring
counties. In arranging demonstrations, these Aides
call upon the school principals and art teachers
within their areas, explain the program to those
who have not previously subscribed, and advise
on procedures and dates. The work of the Aides
with the Philadelphia School System has been
greatly assisted by the support of Mr. Bookbinder,
whose office sees to it that all principals are
notified annually of the Prints in Progress
program.
The liaison work performed by the Aides has
proven to be of great importance. On the original
visit the Aide comes to know the school and its
staff, the background of the children who will
attend, and any special problems that may be
inherent in the situation. When she returns for
the demonstration in company with the artist, a
feeling of personal involvement has already
developed which helps to ensure that the demon-
ryf stration is the best possible for the interests of
the school and grade level concerned.
- So Prints in Progress has been a notable
N success. Its records show that most schools, once
'S having had a demonstration, continue to schedule
them year after year, and to schedule them in
coordination with the art curriculum. Every year
more schools take advantage of the program for
the first time. Whatever satisfaction is felt by the
administration and art faculties of the schools is
more than shared by the members of The Print
-
O; . 1
Club, who take special pride in having given this
enrichment to the widest and most receptive part
1. .-
.."..
of the community of greater Philadelphia. Identi-
fying with the artist and having an instinctive
understanding of his motives and his methods,
many children feel the stirrings of creativity them-
selves; many more, less creative perhaps but
equally appreciative, gain an awareness and
:~'~'~:~ understanding of what the artist has to say and
will grow better partners in the dialogue that any
- p.v art form must inevitably be. And as the principal
of one of the schools in one of the lowest income
areas in Philadelphia remarked to an aide, "If
only one of my children has his horizon broad-
tt7t3r
ened, I will feel the Prints in Progress fee has been
well spent."
Mrs. Field is a member of the Board of
Governors of The Print Club as well as a
dedicated Prints in Progress Aide.

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