Students at The Massachusetts Hospital School in Canton were the first to experience the joy of relief printmaking with a new traveling print program with The Ink Monkeys, a print collaborative from Massasoit Community College. Armed with the motto that “anyone, anywhere can make prints”, The Ink Monkeys arrived with a professional etching press on a cart, a choice of linocut images, lunch bags, brayers, a choice of non-toxic colored inks and a rolling ink platen.
Students selected a plate to print from a group of seasonal images of creatures that harbinger spring or chose one of three portrait images of animals from their own backyard farm: Wilbur the pig, Velvet the horse or Ginger the goat. After a quick demonstration, each student was able to ink a selected plate, register plate & paper on the press bed and with a turn of the press takeaway a custom lunch bag print & the knowledge of the simple joy of making prints! Each student printmaker also received a printer’s hat bearing the official Ink Monkey logo.
The Ink Monkeys are a group of printmakers comprised of Massasoit faculty, alumni and current students who are dedicated to sharing the joy of making prints-small and large. On Sunday May 19th, at the 5th Annual Arts Festival The Ink Monkeys will be printing their fourth giant steamroller print. The theme this year will be The Alphabet and will feature a sampling of images cut by the Boreal Chapter of The Ink Monkeys from Fairbanks, Alaska. Printmaking activities, including the lunch bag project, will also be underway in the new Children’s Tent.
This community service pilot project was the result of collaboration between Professor Linda Dunn, Chair of the Visual Arts at Massasoit Community College and Kathleen Kalell, MHS Foundation Director and MHS Art Instructor Katy Richardson.
Information about the Massachusetts Hospital School and the wonderful programs they offer can be found here
More information about Massasoit’s 5th Annual Arts Festival at the Canton Campus can be found at www.massasoit.mass.edu//artsfest Visit The Ink Monkeys on Facebook here