“The Freedom to Represent Cognitive Dissonance”, Aquatint etching and silkscreen on Archival Paper, 2017

A celebration of the diverse visions and unique voices within our local printmaking collectives and studios.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (February 26th, 2025) - We hope you can join us on Thursday, March 6th, from 6p - 8p, to celebrate the unique visions and diverse voices that contribute to our printmaking communities. Lite snacks and drinks will be shared.

March is National Small Press Month, which typically highlights small literary publishers- who we honor and adore!-but as a gallery focusing on the visual arts, COMMONWEAL is reframing the idea behind these festivities to highlight some of the most dynamic local printmaking collectives and studios that make Philadelphia such an important center for print as an artform.

These small presses not only give professionals cooperative access to tools that are cumbersome to own and expensive to operate and maintain, but also open up printmaking to their fellow community members in order to educate about the technical processes of printmaking and celebrate its ability to express dynamic imagery and explore complex ideas.

The gallery is excited to host members and collaborators of BY Printmaking Collaborative, C.R. Ettinger Studio, Pressure Club Printshop, Second State Press, and Soapbox Community Print Shop, whose prints will be exhibited and available for purchase in COMMONWEAL's design gallery from Thursday, March 6th through Saturday, March 29th.