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I was following shoestring press on social media, they specialized in social activism which really stuck out to me. I emailed them early in December to lock down a summer internship.
Shoestring Press is a community print studio in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. They work as a shop for experienced and new artists, providing space for 40+ printmakers and creatives to engage with both each other and their own work. It creates a space to do the rather technical sides of printmaking that require specific equipment, all at a relatively low cost and with quite a bit included. The team handles a lot of the prep for printing for members, mostly in regards to screen printing, trying to make it as accessible as possible for members. The press also has a master printing and commercial printing side, doing official work for larger artists and taking spare print jobs on their large LaserJet printer for banners and posters.
My direct supervisor while I was on the job was the master printer and owner at Shoestring! He handles all of the client work. I was involved in a wide variety of work while I was there, each day receiving a new set of things to work on from my supervisor.
Some of the highlights included helping with low-cost woodworking for shelves, a sink and a dark room in their new space, going to a storage unit in Connecticut my first day to retrieve a variety of printmaking equipment from my supervisors storage unit, assembling the first part of a very large and old paper shear and getting to help print some of the t-shirts for the Brooklyn Fine Art Book Fair.
I am the most proud of feeling like I can hold my own in a professional space that relates directly to what I'd like to do with my career. I think my biggest takeaway is that there is no right path to the thing. I think if it is something you love, you do it. It sounds cheesy, but I think you end up where you need to. This internship has clarified another path that I did not see as entirely possible but now I see how I could make a printmaking career work.
Some of the highlights included helping with low-cost woodworking for shelves, a sink and a dark room in their new space, going to a storage unit in Connecticut my first day to retrieve a variety of printmaking equipment from my supervisors storage unit, assembling the first part of a very large and old paper shear and getting to help print some of the t-shirts for the Brooklyn Fine Art Book Fair.
I am the most proud of feeling like I can hold my own in a professional space that relates directly to what I'd like to do with my career. I think my biggest takeaway is that there is no right path to the thing. I think if it is something you love, you do it. It sounds cheesy, but I think you end up where you need to. This internship has clarified another path that I did not see as entirely possible but now I see how I could make a printmaking career work.
