Letterpress Studio
UTK Letterpress Studio is located in Room 341B in the Art and architecture Building and available to all members of the UTK campus. It is managed by the Printmaking Area in the School of Art with support from the College of Arts and Sciences. The facility includes a Vandercook SP-15 (13 x 17 inch printing area) and Vandercook Universal 1 (15 x 20 printing area), a Potter Proof Press, a sign press, and two Kelsey platens. Ten cabinets of wood and metal type hold a variety of historic designs in various sizes. The studio provides tutorials in letterpress printing to both graduate and undergraduate students at the University and, has made it possible for students in studio art, graphic design, architecture, creative writing and other disciplines to create letterpress printed books and broadsides. Since 2016, the Letterpress Studio has been proud to share the history and traditions of printing with our Knoxville campus.
What is letterpress?
Letterpress is a form of relief printmaking that began in the fifteenth century when Johannes Gutenberg launched the printing revolution by casting the first set of metal type. This method of printing uses movable letters and image blocks that are uniformly ‘type high’—0.918 inches. Various styles of presses are designed to accommodate type-high blocks, and some later models, like the Vandercook cylinder presses, also include semi-automated inking systems. Letterpress printing is often seen in the form of posters, broadsides, and ephemera, but it also has a rich history in fine-press literary publishing that continues today. Letterpress prints often feature a debossed impression in the paper which lends a distinctive tactile quality to the finished product.
Access
Students, faculty, and staff from any department in the university are welcome. The Letterpress Studio is staffed by Graduate Assistants of the Printmaking Program who are available for technical assistance and class demonstrations. The schedule of Open Hours changes each semester, and current hours are listed below. A lab fee is required at the start of the project: $10 (School of Art); $44 (non-SoA).
Class Visits
The Letterpress Studio offers a selection of demos and hands-on workshops for faculty who want to incorporate experiential learning into lessons in history, design, literature, or other related topics. Class visits must be scheduled one month in advance, and instructors may choose from one of the options below. All demonstrations and workshops are lead by MFA Graduate students of the UTK Printmaking Program.
Studio Tour and Short Demonstration (1 hour)
Tour of the facilities and basic introduction to print history, process, type setting, and equipment. Class members will witness a printing demonstration and get to leave with a print. ($70 lab fee, 16 student limit)
Hands-On Workshops (2 hours)
Students will learn about letterpress and participate in printing and/or typesetting. All workshops allow each student the opportunity to operate one of our letterpresses and take away a print they have made. ($120 lab fee, 12 student limit) Instructors may choose one of the following options.
Workshop 1: Smokey Relief Block Printing
Students learn about how illustrations are created for the letterpress printing process. This workshop includes a brief demonstration on relief carving and hand-inking using traditional tools. Then each student will get to operate the press to create their own print of Smokey the Dog from original wood blocks drawn and carved by UTK students and faculty.
Workshop 2: Typographic Bookmarks
This workshop introduces hand composition with wood or metal type and offers historical context for the terminology used in contemporary digital typography. Each student comes prepared with a snippet of text (1–5 words) that they want to compose in metal or wood typeface of their choosing. As a group, we explore the make-ready process including lockup, inking the press, and proofing. Then each student gets to operate the press and pull a print of the group’s collected phrases that can be cut into a collection of bookmarks to keep or exchange.
Workshop 3: Literary Broadside
Students work together to produce a 9×12-inch literary broadside with two layers of printing. This workshop offers both relief block printing and typesetting in condensed versions of the two workshops above. Students collaborate to assemble blocks from the letterpress collection, designing the broadside’s visual elements and title or opening text. Each student will learn about the history and process of printing, get to operate the press, and create their own printed copy of the class’s broadside. (A poetry or prose excerpt of about 20–60 words must be provided by the instructor at least one month in advance.)
Hours and Access
Letterpress Open Hours
Monday— 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Tuesday— 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday – 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Thursday – 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.