The Midcoast Printmakers Inc., a nonprofit located at the Damariscotta River Association/Round Top Farm in Damariscotta needs to move, and they hope the community can help them find new digs.
According to instructor and board member Delphine Sherin, “We have been very lucky to have the space at Round Top Farm, but the DRA is a land trust and our studio does not really fit any longer in their vision and budget. They can’t afford to maintain our building, which has definitely seen better days. We must find a new space by the end of next [2014] summer.”
“The building that they’re [Midcoast Printmakers] in is just in very poor condition,” said DRA Executive Director Steve Hufnagel. “It is a hybrid building with all sorts of shed roofs, poor drainage and it is a building we’ve decided to not invest in anymore.
“We have to make good decisions about which buildings we invest in, and we inherited a community value [in the Round Top Farm], and the Darrows Barn is in great condition, with sprinkler systems, and it is a very fine structure that deserves and demands investment,” Hufnagel said.
According to Hufnagel, the printmakers have been good tenants and therefore the DRA has extended the time frame for the artists to vacate to later in the summer of 2014.
Frances Hodgdon, a founding member of the Midcoast Printmakers, is actually looking to the public for some studio suggestions.
First, however, Hodgdon wants to impart to the public the importance of the studio, its contribution to the community and why the community should care about Midcoast Printmakers.
“We do outreach into the schools,” Hodgdon said. “[Instructor and board member] Deb Arter had a group from one of the schools that she brought in; we have classes there all the time.
“We’ve also received a grant – not a very big one – but a grant to do some classes with three groups. Delphine [Sherin] is planning some classes with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Mobius is also a group. I don’t know if she’s also going to do a class at Lincoln [Academy],” Hodgdon said.
“Our mission is to bring the craft of printmaking to the community through our classes,” Sherin said. “We are a teaching group; there are six of us right now and we are all experienced teachers and printmakers. Several of us have masters of fine arts degrees in printmaking and the others have degrees in education and have taught art and shown work throughout their careers.”
In 2012, Midcoast Printmakers had 300 students, Sherin said, not counting those who attended community activities where the printmakers had tables or those coming to the monthly Sunday get-togethers where, “we share art work and ideas in our studio with whoever wants to come,” Sherin said.
Midcoast Printmakers has made their facility and printers open to artists at any time.
“We also offer time for experienced artists to use our studio independently and privately to develop their own work,” Sherin said. “We are available to consult and instruct if they want us to.”
“There is no other studio in the area that has the variety and quality of printmaking equipment that we do – or teachers that have the range of experience in various printmaking techniques. We have three presses to work on,” Sherin said.
Teaching instructors feature Hodgdon teaching etching, lithography, solar plate, silkscreen and monoprinting since 1992. Holly Berry teaches linocut; Arter teaches monoprinting and gelatin printing; and Sherin teaches etching, monoprinting, gelatin printing and pronto plate printing and collagraphs. Kay Miller teaches botanical monoprints and Dick Miller teaches woodblock printing.
As a group, the Midcoast Printmakers have exhibited at the Camden Library, Camden; Caldbeck Gallery in Rockland; and the First National Bank in Damariscotta. They hosted a state-wide print show at the Round Top Farm in July 2009 which drew printmakers from far and wide. They have had a hands-on exhibit at recent Blueberry Festivals in Damariscotta.
In the existing 1000-square feet at the Round Top Farm studio, there is housed a 15- by 30-inch Conrad etching press, and a 27- by 48-inch Dickinson Combination electric press.
The studio has a complete venting system, aquatint box, large inking table, many silkscreens, a professional hot plate, a large sink with power wash, and a professional print drying system. There is a separate paper area to store and cut paper. A computer with laser printer is also available.
All of the above equipment will need to be moved to the new space.
Hodgdon said the nonprofit needs to find a space with at least “900 square feet, water, restroom facilities, and is secure.” She also said the group is hopeful to find a place with modest rent.
According to Hodgdon, thus far, the group is looking, “no further than Waldoboro.”
“Here’s hoping someone reads this article and has a barn or something for us,”
Hodgdon said. “I don’t have any idea what will happen, and maybe there’s somebody around that has a space and would be willing to have somebody in it.”
For more information on the Midcoast Printmakers, their instructors and upcoming classes, visit http://www.midcoastprintmakers.com, or email at info@midcoastprintmakers.com, or call 549-7087.
