Yesterday (Wednesday 11/16/22) SCU Letterpress hosted a really fun afternoon holiday gift making event with new collaborators! Maria Judnick (English) dreamt up this event, which she called “Forge Garden Fun,” to marry her recent training in letterpress printing at the San Francisco Center for the Book with her new role at the Center for Sustainability at SCU. Maria teamed up with Becca Nelson, Sustainable Food Systems Program Manager at the Forge, to design and set a quote by Robin Wall Kimmerer from her book Braiding Sweetgrass. Further, they created decoration stations in the room next to the press (Dowd 310) for making bookmarks with dried plants and flower petals, stamps, and other drawing tools, all secured with a laminator. Renee Billingslea and I provided letterpress tech support and cheerleading for this exciting event.
Held from 3-5pm during week 9, the event was a hit. We counted around 50 attendees throughout the afternoon, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members, who came to make a print, decorate bookmarks, or get a tour of the letterpress studio. Here are some photos from the event – if you didn’t join us, these photos may produce “fomo” so be sure to watch for Winter term printing event announcements! Letterpress events are sponsored by the Digital Humanities Initiative at SCU. Email kleuner@scu.edu to get on that email list 🙂
Kirstyn Leuner, Associate Professor, Santa Clara University 