The Foundry Art Centre is excited to announce its 3rd Annual Block Party. Featuring a full day of family fun, this event is FREE and open to the public – interactive art projects, print demonstrations, live music, a print fair, flash tattoos, axe throwing, food and drinks, and the main event – STEAMROLLER PRINTING! June 24, 11am – 5pm
While there are many steamroller printing events throughout the country, the Foundry’s Block Party is quickly growing to become one of the biggest in the nation!
The Block Party encapsulates the Foundry’s mission to engage the community through the arts and spotlight the incredible artistic talent in the region. Not only that, but it does it in a BIG way, centering on a unique and over-the-top method of printmaking using steamrollers. Large-scale images created by regional artists, art collectives, and print shops are carved on five by four-foot woodblocks. Grafik House USA’s team of inkers then roll ink onto these blocks, the canvas is laid on top, and then the whole thing is run over with a steamroller, squishing the ink from the woodblock to the canvas. These fantastic completed prints are then taken to the Foundry’s Grand Hall to dry on display.
This year’s featured woodblock artists are Neeka Allsup, Central Print, Cullen Curtis, JT Felix, Liz Hermanson, Alexis Kurtzman, Brian Lathan, Rachel Lebo, Nina Marlotte, Samantha Mendoza, Emmett Merrill, Emily Mohler, and Mike Pennekamp.
In addition to the steamroller prints, the Foundry’s Block Party will feature live music by Run, Forrest, Run; Drona; Crim Dolla Cray; the Buckhannon Brothers; and Jerry Rabushka. Check out the interactive print demonstrations by Craft Alliance, Central Print, and Zack Smithey. Try your hand at axe throwing with Hatchet Haus Axe Throwing St. Charles.
Pop inside to shop the print fair by over a dozen regional print vendors, create your own prints to take home, and get a steamroller-inspired flash tattoo by Frenchtown Tattoo Company (temporary tattoos also available!). Block Party is also an excellent chance to check out the Off the Block print exhibition in the Main Galleries and visit with Foundry studio artists on the Mezzanine. Food trucks and the Foundry bar are available for refreshments.
The Foundry Art Centre would like to thank our sponsors and partners at Speedball, Grafik House USA, The Home Depot, Fischer & Frichtel, Blick Art Materials, Cozy Shop, Grafik House USA, Frenchtown Tattoo Company, Hatchet Haus Axe Throwing St. Charles, Black’s Carpet Discount, Zack Smithey, Two Plumbers Brewery + Arcade, and St. Charles Public Works for their invaluable support.
For more information, please visit us at foundryartcentre.org, or email Jessica Mannisi, director of exhibitions, at [email protected].