Art as political action? Yes indeed. Join Free Press organizers Ananya and Katy for a series of free Zoom workshops as they discuss how printmaking can be an effective political organizing method, review the history of political printmaking and  introduce several low-cost DIY printmaking methods.

Free Press is a print shop open house founded by artists and Guilford College professors Katy G Collier and Antoine Williams. Now a student staff art collective, Free Press is led by Ananya, Katy, and Guilford College senior Lacey-Ann Reynolds. Dozens of Guilford students have participated in organizing Free Press events since its inception in December 2016. Hundreds of Guilford community members, including alums, staff, students, and visiting artists, have participated in more than 25 printing events. The artwork at each event changes over time and is designed and created by Guilford College students, visiting artists, and attendees of the events. Live interactive printing happens at each event, and participants get to take home what they make. Find Free Press on Instagram @freepressguilfordcollege

Ananya Chiara Bernardo (she/her) is a visual artist from Silver Spring, Maryland, currently exploring different mediums. She earned a BA in Sociology/Anthropology with minors in Spanish Language & Society and Visual Arts Printmaking from Guilford College in 2022. At Guilford, Ananya was a scholarship recipient through the Bonner Center for Community Service & Learning and a Presidential Fellow currently pursuing a master’s degree at the college. She works primarily in screenprinting but also explores mediums like textiles, collage, ceramics, and digital art. Her work uses bright colours to delve into personal growing pains as a means of expression.

Katy G Collier (she/they) works through multiple disciplines, including printmaking, writing, drawing, and textiles. Collier earned her BA from Whittier College and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009. She has shown her work throughout the country, including at the Hyde Park Art Center, Women's Studio Workshop, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, and the GreenHill Center. Collier has taught printmaking at Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Spudnik Press, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Ox-Bow School of Art. She currently teaches printmaking and drawing at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Collier's art practice privileges labour over all other notions, such as the notion of the abstract, the notion of the narrative, etc. The centring of labour is a political choice, which extends from the lineage of feminist approaches to the body.