Join four letterpress printers working in Providence to hear about their practice and journey in print. Moderated by Jordan Goffin, Director of Special Collections, each printer will share why the letterpress medium is important to their work.

Andre Lee Bassuet is a Korean American artist, designer and educator. She makes work dealing with memory and fleeting nature of human connections. She looks for unity between the human body and nature, merging qualities of both plants and humans. Andre Lee Bassuet is currently teaching the Art of the Book at Brown University. Visit her website to see more of her work.

Jacques Bidon spent over three decades working as a commercial printer, and today, he uses his knowledge of the craft and his unique artistic eye to create works of his own. He owns the Bidon Community Print & Design Studio, a local space where learning and collaboration can bridge the gap between the arts and education in all undervalued communities. His work has been featured in GoLocalProv and Rhode Island Monthly. He is involved in RISD’s Teaching + Learning in Art + Design (TLAD) department and their Project Open Door program, and also works at AS220’s Community Print Shop.

Lois Harada is an artist and letterpress printer based in North Providence, RI. She has worked in commercial printing for over a decade. She also teaches letterpress printing at Rhode Island School of Design. Her studio is in Providence, and she incorporates letterpress printing, etching, and silkscreen printing as part of her artistic practice. Visit her Instagram to see more of her work.

Dan Wood Dan Wood is an artist and printer living in Providence, Rhode Island. After a brief stint studying history at McGill University, he received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994 (where he now teaches letterpress part-time) and has continued his education in printing ever since, working as an offset press operator in commercial print shops from Washington, D.C. to Providence, Rhode Island. He established DWRI Letterpress in 2002, working collaboratively with artists, designers, businesses, and non-profits to produce fine letterpress printing. He has spent much of the last five years casting type documenting our strange times via The Linotype Daily (@thelinotypedaily), and his work can be found in many public and private collections, including The Providence Public Library right here!

For questions about this event or exhibition, please reach out to Lois Harada: lois.harada@gmail.com or Jordan Goffin: jgoffin@provlib.org.

This program is free and open to the public, and takes place in the third floor Seminar Room; registration is not required.

“Pied Type: Letterpress Printing in Providence, 1762–Today” is made possible in part through funding support from Rhode Island Humanities, an independent state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. RI Humanities seeds, supports, and strengthens public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement by and for all Rhode Islanders.