A Message From the Coordinator
Welcome to Issue 3, January 2024 edition of the recently reimagined Graphic Impressions. After getting a few issues under my belt, the New Year seems like the appropriate time to introduce myself to you, and discuss my mission as a coordinator and facilitator in this role. I am self-designated as a “coordinator” instead of an “editor” as I endeavor not to standardize to the status quo but, rather, to elevate the voices of others in juxtapositions of the many diverse communities which make up the broad field of printmaking. As an editor my only major prerogatives are advocacy for the Oxford comma, and screenprint is one word!
I am currently an adjunct instructor at Southeast Missouri State University, where my spouse, Hannah March Sanders, is the head of the Print and Fibers area. I have been an active member of SGCI since 2005, fully immersing myself in the print community. Conferences allowed me to cut my teeth in leadership and curatorial work, organizing a portfolio exchange, chairing two panels, and curating four exhibitions over the years, including Blessed Unions, a panel and the exhibition at the 2011 conference in St. Louis, where Hannah and I were married as an official conference event in the gallery! Our partnership has continued as a collaborative creative and curatorial practice as Orange Barrel Industries.
In 2019 I was appointed the SGCI Web Curator, with the assignment of bringing the dormant Graphic Impressions back as a web-based publication. The task was taken up initially in collaboration with Web Editors, first Louise Fisher, then Kit MacNeil, who moved on to serve in other roles in the organization. The SGCI Board’s priorities necessarily shifted over the next few years, motivated by the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary work of making the organization more inclusive, accessible, useful, and transparent for our membership. In early 2023, the focus returned to the journal relaunch. Thank you to Claire White and Amy Hufford for their invaluable help shaping the website theme and transferring the Graphic Impressions archives to the new site, and to Xavier Luis Moreno, of 3Gatos Press, for designing the Graphic Impressions logo.
The role of GI Coordinator is to be a facilitator, to serve perspectives and voices different from my own. So far, the guest curators and most of the interview subjects have been recruited by me from the hundreds of outstanding print artists I’ve met in my nearly two decades in the field. These artists represent the diversity of the print community, especially emphasizing segments of SGCI’s membership who have historically been under-represented and under-served. This includes the subjects of the interview features which highlight recent graduates and recent retirees. The former welcomes new voices, and the latter keeps the experience and institutional memory of our print elders in the fold of the organization. All the guest curators and most of the interview subjects have been BIPOC and/or 2SLGBTQUIA+, a trend that I will strive to continue during my tenure.
Due to systemic injustices, diversity among our retired academic ranks is harder to come by, so for future issues the scope of the current “The Next Chapter” feature will expand to include experienced professionals in the field. In the near future look for a new student guest curator initiative that will allow our youngest members to steer the visual conversation. The April 2024 edition will highlight exclusively BIPOC artists, debuting just a few days before the 2024 conference, Verified by Proof. You’ll see me in Providence recruiting subjects for future issues, so please say hello.
In the interest of inclusivity, GI under my watch will also have a philosophy of celebrating the expanded print field. As higher education contracts in an already competitive discipline, it’s important to promote printmakers who are finding their way and making work outside the Academy. Be on the lookout for features on folks riding the residency circuit, starting their own Riso press or makerspace, or volunteering hours for access to community print shops while working a 9 to 5, anything to keep making. The variety of techniques and approaches to print was a big part of what attracted me to the medium, so why not throw a wide net to catch a bigger school of print people, too? If you’re working on paper, with books or installation, if you’re interested in the multiple in any way, in short if you identify as a printmaker, welcome to the fold!
By necessity the first few issues have been primarily my responsibility, so any shortcomings so far, the buck stops with me. Fortunately, the professionalism of the featured artists has made the editorial process manageable. Again, my priority is to feature others, so let me be clear, I want help! I look forward to submissions from the membership for interviews, portfolios, articles, and reviews, and the formation of an Editorial Panel made up of Board members and volunteers to foster more expansive editions in the near future. This Panel will make GI a refereed journal which will in turn allow our international academic members the ability to contribute to the journal for professional credit. If you think the journal could use a more dynamic design please reach out as well,
Please submit ideas for the journal, or volunteer for the editorial panel using the submission form at the bottom of every page. The next deadline, for the July edition, is March 31st. If you have questions, please email me at bsanders@sgcinternational.org and I’ll get back to you in short order. I look forward to working with you to bring your ideas to the readers.
Thanks for your attention, I hope you’re enjoying the journal so far. Happy reading.
Blake Sanders
Graphic Impressions Coordinator
Blake Sanders
Graphic Impressions Coordinator