Wed, March 27: The Gallery, Store, and Offices are closed today due to flooding around the Torpedo Factory.

Artfête 2012 Wrap-up!
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Artfête 2012 Wrap-up!

Steve Prince conducts the first steamroller printing of the evening. Watch a video of the process below!

There was a lot going on at Friday’s Artfête Open House and Holiday Party, so we can’t blame you if you didn’t get a chance to see everything. If you’re wondering what you missed, here are some photos — and please check out our Facebook album for more!

There were instructor demos, as always — silk screen artist Nancy McIntyre (below) had a station for Artfête attendees to make and take home their own Artfête poster. Nancy Freeman previewed her Spring term class, Apps for Artists, with some art apps on her iPad. Ceramics chair Blair Meerfeld was working at the potter’s wheel, Joe Mullins discussed forensic sculpture, and Hermineh Miller was demonstrating calligraphy.

Artfete poster silk screen
Art League instructor Nancy McIntyre’s silk screen station.

Read on for more photos of the wearable art fashion show, the ceramic and jewelry sales, and a video of the steamroller printing demo!

This was the debut party for the expanded Madison Annex, with the new spaces housing the bar, food, and our first wearable art fashion show. Students and Art League models showed off what jewelry and fiber arts students have been making, and the crowd loved it!

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Instructor work was on view in a gallery, and mosaic students’ work was on display in the mosaic and stained glass studio. (Check out the gallery below for photos.) And of course, Friday was the first day of the annual ceramic and jewelry sales, which featured lots of affordable handmade art as always.

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The highly-anticipated steamroller printing drew quite a crowd. Printmaker and Art League instructor Steve Prince, who made his first steamroller print in 2005, showed the crowd the unique printmaking process, which uses a steamroller to press large-scale prints. See the whole process in our video from Friday:

Two prints were created during Artfête: one from a woodcut made by Steve, and one from a woodcut he made together with volunteers. Both were made entirely on Friday, starting from medium density fiberboard, or MDF. The group woodcut depicted a scarf with different elements of community woven into it. After drawing out the desired image — in reverse — with permanent marker, the artists used power tools and hand tools to remove the wood from the negative part of the image, leaving only the black marker part. The board that remains will be inked and pressed into the paper to create the prints.

The paper is prepared by wetting it, which prepares it to receive the ink. It’s then carefully laid on top of the inked board (on the street) and “kissed” to the plate to prevent it from moving during the steamrolling. The paper is covered with blankets to protect it, and finally, the steamroller gets its turn!

Thanks to everyone who came to Artfête, to everyone who donated to our Annual Fund, and to our sponsors (below)! You can click on the thumbnails below to see more photos from Friday.

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Special thanks to our Artfête sponsors, MRE Properties/Montgomery Center and Burke & Herbert Bank.
Special thanks to Robinson Terminal, our in-kind sponsor.
Special thanks to the Virginia Commission for the Arts for providing a Presenter Touring Assistance Grant for The Art League’s presentation of Orquesta Tropikiimba.

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