It does and it doesn’t seem like I have been involved with this organization for ten years. I was not at the first conceptual meeting, but I understand there were lots of donuts as just about each person brought a box. I am one of many in this organization that was recruited by Sam Peters, one of the founders of the group. Little did I know that taking a Monoprint/Monotype class at the Maryland Institute would do so much, I joined Maryland Printmakers that hot summer because of Sam, or maybe it was the heat. I attended the first general meeting held at School 33, in Baltimore, October, 1989. This is when I made my first...let’s see, can’t call it a mistake....maybe a commitment. I raised my hand and volunteered, just little things at first. I helped with distribution of the newsletter to my part of  the world, back then Montgomery County, now Frederick. I also helped with some exhibitions. And again, I had no idea where all this would take me, but it has been a wonderful learning experience.

I started going back over my old newsletters and quickly became overwhelmed that I  had again volunteered, this time to write this article reviewing the ten years of Maryland Printmakers, Inc.  I kept putting it off, but here I sit pecking away at the computer trying to get this done for the deadline, a whole 2 days away.  So, let’s start at the beginning and talk about some of the firsts.

September, 1989, the first Newsletter: Included all of the members, at that time there were sixty-nine and they all fit on half a page. The board members were: President--Sam Peters, Vice President--John Sparks, 2nd Vice President--Judith Andraka, Treasurer—Ernest Walters, Secretary--Charlotte Kaufmann, InPrint Editor--H. Ed Smith, Exhibitions--Phyllis Wright, Education--Cid Collins Walker and Membership-- Richard Hellman. The first general meeting was held at School 33, in Baltimore. School 33 has allowed Maryland Printmakers to use their address as our home address and without this small favor we would not be where we are today. Since we did not run a gallery or have a print shop, we did not have a stable legal address to use, School 33 gave us that which allowed us to pursue our incorporation and non-profit status.

The first group exhibition was held at the Daedal Fine Arts in Fallston, Maryland, June, 1989. Thanks to Ernie Walters, owner, this was the start  of many fine exhibitions. Membership was a flat twenty-five dollars for everyone and today it is thirty-five for regular members, twenty-five for seniors and fifteen for students-pretty good-I think it has gone down for students and maintained for seniors. All in all, it’s only increased one dollar per year.

As the years have moved on, the board has changed.  We have tried to move the general meeting around to different locations in the Metro Area. We have had meetings at various colleges and art centers. Many of these places have also included a gallery exhibit for our members. We have exhibited widely and given our members many ways to display their work, give demonstrations on their techniques and exchange their work with fellow members.

The Print Folio Exchange has been a wonderful way to collect prints and make yourself work. The opportunity  for the folio to travel has given us another way of painless exhibition. The folio is framed uniformly, proposals are written and a committee, usually of one, handles the delivery and the members get to put it on their resumes. Pretty neat huh? One of those opportunities came with the help of Maria Luiza Taunay, one of our international members. She teaches at the University of Brasilia and with her help, we were able to set up an exhibit in Brasilia. This was not our first Brazilian exhibit, our first was partially funded by a grant from the Partners of the Americas and included Sam Peters going there to give workshops on non-toxic waterbased inks. Additional grants helped  travel an exhibit and support the workshops. Several people were involved with the work of this exhibit; Simone Osthoff was the coordinator of the project.

In 1992, Maryland Printmakers became Incorporated and established itself as a non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization. This allowed your dues to be deductible and allows our organization to apply for grants. And we did apply for grants to pursue our commitment to educate the general public.

During a well remembered meeting, Sam Peters and Judith Andraka announced that they had volunteered Maryland Printmakers to host a Southern Graphics Council Conference in Baltimore. Phyllis Wright took on the job of Special Events Coordinating. She and I went to the next conference in Knoxville, Tennessee to see what we had gotten ourselves into. We were overwhelmed and exhausted, but excited that we could do this and we did! I have never seen so many members pull together  to help put on a fantastic event. The 21st SGC Conference was held in Baltimore in March 1993, with the help of the Maryland Institute. The conference was called “Pulling Together” and that was just what we did. We had exhibitions of prints everywhere in Baltimore and a few reaching D.C. and other locations. We honored Bob Blackburn as the Printmaker Emeritus for his constant pursuit of making printmaking accessible to everyone. Sue Coe was a featured speaker and an exhibition of her works was held at Maryland Arts Place. It was an amazing two and a half years. The conference, of course, was only four days, but the planning, preparations and recovery time took  up the rest.

I realize in trying to write this that it takes a lot of  years to get some things done. We applied  for grants and would get them a year or two later. We would then work with schools to set up projects for the following school year. We started our Education Programs, “People Pulling Prints Together”; Quentin Moseley took on this challenge. We did receive funding from the Maryland State Arts Council and Arthur Anderson to put this project together. Tonya Matthews was selected to teach this workshop. This project led to several other student education programs taught by the members. Maryland Printmakers had by this time purchased a small printing press which traveled to the various workshops.  Dorothea Barrick and I taught the following year at Maryland School for the Deaf, followed by a project at Phoenix II Alternative High School. The press then traveled to Northwestern High School for a project funded by the Artists in Residence program. This year, Pat Hynes used the press to teach at her school. The press will be used in September and October of this year at the Rosemont Elementary School in Gaithersburg for an Artist in Residence program sponsored by the Gaithersburg Arts Council.

I have tried to touch on different events that have happened over the years, but as I go on and on, I realize that there is so much more. Allegra Marquart worked with two Chinese printmakers, Lu Fang and Xu Zhong-Ou, and arranged for them to come to America. We have had field trips to New York and Philadelphia, opportunities to attend workshops, wonderful exhibitions and demonstrations, developed a huge network with other artists and so much more. The newsletter has allowed us to express ourselves and see what our fellow members are up to. Maryland Printmakers, Inc has tried to educate the general public, keep printmaking in the schools and give artists opportunities to exhibit and teach. Some people say, “What can Maryland Printmakers give me?”  Well, what do you want, we are here for the taking, the next step is yours.

I hope to see lots of faces at the upcoming celebration. Ten years for Maryland Printmakers! There will be lots of special gifts sent from print companies all over the country, but you must be there to get in on the goodies. See you in October!

The little Conrad Press is available for members to use to teach at a school or to give a demonstration. To use the press, contact someone on the board to volunteer.