The Co-op at Highpoint Center for Printmaking
Interested in Co-op Membership?
More information is available online
or download a PDF Application here: COOPContract.pdf [183 KB]
From lithographers, etchers, and woodcarvers to screen-printers, polyester plate makers, and photopolymer printers, Highpoint’s Cooperative members produce a wide range of work.
In addition to cooperative exhibitions twice a year, the Highpoint Co-op program provides artists 9 am – midnight shop access and 50% discounts on most Highpoint classes. And a new benefit: members can propose solo exhibitions for our new in-house Threshold Gallery, and our Robert L. Crump Library is open to the cooperative during regular business hours. The Co-op currently supports thirty-seven printmakers and we are accepting new membership applications.
As of January 2011 we are offering new discounted rates to recent college graduates, recent Highpoint interns, and to our returning members! Please contact Studio Manager Josh Winkler at info@highpointprintmaking.org or refer to HP’s website for details.
Prospective members need to read and fill out a full application form, interview with the Studio Manager to assess technical ability, and complete a thorough studio and safety orientation before using the studio.
Tales from the Co-op:
Highpoint’s Cooperative space has the facilities to please all types of printmakers. But our cooperative provides more than just facilities.
The shared spaces and equipment of print studios have traditionally brought artists of all ages and backgrounds together facilitating a unique exchange of information, technique, and sensibility among printers. Highpoint is no exception. U of M design professor James Boyd Brent & recent U of M Duluth graduate Christopher Hagen were two of HP’s Co-op regulars this summer. From discussing print techniques to baking homemade bread, James and Chris add to the wealth of knowledge and community shared by cooperative members.
Christopher Hagen
Originally from rural northwestern Wisconsin, the last five years have found me mostly in Minnesota. At the University of Minnesota Duluth, I undertook the entire offered curricula of photography and printmaking with additional studies in design and philosophy. My work interplays photo, print, and occasionally other mixed media.
Drawing upon a lifelong engagement in literature, science, and psychology, I am foremost interested in the interplay of processes and materials. By making my own printing mediums, I hope to minimize the usage of commercial products in favor of studio-prepared components. Building up from the raw materials ascribes meaning to the most basic components of my process.
Since graduating, I have primarily worked in freelance design, photography, and as a “journeyman” artist’s assistant. I finally ventured from the North to seek viable employment, and to further my pursuit of fine printmaking. I was aware of Highpoint for some years but it was finally a visit in the summer of 2010 that made me realize what an incredible resource was so near to my familiar port and my homeland in the woods. The welcoming co-op members and exceptional studios have been a haven in the city and fertile ground for the development of my work. However long I remain in Minneapolis, I will be glad of the time spent inky amidst the good people and presses.
James Boyd Brent
My first experience with etching was during my foundation year at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England. My instructor, Walter Hoyle, told us that it helps to be interested in cooking if you aspire to be an intaglio printmaker. I saw what he meant and was hooked, as I love processes that involve heat and exciting transformation. After completing my undergraduate degree in printmaking at Central Martins in London, I moved to Minnesota in the 1990s to pursue an MFA in print.
At the moment, I’m working on a series of plates that are about the places where physical worlds meet, such as where animals encounter people or where water interacts with solid objects. I’m interested in the shape and movement of these interactions, their eddies and currents.
Intaglio is a technically demanding process. One needs to be precise and bold while being willing to leave a lot to chance. It’s hard to see exactly what you’re doing when you’re working on a copper plate. I find these aspects of the medium engaging and inspiring, and a great aid in the creative process.
Highpoint is where to go if you are a printmaker in the Twin Cities. I have a small intaglio studio at home, but it’s more stimulating working at Highpoint in the company of fellow printmakers. I appreciate this creative studio environment and the regular interaction with other artists.