On May 4, ArtPontiac hosted its fourth annual Print Day in May, inviting local art enthusiast to test out their printmaking skills at the Stone School in Portage du Fort

Organized by local artist Valerie Bridgeman, the event consisted of a session where local art enthusiasts used pencils, markers and carving tools to transfer images from paper surfaces to a black block by pressing them with ink and brayers.

Held every year on the first Saturday of May, the event was founded in California by artist Robynn Smith who decided to dedicate the day to her love for printmaking.

Now celebrated for over 10 years by print makers in art studios all across the globe, the first Saturday of the month has thousands of artists making all sorts of prints.

After seeing how the event’s popularity took over social media, Bridgeman felt compelled to bring the event to the Pontiac to show local artists what the beauty of printmaking is all about.

“I saw it on Facebook and I thought, “We can do that’” she said. “Print maker’s all over the world will be printing today, so that’s why we’re doing it. It’s a printmaking extravaganza.”

Considering the lack of avenues available for artists in rural areas like the Pontiac, Bridgeman says the event is a step towards giving locals an opportunity to learn something new while taking part in something they don’t often have the chance to participate in.

“People who live here don’t have the same exposure that people in the city to do arts events and opportunities to learn and to show their origin,” she said.

According to Bridgeman, the event is a great way for new artists to work with more experienced print makers allowing them to learn and feed off each other’s inspiration, thus making their creative experience much more enjoyable and productive.

“It’s always great to have a group,” she said. “When you’re printmaking by yourself, out in the country it’s always hard to do any kind of artform or anything in a vacuum by yourself. So, when you have other people that are working on the same thing, you learn and feed off of each other and get inspiration, energy and enthusiasm.”

With only a few artists participating, the turnout was underwhelming. However, Bridgeman was still delighted to see people participate because at the end of the day the Pontiac will have a few more print makers than it did the day before.

“I’m happy that we have two new people who might come back and do more printmaking,” she said. “We’ve got two new print makers now and it’s such a good experience and of course all of them are from the rural area and that’s what ArtPontiac is all about.”

As an avid artist and former board member, Bridgeman hopes the event helps bring more people to get involved with ArtPontiac.

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