SILKSCREEN POSTERMAKING

Next class: Saturdays, May 1-June 19, 2010.
Class on May 1 is from 10am-1pm; all other weeks' sessions are from 1-4pm.

Classes are held at the Women's Building, 3543 18th St; and Balazo Gallery, 2183 Mission.

Cost is $150-200 sliding scale. Paying at the higher end of the scale helps us offer financial assistance to those who need it. We have a very limited amount of scholarship money available to low-income students; please contact us for details.

Pre-registration required.

CLASS DESCRIPTION

Silkscreen Postermaking is an eight-week workshop sponsored by the SF Print Collective, the Women's Building and Balazo Gallery. The class will cover the basics of guerrilla art, graphic design, silkscreen printing and wheatpasting. Students will develop Photoshop and screenprinting skills, including film prep, working with emulsion, burning screens and printing on paper. As a primer for public artists, the class will also include tips for getting your work up and defending your rights with the police.

Each class meets for three hours combining presentations and hands-on art making. We start with a history of local and international posters, including work from the Black Panthers, the Chicano Movement, the Asian American Movement, the 1968 Paris student strike, ACT-UP, Cuba's OSPAAAL and others. Students will then design their own posters and learn how to print them. Participants will be encouraged to make posters that are relevant to existing organizing campaigns and to work with local community based organizations. Students who are interested will have the opportunity to create work for campaigns associated with the SFPC. By the end of the class, students should expect to walk away with at least one batch of posters and the skills to run their own street level publicity campaign.

Classes are held three times a year during the spring, summer and fall.