BUFFALO, N.Y. — Printing has historically been a male-dominated field, but in recent years, as it's shifted to an artform, more and more women are learning the craft.
The Western New York Book Arts Center, celebrates all things letterpress and screen printing, with a studio and gallery for local artists, as well as classes and a shop for the community to enjoy.
Women's History Month is important to the center because not only is it a non-profit run by all women, but they continue to see more and more women explore the letterpress craft. In fact, seventy percent of local artists showcased in their shop are women. Two will be featured in a pop-up event coming up this Saturday.
"Usually every March we take the time to interview a lot of our women members, check in with a lot of our women artists and see what they're up to, to help just spread their voice," Communications and Shop Director Mel Rechin told 2 On Your Side. "Without a lot of the artist markets that we have going on lately, we wanted to take this month to showcase some of our women artists specifically to give them a platform to sell their work and be successful."
One of the selected artists is Pam Koons of Crybaby Cross Stich. She taught herself how to stitch four years ago when she was living in New York City working on her masters degree in art history, where she eventually wrote her thesis on embroidery. Now, it's her full time career.
"Cross stich historically is a women's activity," she said. "I'm happy to be putting a modern twist on it. Making people smile, making them laugh, making them feel good about the work that I do. Just super appreciative to be there and support the history of women."
The other artist will be Alex Hood of Hazelstreet Press.
What: Small Artist Pop-Up
Where: Western New York Book Arts Center, 468 Washington St
When: Saturday, March 20th, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
More Information: https://wnybookarts.org/