Center for Contemporary Printmaking
Encyclopedia
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
, dedicated to the art of the print, including traditional and innovative printmaking, papermaking, book arts, digital processes, and related disciplines. Its stated mission is to support, preserve, and advance the art of original prints.
The only printmaking facility of its kind between New York City and Boston, CCP is located in Central Norwalk
Central Norwalk
The Central or Midtown section of Norwalk, Connecticut is an urbanized area in roughly the geographic center of the city, north of the South Norwalk neighborhood and the Connecticut Turnpike. Wall Street, West Avenue and Belden Avenue are the main thoroughfares...
near South Norwalk. It is housed in an historic landmark nineteenth-century carriage house in Mathews Park, near the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion is a Second Empire style country house, now a museum, in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was featured in the movies The Stepford Wives and House of Dark Shadows....
and the Stepping Stones Museum for Children
Stepping Stones Museum for Children
Stepping Stones Museum for Children is a hands-on children's museum for ages 10 and under located at 303 West Avenue, in the Central section of Norwalk, Connecticut....
.
Founded in 1995 by Michael Costello, Grace Shanley, and Andrew Stasik, CCP has evolved into a unique cultural resource, where professional and emerging artists can explore the entire spectrum of printmaking arts. CCP offers about one hundred workshops each year, conducted by nationally recognized artists, on techniques such as monotype, intaglio
Intaglio (printmaking)
Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or...
, silkscreen, and lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
. Artists can also work independently in CCP’s studios, work with CCP’s master printers on special projects or specific techniques, and collaborate with CCP printers to create an edition of work. CCP offers a wide variety of educational and outreach programs to the Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
community, including teacher education and workshops for students from area schools.
CCP features a full schedule of exhibitions in its Grace Ross Shanley Gallery, ranging from solos shows by artists such as Jim Dine
Jim Dine
Jim Dine is an American pop artist. He is sometimes considered to be a part of the Neo-Dada movement. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, attended Walnut Hills High School, the University of Cincinnati, and received a BFA from Ohio University in 1957. He first earned respect in the art world with...
, Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler is an American abstract expressionist painter. She is a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work in six decades she has spanned several generations of abstract painters while continuing to produce vital and ever-changing new work...
, and Wolf Kahn
Wolf Kahn
Wolf Kahn is a German-born American painter.Kahn is known for his combination of realism and Color Field, and known to work in pastel and oil paint. He studied under Hans Hofmann, and also graduated from the University of Chicago...
to thematic group exhibitions. Two international competitions are held in alternating years: the International Miniature Print Competition, a juried
Juried (competition)
A juried competition is a competition in which participants' work is judged by a person or panel of persons convened specifically to judge the participants' efforts, either by the competition's stated rubric or by a subjective set of criteria dependent upon the nature of the competition or the...
exhibition limited to works no more than four square inches in size, and Footprint International, featuring works that are exactly one foot square.
Adjacent to CCP’s main building is the Helen Frankenthaler Printmaking Cottage, site of the Artist-in-Residence Program. The cottage houses printmaking studios as well as a compact, furnished, two-bedroom living residential space. Artists can apply for residencies, for a week or up to a month, to pursue projects independently or in collaboration with CCP printers.