One/Off Printmakers

One/Off Printmakers is a group of professional printmakers formed in 1983 based in, but not limited to, Richmond, Virginia, who have exhibited together for over thirty years in many venues throughout the world. The group originated at and was instrumental in the success of the Richmond Printmaking Workshop.^[1] Many of the One/Off Printmakers have been faculty or M.F.A alumni at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School, the Hand Workshop (now VisArts), Sweet Briar College, the Richmond Printmaking Workshop, Richmond City schools, and the University of Richmond.

History of One/Off

Printmakers working at the Richmond Printmaking Workshop on West Cary Street in Richmond formed a Print Club for both artists and patrons. The Print Club published periodically beginning around 1982 a photocopied Print Club Newsletter with the Workshop's logo of a black octopus, the same design which was emblazoned on a large exterior wall of the large studio and meeting space for the group also known as the RPW.^[2] The newsletter recounts that RPW founder Nancy David (who had been a student in the silkscreen and lithography classes taught by Marilyn Bevilacqua at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School) received a technical assistance grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts to attend the Bookworks '82 Conference held at the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, "a meeting for artists, writers, and publishers of small and unique editions." Also attending Bookworks '82 as panelists were Bruce Schnabel, an RPW bookbinding instructor, and Janet Dalberto of the Special Collections Department of Virginia Commonwealth University's Cabell Library. Richmond representatives to Bookworks '82 viewed an exhibition by the Philadelphia Print Club of one-of-a-kind (i.e. one/off) books, many of handmade paper.

Walter Hamady of the University of Wisconsin lectured at Bookworks '82 about handmade paper and described his studio near Madison, Wisconsin. During the conference, the Helen Drutt Gallery featured Bruce Schnabel's one-of-a-kind books. The Print Club Newsletter" related that "one of the best by-products of the meeting was the opportunity to meet and exchange information with others involved in book art."

The same year, the RPW in Richmond was visited by the National Endowment for the Arts to consider funding. The Print Club Newsletter stated that the people the NEA sends "are usually professionals from similar areas of pursuit as the organization hosting the visit, and they are always from a different part of the country to avoid partiality. They receive payment only for their expenses." The RPW was visited by Sheila levrant de Bretteville of the Communications Art Department at the Otis Parsons Institute in Los Angeles. Also during this time, the commissioners of the Virginia Commission for the Arts visited 1708 Gallery and the Richmond Printmaking Workshop, and a fundraising Octoberfest and Holiday Open House was led by Board member Joe Seipel, the Texas Wisconsin Border Café, and Board president Cynthia Schaal to support both 1708 and the Richmond Printmaking Workshop. The announcement for the open house was printed on the RPW's Chandler press with moveable type recently donated by Walter Garde, Jr.

By the time the Richmond Printmaking Workshop closed its doors, the One/Off Printmakers group of professional printmakers had already begun, drawing from the RPW Print Club and building on the experience and leadership of RPW founder Nancy David and former RPW directors Laura Pharis and Mary Holland. At its beginnings, almost every member of One/Off had at one time or another used the presses or participated as instructor or student in the workshops at the Richmond Printmaking Workshop.

In 2016 ONE/OFF Printmaker Jack Glover^[3] received the Theresa Pollak award for excellence in the arts from Richmond Magazine.

Virginia and regional exhibitions

One/Off's first exhibition was at Reynolds Minor Gallery on Franklin Street in Richmond. In 2002 members of One/Off exhibited a group show at Artspace Gallery on Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia,^[4] and also participated in an Art-o-mat cigarette machine installation at Artspace with small cellophane-wrapped art in simulated cigarette packs weighted to dispense in the vintage machine with a purchased $5 token. The concept of old cigarette machines vending art was the original idea of Clark Whittington and his group Artists in Cellophane.^[5] One/Off participating artists were David Freed, Barbara Tisserat, Mitzi Humphrey, Mary Holland, Laura Pharis, Paula Nottingham, Peter Calvert, Anne Chenoweth, Warren Corrado, Nick Cossitt, Janet DeCover, Nancy David, Don Earley, Steven Fishman, Kris Iden, Jim Nottingham, Mel Paca, Jack Glover, Tucker Hill, Dawn Latané, Carolyn Sharp, Randy Toy, Suzanne Fortin, Philip Wetton, Joan Gaustad, and Janet Gilmore.^[6]

In 2005 a ONE/OFF Printmakers' exhibition of members' art was at Main Art Gallery on Main Street in Richmond, Virginia, and another group show that year was at Middle Street Gallery in Washington, Virginia. The group presented a print show in 2007 in the large exhibition area of the Montpelier Art Center, Montpelier, Virginia.^[7]

In 2008 One/Off Printmakers celebrated the 25th anniversary of the organization with an exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School gallery.^[8] In 2009 the group again showed at Middle Street Gallery in Washington, Virginia.

On loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts collection, One/Off Printmakers showed Three One/Off Portfolios at Art6 Gallery in Richmond, Virginia.^[9]

Thirteen artists of One/Off Printmakers were featured in the front gallery of Chroma Projects in Charlottesville, Virginia, with a Charlottesville First Friday opening reception.^[10][11]

In 2012, as the group approached its 30th anniversary,^[12] One/Off Printmakers was given a celebratory opening reception and exhibition at the newly opened Studio Two Three on Main Street in Richmond.^[13]

The gallery at the Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia was the site for a One/Off Members' print exhibition on several occasions. One/Off Printmakers: 8 x 10 was a suite of members' prints exhibited at the Pauley Center (formerly the historic Virginia Home for Confederate Widows) of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.^[14] Following the exhibition at the Pauley Center, this suite of prints traveled around the state of Virginia as part of Old Dominion/New Perspectives, a series of exhibitions focusing on the American South, sponsored by the VMFA.

At Richmond's Hill Gallery in 2015, One/Off Printmakers exhibited etchings, monoprints, woodcuts, and silk screen prints.^[15][16] In 2016, a One/Off exhibition curated by Dennis Winston and Eric Walton was shown at Walton Gallery in Petersburg, Virginia.^[17] In 2016, A One/Off Printmakers memorial exhibition in honor of Janet DeCover was featured in the 1708 Gallery satellite exhibition space at Richmond's Linden Row Inn.

International exhibitions

International group exhibitions for One/Off Printmakers include: Galleria, St. Punto A, Milano, Italy; ICPNA, Lima, Peru, Exhibition, Instituto Cultural Peruano Norte Americano, Lima, Peru 1999; Atelier Circulaire, Montreal, Quebec. One/Off Printmakers is on Facebook.^[18]

Portfolios of prints

Some of the portfolios produced by One/Off Printmakers have been The Beastiary Portfolio, The Abstract Portfolio, The Landscape Portfolio , One/Off Printmakers 8 x 10, and a memorial portfolio in honor of Richmond Printmaking Workshop founder Nancy David.^[19] The One/Off Printmakers porfolios are in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and various private collections.

References