Roll on over for the three-ton steamroller
The Division of Fine Arts and Media Technology is holding the third-annual Steamroller WoodBlock Party April 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Fine Arts complex.
“We’ve had it for three years and it is a lot of fun,” said Jacqueline Zimbalist, Fine Arts Administrative Assistant.
Art faculty Vinita Voogd started the event as a fundraiser and public relations event to promote printmaking and the arts to the community.
“For the first woodblock party, I wrote up a proposal during Fall semester of 2011,” Voogd said. “I submitted the proposal to my dean and chair. They approved and I organized the first event for my class, college and community in Spring 2012 on campus.”
Saddleback printmaking students will print their large format woodblocks using a three-ton steamroller at the Fine Arts Complex Theatre Circle. The steamroller is a road roller, similar to what is used for public construction, rented through American Rentals. It will drive over inked woodblocks as students pull their prints on paper and fabric.
“The Art Department believes that a person’s reflection of life is manifested through his or her art,” said Nina Welch, Fine Art Public Information Officer. “Students are able to fully appreciate artistic expressions through study, observation and experience.”
All students and attendees from the community have the opportunity to print a custom T-shirt, purchase student prints, enjoy a broadcast by KSBR and get something to eat from the food truck.
“There are not any awards, but students’ work is available for purchase,” Welch said. “They receive a portion of the sales and another portion goes into the printmaking portion.
Rather than reproducing a painting into a photograph, printmaking is an original, creative process. Pieces created are known as an impression since it is an original work. Prints are created by transferring ink from a matrix or prepared screen to a sheet of paper or another material such as aluminum, blocks of wood and stone.
