2a. Mission Statement:
Anchor Graphics is a not-for-profit printshop that brings together, under professional guidance, a diverse community of youth, emerging and established artists, and the public, to advance the fine art of printmaking by integrating education with the creation of prints. Anchor Graphics is the only fine art printshop in Chicago that offers a synthesis of educational programs and printmaking opportunities within a professional environment, promoting art as a valuable educational tool, and encouraging professional practice. Hand-drawn, unique images, printed on manually operated presses are a vital means of expression. Anchor is unique in our service to the community as both a professional printshop and community space, operating around two interdependent components found within our mission statement– the printshop and education. The printshop serves as a locus for individual artistic exploration, professional opportunities for area printmakers, and classes for youth and adults. The educational component encompasses our classes, workshops, tours, lectures, demonstrations, and outreach programs. The outcome of these two working divisions is the advancement of the fine art printmaking tradition, and the creation of both new and continuing generations of youth and adults who have experienced the formative power of art in their lives.
2b. Organization History / Organizational Overview. Index of important events in organization's history.:
Since it inception Anchor Graphics has been creating partnerships with other arts, education and social organizations in the Chicago area to better carry out its mission of providing public access to the fine art of printmaking. Such partnerships have been long-term, lasting years, and short-term, lasting from a few months to a single day. Long-term partnerships have included working with Gallery 37 and Marwen to present printmaking workshops for youth; collaborating with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Division of Continuing Studies to provide printmaking classes for adults; and conducting printmaking demonstrations within the galleries of the Art Institute during their recent Toulouse-Lautrec and Rembrandt exhibitions. Short-term partnerships have included single day workshops with the Terra Museum of American Art, the Mary and Leigh Block Museum, the Smart Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art; presenting exhibitions of prints created at Anchor in venues around Illinois and the Midwest; presenting lectures at area schools and colleges; and working with the Chicago Artists International Program to bring artists from Asia, Africa, and Europe to Chicago in order to create limited edition prints and promote an international discourse among artists.
On January 1, 2006, Anchor Graphics embarked on its most ambitious partnership to date, by becoming part of Columbia College Chicago. This innovative partnership will give Anchor Graphics access to the resources of Columbia College, allowing our programming to be carried out to its fullest potential and to reach an even wider audience, while ensuring the longevity of the organization. Under the purview of Columbia College, Anchor will continue to provide educational and professional opportunities to students, artists, and members of the community through classes for youth and adults, exhibitions, artist residencies, lectures, open studio time, publishing projects, and outreach programs with an even more fully developed vehicle for their delivery.
Anchor will move into a new facility on Columbia College’s campus in April 2006. Having Anchor Graphics at Columbia College carries on an American tradition of having a well-respected fine art press on the grounds of an academic institution, similar to the Tamarind Institute at the University of New Mexico and Tandem Press at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Anchor Graphics will continue to provide open access to a professional printshop for the general public while offering new areas of exposure and participation for Columbia’s students and faculty. Anchor Graphics’ presence on campus will provide students access to academic internships, curatorial and connoisseurship workshops, as well as visiting artists and lecturers from across the country. In addition it will provide Columbia’s students and faculty the opportunity to work on special collaborative projects designed to integrate the professional world with the educational experience.
Columbia College Chicago is an urban institution committed to open access, opportunity and excellence in higher education. It provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Founded in 1890 Columbia College Chicago began as a communications school for women. By 1963, Columbia evolved into a liberal arts college with a “hands-on minds-on” approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Through the diversity of its students and graduates, the school brings a rich vision and multiplicity of voices to American culture. The partnership with Anchor Graphics is not new for Columbia College. Columbia has helped develop a number of other highly professional arts organizations over the years such as the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, the Center for Book & Paper Arts, the Dance Center and the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Website Link to Exhibition / Programming / Publishing History:
www.colum.edu/anchorgraphics