The BIG Print!

RIT’s School for American Crafts (SAC) is taking art to the next level by producing the world’s largest monoprints just outside the doors of CIAS (Building 07).

Each print varies and no two are alike. The event, organized by Keith Howard (Associate Professor for SAC and author of “Non-Toxic Intaglio Printmaking”), features prints being made on-the-spot by a team of students and faculty with the aid of a steamroller.

Yes, a steamroller. It really is something to behold.

Team members set plates, which are as large as classroom doors and appear to be made of plexiglass, on tables. The plates are then rolled with ink. It takes three to four people to carry each plate and then flip it over so that it makes contact with a sheet of paper slightly bigger in size that is lain out on the ground.

A steamroller as big as a small to medium-sized lawn tractor is then driven back and forth over the paper, until the image on the plate transfers onto it. Produced at of a rate of one every 10 minutes or so, the impromptu, ever-evolving process incorporates the use of plastic cut-outs, lace and other textures which help the artists modify their design.

Have a hankering for artistic expression and improvisation? Stop by the demonstration and catch a glimpse of this highly unusual and highly recommended artistic process.