Text and photos by Erica Benoit, SPP Environmental Workshop Series Coordinator

In July, incarcerated students at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center had the unique opportunity to participate in a screen-printing workshop through the SPP Workshop Series. Emily Adams of the Evergreen State College graciously offered two separate workshops so that a greater number of students could participate. Emily gave an introductory lecture on the history and process of screen-printing and then the students had about an hour to create their own prints.

For inspiration, students had a variety of high quality images taken from SPP’s various programs to choose from as the subject of their screen prints. In some cases, the students practiced the skill of grid drawing while others relied on quick tracings due to limited time.

Once they had a drawing in hand, Emily put the drawing through a Thermo Fax Machine to create a “screen,” which each student ran ink through to create the final product. The image below illustrates this process, as one student uses a squeegee to push yellow-orange ink through his screen. For the first workshop, students were pressed for time, but almost everyone was able to complete a print before the session ended.   

Emily and I worked through a few logistical challenges to make the second workshop an even greater success. Most of the students in the class were able to leave the workshop with two or more different prints. We hope you enjoy some of the great prints the students created, posted below.