Here is a link to the local news story:
http://www.fourstateshomepage.com/news/psu-printing-press-revival
The following is a brief story about how this all was made possible!
DEDICATION and CELEBRATION
The Cat Jepson Fine Art Printmaking Letterpress Studio
The PSU Department of Art had for many years one abandoned letterpress housed in the printmaking lab originally delivered to the campus in 1928. It had fallen into disrepair and was covered with a coat of garish blue paint that attempted to hide the rust beneath it. Most letterpress machines sat in similar conditions as the 1980’s and 1990’s discarded them as irrelevant in the age of off-set printing and computer technology. Since then, according to a recent article in The Economist the letterpress is now enjoying a worldwide renaissance. Etsy, the online craft store boasts 35,000 letterpress artists. Briar Press, an online hub for all activity related to the letterpress enjoys 70,000 members. 3,500 of those have letterpress studios. In 2012 Ms. Jepson, was taking Bowman’s printmaking course and she became interested in the abandoned letterpress. Jepson expressed an interest in undertaking as an independent study the restoration of the abandoned press, which she did. Mr. Randy Roberts, Dean of the Axe Library had two letterpress units slated for donation to the local history museum that were discovered by Ms. Jepson in February of 2015. When Mr. Roberts learned of Ms. Jepson’s restorative efforts on the Vandercook he made these two available to the Department of Art. Aided by the assistance of Tonya Pentola’s very able crew of Daniel Ingram, Cody McCloud, Dennis Sellegren, Keith Shively, Jeff Peternell, Rob Hunt, and Dale Lucchi who masterminded and engineered how to get the presses to their new home. These two new-old presses have been restored through the generous support of Dr. Pawan Kahol and the Office of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education with a $3000 Research Grant. These pieces of equipment worth well over $50,000.00 on the “letterpress” market now enjoy a new life. Students from the Fall 2015 Printmaking, Bookarts, Papermaking and Letterpress class have enjoyed inaugural experiences while Ms. Jepson led everyone through a two-week workshop. Ms. Jepson’s instruction have been captured on video, however her legacy will live on with each new student who discovers the magic of metal type tracing human interaction with paper and ink to transform the world with image and These restoration projects are made possible by a host of supporters near and far. Ms. Jepson and S. Portico Bowman wish to thank: Rhona McBain, former PSU Department of Art Chair, for approving the original restoration and providing seed budget money from the Art Department for materials needed, Dean Randy Roberts for the donation of the second and third press, Dr. Pawan Kahol, Office of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education, Bob Atkins, director of Skylab Letterpress, for his wealth of knowledge during Cat’s 2014 summer internship, Ben Jones from Hammerpress in regards to his guidance on how to restore the press, Brent’s Electric and Nico Prelogar for help with the electrical and mechanical repairs on the Universal. Doug Younger, Associate Professor, Graphics and Imaging Technologies at PSU for the donation of furniture, others parts and much support, Hunter Morrison, from PSU’s Wood Technology program for cutting wooden furniture and creating the lock up bars, plans for furniture storage units, Fritz Klinke from NA Graphics for helping Cat with the tympan and mylar paper required for packing the cylinder, and numerous aspects of the advanced restorations. Mr. Klinke also provided Cat with a digital copy of the original PSU receipt and press directions when it first came to campus in 1942. We also wish to thank Marty White, Department of Art Administrative Assistant for helping us buy antique letterpress equipment on Ebay!
Photo credit: PSU Department of Art
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