Collection Summary
Printmaking Workshop Records
1979-1997
1987-1997
1979-1997
1987-1997
MSS85366
Printmaking Workshop
4,000 items
11 containers plus digital files
4.4 linear feet
23 digital files (3.30 MB)
English
Spanish
Collection material in English and Spanish
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Studio and gallery facility dedicated to
teaching and promoting the art of printmaking and related crafts, founded by
African-American printmaker Robert Hamilton Blackburn in 1948. General office files,
printmaking exhibition files, correspondence, print listings and catalogs, financial
records, subject files, publicity material, photographs, receipts, printed matter, and
miscellaneous material.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC
Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and
by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Blackburn, Robert Hamilton, 1920-
Organizations
Printmaking Workshop.
Robert Hamilton Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Core Collection and Archives
(Library of Congress)
Subjects
Art, American--New York (State)--New York.
Artists' studios--New York (State)--New York.
Artists--New York (State)--New York.
Arts--New York (State)--New York.
Arts.
Printmakers--New York (State)--New York.
Prints--Technique.
Prints.
Acquisition Information
The records of the Printmaking Workshop were transferred to the Manuscript Division
from the Prints and Photographs Division in 2007. The records are a gift to the Library
of Congress from the Printmaking Workshop, part of an agreement that included a purchase
by the Library of Congress of prints from the studio in 2000.
Processing History
Paper records in the Printmaking Workshop collection were processed in 2012 by Joseph K.
Brooks. Born-digital files were organized and described in 2015.
Digital files were received as part of the Printmaking Workshop records on a variety of
storage media, each of which was assigned a unique digital ID number. Use the digital ID
number to request access copies of the files associated with each media. A description
of the standard processes taken on all born digital records can be found in the
Processing History Note: Born Digital Collection Material at [https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.digital].
Related Material
The records of the Printmaking Workshop in the Manuscript Division are part of the
larger Robert Hamilton Blackburn Printmaking Core Collection and Archives, which
includes material located in the Prints and Photographs Division.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Printmaking Workshop is governed
by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The records of Printmaking Workshop are open to research. Many collections are stored
off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Access
to digital content is available onsite only in the Manuscript Reading Room and requires
advanced notice. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to
visiting.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:
Container, reel, or digital ID number, Printmaking Workshop Records, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Organizational History
The Printmaking Workshop was founded in New York, N.Y., in 1948 by African-American
artist and printmaker Robert Hamilton Blackburn (1920-2003) to provide studio and
gallery space, equipment, and instruction in printmaking and allied crafts to aspiring
and experienced printmakers.
Scope and Content Note
The Printmaking Workshop is an ongoing New York City nonprofit organization and artists'
cooperative founded by African-American artist and master printmaker Robert Hamilton
Blackburn (1920-2003) in 1948 to provide studio space, equipment, instruction, gallery
space, and community to artists in the printmaking and related fields. The collection
spans the years 1979-1997, with the bulk concentrated in the period 1987-1997. The
material consists of office files, material relating to exhibitions, correspondence,
print listings and catalogs, financial records, subject files, publicity material,
photographs, receipts, and printed matter.The records are organized into three series:
[Exibitions and Other Events](exhibitions), [General Office File](general), and [Digital File](electronic).
The [Exhibitions and Other Events](exhibitions) series documents
exhibits, auctions, and benefits held at the Printmaking Workshop's own gallery and in
other venues in the United States and across the world.
The [General Office File](general) documents the administration and
operations of the organization from the 1970s into the late 1990s.
Arrangement of the Records
This collection is arranged in three series:
-
[Exhibitions and Other Events, 1984-1997](exhibitions)
-
[General Office File, 1979-1997](general)
-
[Digital File, 1997](electronic)
Container List
Container
Contents
1-6
Exhibitions and Other Events,
1984-1997
1984-1997
Files relating to exhibitions and other events such as auctions and benefits held
at the Printmaking Workshop and other venues.
Grouped into exhibitions and events held at the Printmaking Workshop gallery and
those held in other venues. Arranged thereunder by year of event and therein
alphabetically by title of event or name of gallery.
1
Printmaking Workshop gallery
1
circa 1990, auction
circa 1990
1
1992
1992
1
The Anniversary Show
1
Artists of Color
1
Joan Vennum, Recent Prints
1
Summer/Selections from the Printmaking
Workshop Collection
1
1993
1993
1
Herman Cherry, Monoprints and Etchings
1
Judith Turner, Recent Etchings
1
Rainbow Show
1
1994
1994
1
46th Anniversary Benefit Show
1
The First Half
1
Kindred Spirits
1
MoMa Art Weekend
1
The Tao of Physics, Etchings by Elizabeth
Harington
1
Ten
1
Wei Jane Chir/ Imagining
Emptiness
2
1995
1995
2
Facing History and Ourselves
2
Promise
2
1996
1996
2
That's Amore
2
Aportes de dos Culturas/ Influences of Two
Cultures
2
1997
1997
2
Kumi Korf: Prints and Sculptural
Books
2
Ruth Lauer-Manenti, Drawings and
Prints
2
Print Bazaar
2
Miscellaneous
2
Other venues
2
1984 , In a Sea of Ink, traveling exhibition
1984
2
1987 , benefit auction, Detroit, Michigan
1987
3
1988
1988
3
Augusta Savage and the Art School of
Harlem, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York,
N.Y.
3
Robert Blackburn, a Life's Work,
Alternative Museum, New York, N.Y.
3
1989
3
Black Printmaking and the W. P. A., Lehman
College, New York, N.Y.
3
Contemporary African-American Printmakers,
Contemporary Sculpture from Zimbabwe, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London,
Conn.
3
Contemporary Prints: New York Workshops
Create, Bronx Museum ofthe Arts, New York, N.Y.
3
A Cultural Celebration: Featuring a
Collection of Prints from the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Studio
Workshop, Manatee Community College, West Bradenton, Florida
3
Multiple Images: Prints by Afro-Americans,
Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, N. J.
3
1992 , Artists of Color, Harlem School of the Arts, New York,
N.Y.
1992
3
1993
1993
3
Figuring It Out on Paper, Hartwick
College, Oneota, N.Y.
3
Robert Blackburn, Watermark/Cargo Gallery,
kingston, N.Y.
3
Seven over Seventy, Lehman College, New
York, N.Y.
3
1994
1994
3
1994 Pacific States Biennial National
Print Exhibition, University of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii
3
ArtBeats, Bloomfield College, Bloomfield,
N. J.
3
Black Prints, Elsa Mott Ives Gallery, New
York, N.Y.
3
Cinque Gallery, New York, N.
Y.
3
Mater Dei College, Ogdenburg, N.
Y.
3
The Printmakers' Art, Hudson Guild, New
York, N.Y.
3
Robert Blackburn, Goshen College, Goshen,
Ind.
3
Robert Blackburn, Master Artist, Master
Printmaker, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.
4
Robert Blackburn, Inspiration and
Innovation in American Printmaking, Wilmer Jennings Gallery, New York,
N.Y.
4
The Robert Blackburn Legacy, the
Printmaking Workshop at Forty-Five, Newark Public Library, Newark, N.
J.
4
1995
1995
4
African-American Printmaking: 1938 to the
Present, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, N.Y.
4
Blackburn Print Workshop Exhibition, Hass
Gallery of Art, Bloomsburg, Pa.
4
British Consulate, New York, N.
Y.
4
Falubiennalen Nya Grafiker, Falun,
Sweden
4
Institute of Youth Enterprises, New York,
N.Y.
4
Lois Mailou Jones and Her Former Students,
Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center, Washington, D. C.
4
Master Printmaker Robert Blackburn,
Exhibition, CRT's Craftery Gallery, Hartford, Conn.
4
Medellin, Columbia
5
NGO Forum on Women, Beijing,
China
5
Prints from the Bob Blackburn Workshop,
Isobel Neal Gallery, Chicago, Il.
5
Prints from the Printmaking Workshop
Collection, Blair Academy, Blairstown, N. J.
5
Museo de Arte Modern, Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic
5
Robert Blackburn Print Exhibition, State
University of New York, Stoney Brook, N.Y.
5
St. John the Divine Cathedral, New York,
N.Y.
6
1996
1996
6
Art on Paper, Bronx Community College, New
York, N.Y.
6
Bob Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop,
Artists of Color, traveling exhibit
6
Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
6
Bronx Spaces, Bronx Museum of the Arts,
New York, N.Y.
6
Contemporary Printmaking in America,
Collaborative Process in America, National Museum of American Art,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
6
John Jay College of Criminal
Justice
6
Hostos Art Gallery: The First Ten Years,
Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, New York, N. Y.
6
Prints from the Furnace, New Orleans
School of Glasswork, New Orleans, La.
6
Rice Gallery, Albany, N. Y.
6
Strategies of Narration, traveling
exhibit, Saudi Arabia and other countries
6
1997 , Maria Henle Studio, Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin
Islands
1997
6
Miscellaneous, 1987, 1995
1987,
1995
6-11
General Office File, 1979-1997
1979-1997
Office files, financial records, correspondence, catalogs and lists of artwork,
and miscellaneous material relating to the operations of the Printmaking Workshop.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
6
Board meeting, 1996
1996
7
Budgets, 1995-1996
1995-1996
7
Consultants, donors, and customers, circa
1993-1994
circa
1993-1994
7
Employees, interns, and fellows
7
Garcia, Osmani
7
Miscellany, 1996
1996
7
Thank-you Valentine card,
undated
undated
7
Miscellaneous, 1996
1996
7
Financial papers, 1994-1996
1994-1996
(3 folders)
7
Galleries
7
Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.,
1994-1995
1994-1995
7
Aljira, Newark, N. J., 1994
1994
7
Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, N. Y.,
1992-1993
1992-1993
7
Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York,
N.Y.
New York,
N.Y.
1993
7
Jamaica Art Center, New York, N.Y.,
1994
1994
7
Missoula Museum of the Arts, Missoula, Mont.,
1994
1994
7
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia,
Pa., undated
undated
7
Grants and awards
7
Miscellaneous, 1995-1997
1995-1997
8
New York Council of the Arts,
1995
1995
8
Message log, 1996
1996
8
Miscellany, 1993-1996
1993-1996
8
Newsletters, brochures, and other printed
matter, 1986-1995
1986-1995
8
Notes, undated
undated
8
Print collection and gallery,
1995-1996
1995-1996
9
Prints
9
Catalogs
9
New prints, 1979-1980
1979-1980
9
Permanent collection, undated
undated
9
A-P
(2 folders)
10
R-Z
10
Donations, undated
undated
10
Price lists, 1996-1997
1996-1997
10
Sales, 1987-1996
1987-1996
10
Research inquires, 1994-1995
1994-1995
10
Subject file
10
Artists
10
Birch, Willie, 1994
1994
10
Graver, Crista, 1995
1995
10
Miscellaneous, 1995
1995
11
O'Neal, Mary Lovelace, 1987
1987
11
Osorio, Hernando, 1993
1993
11
Purcell, Roy, 1979-1980
1979-1980
11
Blackburn, Robert Hamilton,
1993-1994
1993-1994
11
Organizations, 1994-1996
1994-1996
11
Teaching material, undated
undated
(2 folders)
11
Vendors, undated
undated
DF
Digital File, 1997
1997
Lists of artists and prints in the FP3 file format. The series is comprised
of four files and 1.65 MB. The series also includes a 2 MB floppy disk that is
unreadable at this time.
Exhibitions and Other Events
Artist list, 1997
1997
Digital ID: mss85366_27_1
Print list, 1997
1997
Digital ID: mss85366_27_2