Art, food, drink and community all come together to create Print n’ Pint, a fundraising event that is held sporadically throughout the year at The Crowbar & Grill in order to help raise funds for University of Wyoming printmaking students to attend conferences.
The University of Wyoming printmaking department travels to conferences in places such as New Orleans, Knoxville and Detroit. The basis of Print n’ Pint is that members of the community and University of Wyoming will have prints for sale at a reasonable price and those attending will receive a pint of beer, or soda for those who are under 21.
“Printmaking is a medium that not everyone is exposed to very much,” said Ashley Quick, organizer of this week’s Print n’ Pint event, “so I like that Print n’ Pint gives people an idea of what ‘printmaking’ encompasses as far as an artistic process.”
The process of printmaking varies depending on the artist, said Mark Sanders, a senior majoring in art.
“There are three main methods that are emphasized here at the UW Art Department: relief, intaglio and lithography. The basic idea across the board is to create a matrix that can then be used in conjunction with ink to create a series of more or less identical prints,” said Sanders.
Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, Print n’ Pint will have a lot of different Valentine’s Day cards for sale. Rebecca Mettler is a University of Wyoming student that is very involved with the printmaking department and will have several different Valentine’s cards that she made for sale.
“Print n’ Pint is a really unique event because it gives students, faculty and other members of the community a chance to buy pieces of original artwork for a great cause,” said Mettler. “It shows off the type of work printmakers do and creates a really fun atmosphere at the Crowbar.” Some of the Valentine’s Day cards by Mettler were made using a letterpress and the others were made using relief printing, said Mettler.
“Organizing the event has included a lot of coordinating with contributing artists to make sure we have enough great prints to sell, as well as thinking of new ways to make the event more varied and successful,” said Quick. “This year we have expanded a bit to include selling framed prints that are ready to hang.” A local craftsman is making the frames for the ready to hang prints so that different types of Laramie artists and artisans are being combined, said Quick.
Although there will be Valentine’s Day cards for sale, there will also be pieces that speak to other everyday issues.
“I think students should attend these events because they create awareness of many different important things,” said Sanders. “Whether the prints speak to social justice, political issues or just life in general, these pieces bring people together to inform, entertain and to share in general.”
Print n’ Pint will be taking place this Thursday at the Crowbar & Grill and will run from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
