Thank you for your interest in using the FBAC Letterpress Studio!

 

Like our other studios, use of the letterpress studio is granted once an artist completes application for FBAC Open Studio Rentals and completes our one-time Orientation class (or other qualifying class) to become familiarized with the operation of our shared space. As a studio artist using the letterpress department, you must also agree to the following terms and conditions, in addition to those stated in the Open Studios Rentals policy.

 

Our collection of letterpress type is made of a stable alloy of lead, antimony, and tin. It is safe to use, but we recommend that you wash your hands after handling and each time before eating or drinking. The same is true for our wood type, which comes into contact with our other letterpress supplies.

 

Our studio is designed to be a shared space for studio artists, teachers, and students. More than any other department, it depends on each person’s dedication to returning the equipment and materials to the state they found them in, taking care not to damage this property while in use, and taking responsibility for their state at the end of every rental session. By applying for the letterpress studio, you agree to commit the time and energy needed to clean your tools and equipment, distribute the type you pulled from our collection back into its appropriate cases, and reset your work area as a blank slate for the next artist. Please ask for the studio monitor to approve your area before and after your rental session.

 

If you are not able to commit the time and energy to clean your area or redistribute your type, we will charge a $75 fee for each service, to be transacted at the end of your session and fulfilled by the current staff member or associate overseeing the studio. Failure to take responsibility for your reserved tools, equipment, workstations, and type will impact your continued enrollment in our program. FBAC staff reserve the right to refuse access to equipment or suspend your enrollment based on this failure.

 

Our Vandercook, C&P, and Challenge Gordon letterpresses require an additional $10 hourly fee for any time spent operating and printing with the press, rounded up to the hour (there is no charge for setting up or cleaning up your composition, though we encourage use of chases and galley trays to separate them from the press beds). This fee is calculated and balanced at the end of your press operation. You are still required to reserve any time on the equipment using our online reservation calendar, or by coordinating with FBAC staff, prior to your session. Certain presses require the use of FBAC-approved ink; please consult with the studio monitor to approve other inks.

 

You agree to grant FBAC staff and studio monitors permission to handle your work any time you are not present in the studio. This includes transferring your work to and from drying racks, as well as moving artwork, carved blocks, and letterpress compositions whenever appropriate to accommodate other projects.

 

While enrolled in Open Studio, you are making use of our collection of letterpress type, cuts, copper and zinc plate illustrations, and other media which is either owned by FBAC or loaned by patrons of FBAC for their use. Any artwork you create using this media is owned by you, and you reserve the right of ownership and distribution of this artwork.

 

By signing below, you show that you agree to the above regulations for a proper and safe use of the letterpress studio, and that you hold yourself responsible for maintaining these regulations unless otherwise arranged with FBAC staff.