SGCI Today

It has been an exciting and rewarding time since we were all together at Texchange last spring! Whether working on Puertográfico 2020, our upcoming conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, traveling to represent SGC International, or engaging with our membership, I feel fortunate to be serving as SGCI president and learn from every opportunity, or challenge, with which I have been presented. As with so many volunteer opportunities, I know that I am receiving much more than I give. It has been particularly rewarding for me to see giving and volunteering becoming more intricately woven into our organization.

The board has been actively assisting beyond the scope of their roles in the leadership of SGCI in the preparation for Puertográfico. It has been exciting to work with our conference hosts and see how much you all have to look forward to when you arrive in San Juan on April 1, 2020. This event will be packed with new programming, but perhaps more importantly it will be rich with opportunities for cultural exchange. Members will develop lasting bonds with Puerto Rican, Carribean, and Latin American printmakers, learn about the complex cultural and political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, and potentially arrive early or stay late to participate in community service opportunities.

One of the most rewarding things that has come from our work with our Puerto Rican counterparts is the development of a sense of responsibility to and appreciation of the Puerto Rican art and printmaking community for hosting us. This past spring Joseph Velasquez and John Hancock visited Puerto Rico to meet with printmakers, visit our host institutions, and make connections with area schools. Joseph returned with a trove of ideas for ways that SGCI can give back to Puerto Rico. To help him flesh these ideas into action, I formed the Ad Hoc Committee for Community Exchange. This committee is led by Joseph Velasquez with the assistance of Hannah March-Sanders and Blake Sanders. Under Joseph’s leadership, he and his team have developed opportunities to take programming into local schools, constructed a registry for tools and materials that members can bring with them to Puerto Rico and leave as donations to local institutions, and created a giving campaign to purchase a press for the printshop at Universidad de Puerto Rico – Recinto de Río Piedras. I am humbled by the work of this team and eager to see the generosity of our members come to fruition through your participation in these initiatives. Thank you Joseph, John, Hannah, Blake and all the others who are helping us in these efforts! I hope to see your work become the standard for how we engage with all of our future host communities.  

Follow this link to read my full report on the board’s recent work and you will see the outcome of the many ways in which people give of their time and resources to help SGC International become stronger. We all benefit from these selfless acts. In closing I ask how can you give back to SGCI? How can you embrace volunteerism and give back to SGCI whether it is in our governance, outreach, conference management, or exchange with our Puerto Rican host community? How can you help SGCI to leave a legacy of friendship and generosity of spirit in all that we do?

Thank you and best wishes to you all!

Charles Beneke

President, SGC International

This year SGCI is putting a new twist on the Open Portfolio! We’re transforming it into a live, malleable “happening” where exhibitions will be culled from the work shown by Open Portfolio participants and featured at the conference as the 2020 Open Portfolio Exhibitions. The Open Portfolio will provide content for the conference and the curated Open Portfolio Exhibitions will highlight members’ work and focus upon the ideas evidenced in the moment at our annual gathering.

Read more and apply here!

The Name of Puerto Rico
In 1493, Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colón in Spanish) “discovered” Puerto Rico —that is, arrived on the island during expedition—and claimed it for Spain. A little known fact is that Columbus called the whole island San Juan, in honor of Saint John the Baptist. Puerto Rico (puerto = “port” and rico = “rich”) was the name given to what is known today as the Old San Juan area. It was only later that the names were reversed and the whole island became known as Puerto Rico. Excerpted from www.puertoricodaytrips.com. Read more here.

Follow along with Here’s the Salsa! on the full web page.

During site visits and Puertográfico planning meetings members of the SGCI board and conference steering committee have learned of the rich history of Printmaking in Puerto Rico and the many practitioners and advocates there who shared our love of printmaking.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, UPRRP, lost a third of the student body and many of the facilities were damaged or  destroyed. In the area of ​​printmaking they do not have foreseeable funding for their studio needs, to repair equipment , or to buy a badly needed new press The printmaking area is headed by Martín García Rivera who has been teaching printmaking at UPRRP since 1993. He not only leads a dynamic printmaking program, but also has established many projects over the years to engage the many community demographics.

In order to help Martin, UPRRP students and our other printmaking colleagues in Puerto Rico, SGCI is  launching a fundraising campaign to buy a press for the UPRRP printshop. Donations will be taken in through multiple streams, including indiegogo and cash donations (through conference registration). 

Puertogråfico 2020, April 1-4 in San Juan, is the perfect opportunity to learn about the rich history of Printmaking in Puerto Rico and engage with our hosts who are generously preparing a fantastic conference experience for us all. Let’s show our appreciation for their efforts and our commitment to lasting connections by contributing to the future of their printmaking community.

SGC International’s vision for PUERTOGRÁFICO is to educate our membership on the complexity of the Puerto Rico/US relationship, create a platform for mutual understanding, foster future artistic collaborations, and build lasting friendships. As part of this, we are launching Here’s the Salsa! Each week counting down to the conference, we will be sending out emails and posts with brief history lessons, food & culture tips, language pointers and more, compiled here. Many thanks to Anna Nicholson and Nydia Fernández Toledo for their guidance and contributions to the creation of this page.

Week 23

Old San Juan
Old San Juan is a Unesco World Heritage Site and is also listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. With charming 16th century fortresses, cobblestone streets, fountains, museums, and more, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into history.

Excerpted from DiscoverPuertoRico.com. Read more here!

SGC International is excited to announce a call for participation in our Puertográfico Pen Pal Print Collaboration & Exhibition!

In the months leading up to our 2020 Conference in Puerto Rico, SGCI will begin connecting our stateside student members with our student members in Puerto Rico through a collaborative print exchange. Students will be paired up to work on a set of collaborative prints exchanged through the mail. The goal is to connect stateside student members to student members in Puerto Rico through the art of printmaking.  The prints will then be on display and for sale during the 2020 Puerto Rico Conference with a portion of the proceeds going to the UNIDOS Disaster Relief and Recovery Program powered by The Hispanic Federation.

Click here to find out more and apply! And thanks to our Student Representative, Eliana Rodriguez, for developing this exciting project for SGCI.

The SGC International Ad Hoc Committee for Community Exchange is pleased to announce five community engagement opportunities at three high schools or two after school programs in San Juan. These opportunities, which are outside of the conference programming, give interested individuals and programs the chance to build meaningful, lasting connections with the community. 

We are now accepting  proposals for professional/instructor-led teams to present demos or print events. Interactive projects are especially welcome to encourage exchange, learn local perspectives, and excite the next generation of printmakers! Teams will be responsible for bringing matrices and other materials with them to Puerto Rico for these events. Take advantage of these great service-learning and community engagement opportunities for university print clubs or community presses by submitting your proposal now! While these demos and projects will not be part of the official Puertográfico schedule, they will be celebrated wherever possible.

Additionally, if you are interested in joining our committee to work on our community exchange initiatives, please reach out to us. 

To apply, please send the following information in a single PDF to bsanders@sgcinternational.org by November 1, 2019:

1. 100-word abstract of you project including preferred audience
2. 50-word bio of team leader
3. Roster of participating team members
4. Ideal audience/age group
5. Equipment and material requirements, please note materials team would bring
6. Anticipated plan for your program:
   • Will it be run start to finish only once?
   • Will it be repeated several times during your allotted time?
   • Will participants be able to join in on the project whenever they arrive?
   • Will your team have a translator, or will there need to be arrangements made for one?

We look forward to hearing from you!

Joseph Velasquez
Blake Sanders
Hannah March Sanders

SGCI wants to look out for our students, so we’re launching the Stay with SGCI Giveback! If we reach our hotel room block at the Sheraton Convention Center, SGCI pledges to give a $25 refund to students who stay at the hotel on their conference registration. Book your stay at the Sheraton and help support our student members! 

Other Reasons to Stay with Us:
Direct our operating budget back to the membership!
Learn more here about why to stay at the conference hotel,
and how this impacts our conference and organizational budget.

Be on time!
We’ll be starting early this year, at 8:30 am

Beat traffic!
San Juan is known for traffic snarls.

Catch breakfast!
Take advantage of our morning spreads.  

We know the conference can be a financial stretch and we thank you sincerely for your support of our organization. 

See you in San Juan! 

Puertográfico: April 1 – 4, San Juan, Puerto Rico
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!

Dear SGC International Members,

SGC International is seeking nominations/self-nominations for the 2020-2022 Executive Board, with terms beginning in April 2020 and ending in April 2022. Service on the board is an outstanding way to contribute to the organization and to make a positive impact on our printmaking community. We hope you will consider nominating individuals for these important leadership roles described below.

All SGCI Members in good standing are invited to nominate/self-nominate by uploading candidate’s materials at https://www.sgcinternational.org/2020-22-board-of-directors-nominations-submissions/. 

Nominations should include the following information:

• Name of the Nominee
• Nominee’s contact information (phone number & email)
• Institutional/professional affiliation (if any)
• Statement of intent addressing the nominee’s background, qualifications, and interest in serving with consideration of SGC International’s mission and diversity/inclusivity and student focus initiatives.
• A current Curriculum Vitae.

The SGC International Nominating Committee, composed of three former board members, is charged with creating a slate of nominees that reflects the philosophic, geographic, institutional, racial, and gender diversity of our membership. A preliminary slate selected from the pool of nominations will be voted on by the board. 

Elections will then take place at the Membership Meeting at our upcoming conference, Puertográfico 2020, April 1 – 4, 2020. In any election, the organization will allow nominations from the floor prior to calling for any vote, though it is strongly encouraged that those interested in serving on the board express their desire to serve through our standard nominations process.

For more information please contact Kate McQuillen admin@sgcinternational.org or Charles Beneke  president@sgcinternational.org.

Thank you,

Charles Beneke
President, SGC International

Dear SGCI Members,
In an effort to lower costs for students, we launched Institutional Memberships last year. Available at four different levels, you  can choose the one that works for the specific needs of your institution and printmaking program. Support SGCI and see your institution’s reach with our organization grow!

Benefits of being an Institutional Member: 
• Advertising on the SGCI website and a half-page advertisement on the conference app!

• A table in the Institutional Membership area at the conference, where you can promote your program with brochures, swag, handouts, and more!

• Lend financial support to students on their registration fees: the student pays $87.50, and the institutional group rate covers the other half of their registration. Early Bird rates are extended all the way to the close of online registration for Institutional Members!

• Lend financial support to faculty: The faculty member’s registration and membership are fully covered in the package
 Registration now open
Learn more, sign up, and register for the conference here! Please contact Kate McQuillen with any questions about Institutional Memberships.

We’d love to see you in Puerto Rico next spring! We’ve put together this fundraising kit to help you understand costs for student members, and lend ideas for how to raise funds to make it possible for students to travel to this incredible island–no passport needed!

Click here for ideas on: 
Fundraisers,
Ways to offset costs,
Hotel and airfare group rates,
Grant and community service opportunities, and
Institutional memberships!

Unique Learning Opportunities at SGCI 2020
Student critiques: small groups of student-led crits
Juried exhibitions: part of the new Open Portfolio Exhibitions
Three-Minute Thesis: for selected grad students
Community service: facilitated by the Puerto Rico Steering Committee
Travel experience: exposure to a different culture within the US jurisdiction:
 a unique blend of languages, traditions and enlivened heritage

Registration now open
Register today!

 Puertográfico: April 1 – 4, San Juan, Puerto Rico
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!

Dear SGC International Members,
As SGCI transitions from Graphic Impressions towards expanding our website into an online journal with continuously evolving content, I am pleased to introduce you to our newly appointed web editor, Louise Fisher, and web curator, Blake Sanders. 

Louise Fisher, an Iowa-based printmaker, is a 2019 graduate of Arizona State University. She was the 2018 recipient of the SGC International Graduate Fellowship Award. Louise states about her process and artwork that she is “an interdisciplinary artist working in the expanded field of print; using methods of layering, impressing and repetition for it’s literal and visual enactment of time and the body. By integrating constructed and celestial time, geometric and organic forms, and digital and hand-drawn printmaking processes, I point to the complexities of our current experience with nature. Through an investigative visual language, I aim to rekindle an appreciation for natural light and ask viewers to consider how their rhythms are impacted by this new incessant LED world.” To get to know Louise a little better, you can read her complete bio and artist’s statement on her website and check out her interview from VoyagePhoenix.

Blake Sanders is a printmaking and foundations Instructor at Southeast Missouri State University. He has been an active member of SGCI since 2005 and has participated in conference portfolios, exhibitions—both sanctioned and peripheral—and chaired two panels. His work looks “beyond anthropocentrism, emphasizing humans as a part of a global community—residents, not lords of the manor—who should be good neighbors to each other and all of nature.” In works that range from diverse print media to collaborative installation he strives to “provoke compassion within the culture” by intently observing himself and his family “to mine for the universal within the personal.” One of Blake’s most recent projects is Encountering Our Indelible Mark, an exhibition that was installed in Santander, Spain at IMPACT10: Encuentro with an accompanying extensive web catalog. In an essay originally intended to be published in Graphic Impressions, Adriane Herman has reviewed this project. We are publishing Disrupting Our Disruption: Recycling Our Indelible Mark to mine a “wee bit of hope”  here so that you can get to know Blake and his curatorial work. 

Look out for further announcements about the development of the written and visual content that Louise and Blake will be leading for our website. The submission process will be launching soon.

Best wishes to you all for an adventurous fall,
The SGC International Board of Directors

Image credit: Louise Fisher, 24/7 Interior #1,Archival Pigment Print, Woodcut on Awagami Kozo, 36×24″, 2019.

New this Year at SGCI:

Open Portfolio Exhibitions
Community Service Opportunities
Three-Minute Thesis for Graduate Students
Student Critiques

SGC International’s vision for this meeting of cultures is to educate our membership on the complexity of the Puerto Rico/US relationship, create a platform for mutual understanding, foster future artistic collaborations, and build lasting friendships. This is no tropical vacation; Puertográfico 2020 will be an adventure for all!

Register online today!

Click here for a general overview of the Registration process

View a listing of conference events (panels, demos, etc) on our website

Puertográfico: April 1 – 4, San Juan, Puerto Rico

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!

SGC International is looking into ways to bring down airfares for everyone. Our conference steering committee is working with a travel agent in San Juan to get us the best airfare possible with several airlines. In order to do so, we need to know ASAP where will you be flying from. Please help us make this conference travel as affordable as possible for YOU  by filling out this form!

This year SGCI is putting a new twist on the Open Portfolio! We’re transforming it into a live, malleable “happening” where exhibitions will be culled from the work shown by Open Portfolio participants and featured at the conference as the 2020 Open Portfolio Exhibitions. The Open Portfolio will provide content for the conference and the curated Open Portfolio Exhibitions will highlight members’ work and focus upon the ideas evidenced in the moment at our annual gathering.

Read more and apply here!