IPMM Screenprinting Workshop @ Edison Park Elementary

Last week we had a blast delivering our Screenprinting Workshop to a group of students at Edison Park Elementary (CPS) on Chicago’s northwest side. Luckily for everyone involved, we were provided with a beautiful, sunny day that allowed us to set up outside, right by the curb, and make some art with these energetic students!

The IPMM team would love to acknowledge both Principal Finelli and Art Teacher Christine Pace for being incredible partners! They’re engaged, they’re energetic, and they are super easy to work with to coordinate bonus events like this one for their deserving student body.

Of all the resources for art teachers we offer, this one might be the most fun!

We came ready with our ‘Multilingual Art Is Power design’, which is all about representation and IPMM’s ethos which is all about how art brings us together and activates us! We curated & designed this particular screen to represent a broader swath of language represented in our school, including: English, Spanish, Icelandic, Zulu, Polish, and Italian!

The 4th graders at Edison Park Elementary did an incredible job, embraced the beginner’s mindset, and made prints they are proud of!

We cant wait to get out to our next workshop!

But what is the process of IPMM coming out a local school to deliver these types of workshops? Well, it’s super easy.

Setting Up An IPMM Screenprinting Workshop At Your School!

1. Reach out to IPMM to inquire about pricing and availability at ideas@ipaintmymind.org or via our Contact page. We provide these screenprinting workshops FREE OF CHARGE to our most engaged school partners participating in our Shared Walls Program. For one-off workshops, we are happy to provide discounted pricing for new school partners, which is based on the number of students participating.

2. We schedule a time to deliver the workshop!

3. If the weather is nice, we’re able to set up right outside your school, giving students a chance to move their bodies, enjoy some fresh air and make some art! (If the weather isn’t so good, we can easily come inside and set up inside a classroom.

4. Students are given an introduction to screenprinting, and the IPMM Team explains how screens are burned and created so that the design can be printed.

5. One at a time, students come up and pull the squeegee over the screen, pushing the paint through the design and onto the paper.

6. Then the art is revealed! The reaction from students is always so fun! “Wow, its like magic!” being one of the main sentiments.

7. The student takes their print to an IPMM Staffer who puts it on a drying rack

8. 15 minutes later the print is dry and can be taken by the student!

9. After that, we encourage our teachers to give the students extra time to embellish their prints by adding extra details, drawings, notes color, design, or doodles, that helps personalize it and turn the screen print into a multimedia piece.

10. The last part is all about students beginning to think about what else they could make and how to incorporate this new skill!