New printmaking art fair to stroll into Ferndale in April

FERNDALE — A new art fair will be debuting in Ferndale next month centered around the printmakers of Michigan.

The first Peninsular Printmaker Art Fair will take place from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Urbanrest Brewery, 2615 Walcott St.

The Printmaker Art Fair landed in Ferndale after a suggestion from one of the people with whom Ernest Fackler, of Southfield, is organizing the event. From his experience, Fackler said Ferndale is a great art-buying town.

“Every time I do an art fair in Ferndale, it’s a great response for my work, as well as some of the other printmakers who I converse with and are pals with,” he said.

The fair will bring together 18 artists for its first year to sell original printmaking art such as letterpress, woodcut, linocut, screenprinting, etching, drypoint, intaglio and collagraph art.

“I noticed that over the years, there’s all-potters fairs, there’s all-painting fairs and things like this, but there hasn’t been an all-printmaker fair,” Fackler said. “Printmaking is kind of like a large art genre. There’s different types of printmaking, and so I had this idea to put this fair together, and so I reached out to some of my fellow printmakers who I’ve met through art fairs and things like that, and we kind of got this ball rolling and we put together this fair.”

Betsy Stecker will be one of the makers bringing her art to the fair. Stecker owns

Big Mitten Linocuts, her art studio brand where she makes original handmade linocut prints, and Forested Goods, a shop inside The Rust Belt Market.

Stecker said she’s super excited about the fair and to meet the other printmakers taking part in it, as well as the customers in attendance.

“Printmaking is a unique medium because it’s handmade, but because we work in art that, I guess it’s called multiple originals, we’re able to offer it affordably. So you can find an original print for less than $100, less than $50, whereas a painting to get at that price point is usually going to be (more expensive) … or it’s going to be a digital reproduction.

“With printmaking, we’re able to bring original art into homes for a very accessible price point, and that is one reason why I love being a printmaker,” she continued. “I really believe that art is for everybody and it’s important that art fairs carry a balance of super fine artwork that might cost thousands and original art done by printmakers that can start at $30.”

For Stecker’s art, she takes linoleum blocks and carves them with wood carving gouges and rolls ink onto the blocks and furnishes it by applying pressure.

Stecker said that customers who come to the fair will find a lot of art for a variety of prices, but most of it should be accessible.

“We’re a community of printmakers in Michigan, and that community is growing,” she said.