Exhibits & Events

PHILADELPHIA, PA | March 24, 2026 – As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, The Print Center (1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103), a free Philadelphia-based contemporary art gallery, is using the pivotal milestone to take a deeper look at the current state of American democracy through its upcoming exhibition, America Today: Voices in Contemporary Print. Opening April 24, the exhibition features a total of 42 works (35 prints and seven artist books) by 37 artists associated with six of the country’s leading mission based print workshops, including: Brandywine Workshop & Archives (Philadelphia, PA); Coronado printstudio (Austin, TX); Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts (Pendleton, OR); EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (New York, NY); Self Help Graphics & Art (Los Angeles, CA); and the Women’s Studio Workshop (Kingston, NY). Together, the works offer audiences a powerful opportunity to reflect on the state of American democracy.

The Print Center, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to contemporary print and photography, showcases issues and ideas in recent printmaking in America Today. Organized thematically, works in the exhibition explore pressing topics including the current political climate, threats to democracy, freedom of expression, cultural pride, and the profound changes the nation has experienced over the past 250 years. In developing America Today, The Print Center’s Jensen Bryan Curator Lauren Rosenblum drew inspiration from the New Deal era of the 1930s and 1940s, when American artists first used printmaking to comment on the realities of the Great Depression. These works reflected the social and political climate of the time. Building on this legacy, America Today brings together a new generation of artists who use printmaking to amplify their voices and engage with the issues shaping the nation today.

On display through July 25, works featured in America Today are organized into seven thematic categories: Politicized Lives, Histories of Action, Ancestral Guidance, Sovereignty and Migration, Forging Solidarity, Sonic Reverberations, and Futurist Visions. The exhibition features pieces that explore core principles of democracy, including the common good, civil rights, social justice, racial equality, and political engagement. Collectively, America Today highlights how printmaking can spark meaningful conversation and encourage deeper engagement with today’s political ideals and challenges.

The exhibition features work by several widely recognized contemporary artists whose practices have been celebrated in major museums and international exhibitions, including:

● Wendy Red Star (Crow’s Shadow): An Apsáalooke artist whose multidisciplinary practice is grounded in the histories, archives, and lived knowledge of the Apsáalooke Nation. Her practice is rooted in sustained attention to inherited stories, to archival traces, and to the ways Apsáalooke history lives across generations. She approaches historical materials through the lens of her own lineage, exploring the relationships among memory, record, and lived experience. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, and the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris, France.
● Howardena Pindell (Brandywine Workshop and Archives): A Philadelphia-native, pioneering Black activist and former Museum of Modern Art curator, whose work is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
● Chakaia Booker(EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop): A renowned and widely collected American sculptor known for creating monumental, abstract works from recycled tires and stainless steel. Booker’s work is held in more than 40 public collections and has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally, including in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
● Kenny Rivero (Coronado printstudio): A Dominican-American artist known for his mixed-media works exploring identity, diaspora, and family history, exhibited at institutions including the Bronx Museum and internationally, including the Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
● Priscilla Hernandez (Self Help Graphics & Art): A Los Angeles–based artist whose work explores Chicana identity, cultural memory, and community through bold graphic imagery and traditional printmaking techniques.
● Alex Callender (Women’s Studio Workshop): An interdisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of race, gender, and capitalism through artist books and printmaking.

“This is an especially meaningful time to uplift the work of artists willing to bravely assert their politics by weighing in on some of the most vital concerns of our time,” said Rosenblum. “I hope that visitors to Philadelphia, exploring our nation’s political history, will value encountering contemporary art that similarly promotes self advocacy and the inalienable right to equality for all living in the United States.”

Programming for America Today will feature an opening reception with talks by workshop partners and an artist representative on Thursday, April 23, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Additional free public programs will be offered throughout the exhibition’s run with participating artists and representatives from eachnpartner workshop. These programs will explore the role of printmaking as both a fine art form and an accessible medium, examining how print can contribute to important civic conversations during times of national division. Additional programs will highlight the history and practice of each partner workshop, featuring a workshop representative, an exhibiting artist, and a master printer who will discuss the continued importance of printmaking as a way to share political ideas, start conversations, and respond
to social issues in today’s digital world. A publication will accompany America Today, documenting the exhibition and exploring the connections between printmaking and democratic discourse. It will include an essay by Rosenblum that situates America Today within the broader history of printmaking and examines the role of collaborative print workshops as spaces for ongoing civic engagement. Additional text will explore the relationship between contemporary art and politics. Contributions from participating artists and representatives from each partner workshop will reflect on their missions, histories, and impact on the printmaking field and their
local communities. America Today has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. The exhibition opens on April 24 and runs through July 25, 2026. To learn more about America Today and view the full schedule of related programs, please visit https://printcenter.org.