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Get hands-on with the art of letterpress in this beginner-friendly workshop. We’ll explore the basics of printing on a press, from setting up a design to inking and pulling your very first prints.
This special Community Print Day is all about creating hand-printed gift wrap and cards made just for the dads, stepdads, grandpas, and father figures in your life.
Get hands-on with the art of letterpress in this beginner-friendly workshop. We’ll explore the basics of printing on a press, from setting up a design to inking and pulling your very first prints.
This special Community Print Day is all about creating hand-printed gift wrap and cards made just for the dads, stepdads, grandpas, and father figures in your life.
Get hands-on with the art of letterpress in this beginner-friendly workshop. We’ll explore the basics of printing on a press, from setting up a design to inking and pulling your very first prints.
Join us to be part of the tradition and make your voice heard. Experienced printers will guide you through the printing process and you’ll leave with your own letterpress posters to share with the world.
This intermediate-level class builds on foundational relief and pressure-based printmaking techniques, inviting students to expand both technical control and creative application.
Learn how to sew the Long-Stitch book, a simple and beautiful book form that has been used since medieval times in Germany.
Get hands-on with the art of letterpress in this beginner-friendly workshop. We’ll explore the basics of printing on a press, from setting up a design to inking and pulling your very first prints.
The printshop will be open for a date night workshop this pre-Valentine’s Day. Join us for light snacks and beverages + printing in Sebastopol, California. Bring your valentine, galentine, friends, or foes!
Visit our booth at the Codex X Book Fair— where craft and concept unite into exemplary works of art.
Get hands-on with the art of letterpress in this beginner-friendly workshop. We’ll explore the basics of printing on a press, from setting up a design to inking and pulling your very first prints.
Join us for an event previewing select Studio Printers’ work that will be on display at Codex X. This is a great chance to see some amazing artist books if you cannot make it to the Book Fair in February.
Get hands-on with the art of letterpress in this beginner-friendly workshop. We’ll explore the basics of printing on a press, from setting up a design to inking and pulling your very first prints. Along the way, you’ll learn about the history of letterpress, the different kinds of presses, and the tools and materials that bring this centuries-old craft to life.
Each participant will create their own small project to print and take home—whether it’s a card, a print, or a simple design—while experiencing the unique textures and tactile beauty that only letterpress can offer. No prior experience required—just bring your creativity and a willingness to get inky!
Celebrate the season by creating your own hand-printed holiday cards! In this festive workshop, you’ll learn the basics of letterpress printing while designing and printing a set of unique greeting cards on traditional presses. Explore handset type, ornaments, and seasonal imagery as you experiment with layout to make cards that are personal, beautiful, and ready to share with friends and family.
No prior experience is needed—just bring your creativity and holiday spirit. You’ll leave with a set of cards you’ve printed yourself, perfect for spreading cheer this season.
You are cordially invited to our our annual Open House & Holiday Sale. Come tour the shop, celebrate the work of our studio printers, and enjoy merriment including:
Fun & Games
Sips & Snacks
Printing Demos
FREE and open to the public
Join poets Danusha Laméris and Emilie Lygren for an evening of poetry and conversation in celebration of the recent release of their books: Lygren's second collection, Once I was a stone and Laméris's third book, Blade by Blade. Bring a journal or paper and a pencil or pen! We may invite the audience to do some writing of their own.
From the book publishers:
Danusha Laméris’s third book, Blade by Blade, is a book of hungers: Hunger for the bright glare of poppies, for the hidden name of the beloved, for the cracked continental edge, for all we keep in “the heart’s farthest chambers.” These poems are luminous missives tossed on the wind asking us to re-enter the world we’ve forsaken, to set foot, as if for the first time, on the green earth and begin again.
Emilie Lygen's Once I was a stone is an intimate portrait of gender nonconformity rooted in the context of childhood and the natural world. This timely collection catalogues intersections between identity and place, awareness and grief. With an honest and hopeful tone, Emilie Lygren grapples with the complexities of selfhood, power, and loss, offering insight on our intricate relationship with Earth’s ecosystems.
On the poets:
Danusha Laméris, a poet and essayist, was raised in Northern California born to a Dutch father and Barbadian mother. Some of her work has been published in The Best American Poetry, The Sun, The New York Times, The American Poetry Review, The Gettysburg Review, Prairie Schooner, Poetry, Ploughshares, The American Scholar, Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, and Orion. Laméris served as the 2018–2020 Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, California. Laméris's widely shared poem “Small Kindnesses” has been translated into multiple languages, quoted in O Magazine, turned into a short film, and recently read by actress Helena Bonham Carter. She is currently on the faculty of Pacific University’s low-residency MFA program.
Emilie Lygren is a poet and educator whose work is grounded in curiosity and reverence. She’s the author of two books of poetry and dozens of publications focused on nature journaling, outdoor science education, and social-emotional learning. Emilie holds a BA in Geology-Biology from Brown University and an MFA in creative writing from Maharishi International University. Currently, she is a professor of creative writing, a poet in the schools, and at work on an anthology of poems about mental health for youth and teens.
Celebrate the season by creating your own hand-printed holiday cards! In this festive workshop, you’ll learn the basics of letterpress printing while designing and printing a set of unique greeting cards on traditional presses. Explore handset type, ornaments, and seasonal imagery as you experiment with layout to make cards that are personal, beautiful, and ready to share with friends and family.
No prior experience is needed—just bring your creativity and holiday spirit. You’ll leave with a set of cards you’ve printed yourself, perfect for spreading cheer this season.
Drop by the print shop and get festive with us! This special Community Print Day is all about creating your own hand-printed holiday wrapping paper and gift tags. Using our presses, seasonal imagery, and handset type, you’ll have the chance to design and print one-of-a-kind paper goods that will make your gifts extra special.
No experience is necessary—just bring your creativity and holiday cheer. Stay for a little while or the whole session, and leave with beautifully printed wrapping paper and tags made by you!
Your contribution helps keep Community Print Days open and accessible to everyone.
During this class students will create a matrix (plate for printing) out of paper and soft materials, they will then use the matrix to pull prints on the Vandercook. We will use different papers to print with and explore how to create complex matrixes to print an image. These prints can be used later to letterpress a text on to make it a background for a broadside.
Step into the timeless craft of letterpress printing by learning the art of handset type. This hands-on class introduces participants to the fundamentals of traditional typesetting, from understanding type anatomy and layout to composing text by hand with movable metal type. Students will explore spacing, alignment, and lock-up techniques, and gain a working knowledge of the tools, terminology, and processes that defined print for centuries. By the end of the session, each participant will set and print a small project of their own, experiencing the tactile satisfaction of bringing words to life on paper.
No prior experience required—just curiosity, patience, and a love for craft.
This hands-on workshop introduces the essential skills for safe and confident operation of tabletop and floor model platen presses. You’ll explore how to set up a form, adjust packing and impression, register paper, and pull crisp, consistent prints.
Presentation by Lynn Keller
Many contemporary poets who care about the environment find writing about the solace and beauty to be found in nature inadequate to current realities. Awareness of environmental degradation, environmental crises, or environmental injustice is pushing them to produce alternative kinds of environmental writing.
Within this context, you are invited to explore contemporary eco-poetry and environmental justice with author, scholar, printer and professor Lynn Keller in a thought-provoking presentation on November 13 from 5:30-7pm at the Laguna de Santa Rosa (900 Sanford Rd).
During this class students will make a concertina fold, glue 3”x2” cardstock ‘flags’ into the folds, decorate the pages, make covers and finish the book by gluing the covers to the concertina.
The Flag Book structure was invented by Hedi Kyle. It is made out of an accordion fold, small cards glued into the folds, and a cover.
The Flag Book may be described as a portable, expandable file that can display an array of materials in an animated way. Operating with the assistance of the accordion fold, it has the freedom to expand and retract. It can be read page by page or pulled apart for the full effect of an uninterrupted scenario. Standing, the Flag Book also will turn into a circular of star book as the covers are held together at the back.
Come get hands-on with the art of poster printing! During this drop-in Community Print Day, you’ll have the chance to explore our presses and vintage wood type to create bold, one-of-a-kind posters. Whether you want to print a favorite phrase, experiment with type and color, or simply try your hand at this historic craft, this is a fun and welcoming way to experience letterpress.
No prior experience is needed—our team will guide you through the basics. Stop by for a little while or stay and print to your heart’s content. You’ll head home with a poster (or two!) that you printed yourself.
Your support helps keep Community Print Days open and accessible for everyone.
Join us for a spirited night of words, ink, and eerie inspiration at the letterpress print shop! Our Halloween open mic welcomes poets, storytellers, and lovers of the spoken word to share their most haunting, humorous, or heartfelt creations.
Whether you’re reading your own work, a favorite ghostly verse, or just coming to listen, all are welcome.
Costumes encouraged, creativity required. Come for the chills, stay for the camaraderie—and leave with a head full of haunting lines.
Get hands-on with the art of letterpress in this beginner-friendly workshop. We’ll explore the basics of printing on a press, from setting up a design to inking and pulling your very first prints. Along the way, you’ll learn about the history of letterpress, the different kinds of presses, and the tools and materials that bring this centuries-old craft to life.
Each participant will create their own small project to print and take home—whether it’s a card, a print, or a simple design—while experiencing the unique textures and tactile beauty that only letterpress can offer. No prior experience required—just bring your creativity and a willingness to get inky!
This hands-on workshop introduces the essential skills for safe and confident operation of tabletop and floor model platen presses. You’ll explore how to set up a form, adjust packing and impression, register paper, and pull crisp, consistent prints.
Join us for an evening of poetry inspired by the natural world and the art of letterpress printing. This special reading features many of the writers whose words appear in Watershed Moment, our current exhibit created in collaboration with North Bay Letterpress Arts.
Readers include both established and emerging voices, among them Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Forrest Gander and former Sonoma County Poets Laureate Elizabeth Herron and Gwynn O’Gara, along with judi goldberg, Eric Johnson, Adrian Lürrsen, and Cheryl Pfeil.
Come early or stay after to enjoy the Watershed Moment exhibit, on view in Heron Hall through December 19.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellations made more than 30 days before the event will receive a refund, minus a $10 processing fee. Tickets purchased at $10 are non-refundable. Cancellations made 7–30 days in advance will receive a 50% refund. No refunds are available for cancellations less than 7 days before the event. If we need to cancel the event, you will receive a full refund.
Join us for the first annual North Bay Print & Poetry Festival in the Graton Town Square. Poetry, music, and the art of printmaking come alive on a grand scale at this free, daylong community celebration. Watch massive linoleum blocks inked and printed beneath a classic street paver, hear the voices of acclaimed poets from Sonoma County and beyond, explore local vendors, and enjoy live music, food, and community.
Step into the timeless craft of letterpress printing by learning the art of handset type. This hands-on class introduces participants to the fundamentals of traditional typesetting, from understanding type anatomy and layout to composing text by hand with movable metal type. Students will explore spacing, alignment, and lock-up techniques, and gain a working knowledge of the tools, terminology, and processes that defined print for centuries. By the end of the session, each participant will set and print a small project of their own, experiencing the tactile satisfaction of bringing words to life on paper.
No prior experience required—just curiosity, patience, and a love for craft.
Watershed Moment by North Bay Letterpress Arts
Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 3–5 PM
Laguna Environmental Center, 900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Free! Donations welcome. No RSVP necessary. Light refreshments provided.
Eventbrite Link: https://watershedmoment.eventbrite.com
Join the Laguna Foundation for the opening of Watershed Moment, a stunning new exhibit from North Bay Letterpress Arts. Featuring original works by local letterpress printers—some in collaboration with poets—this show celebrates the unique beauty of the Laguna de Santa Rosa through the connection of language, image, and place. Some pieces incorporate natural materials, such as handmade inks and paper made from local plants, deepening the relationship between the art and the landscape that inspired it. Art sales support the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation’s mission to conserve and restore this Wetland of International Importance. Watershed Moment will be on view September 6–December 19, 2025.
We’re thrilled to host two incredible poets, Brenda Hillman and Norma Cole, at NBLA on Saturday, August 9th at 4pm.
Brenda Hillman’s latest collection from Wesleyan University Press is In a Few Minutes Before Later, published in 2022. Her first collection of prose, Three Talks (2024), is available from University of Virginia Press. A recent recipient of the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement, Hillman has edited and co-translated many books by others, including At Your Feet by Brazilian poet Ana Cristina Cesar. A former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Hillman lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is Professor Emerita at Saint Mary’s College of California and directs the Poetry Week at Community of Writers.
Norma Cole is a poet, painter and translator. Her most recent book of poetry, Alibi Lullaby, appeared from Omnidawn earlier this year. Other books of poetry include FATE NEWS, Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside, Where Shadows Will: Selected Poems 1988—2008, Spinoza in Her Youth and, Actualities, her collaboration with painter Marina Adams. Her awards include the Fund for Poetry, Gertrude Stein Award, the Richardson Award for Non-Fiction Prose and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Award for Poetry. Cole has taught at San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Naropa University, Otis College of Art and Design and others.
* FREE and open to the public
* Light refreshments and fantastic poetry served in equal measure
* Handset letterpress broadsides of work by the poets will be printed for the occasion and available with a donation to NBLA
