Art in Action

Most of the year, Britt Madden of the Banshee Press printmaking studio handles big loads of finely crafted commercial work that’s artful if not always actual art. But she’s decided to have some fun this month – during what she calls her “down season” — by collaborating with a handpicked quintet of artists on a show and sale of limited-edition letterpress posters.

“Some had never worked with letterpress before as an art-print medium,” she notes, adding that part of the adventure was in helping them discover a new graphic medium. The resulting show, There Are Colors in My Head, opens tonight at the shop, featuring letterpress editions of 25 prints each by local artists Rebecca Green, Kevin Hennessy, Michael Scarano, Strange Dirt and John Fellows.

“A big part of it for us is to be able to offer more art at affordable prices,” Madden says. “So we’re lowering the bar a little bit while still providing high-quality fine-art prints. We also want to educate people about what ‘limited edition’ means – to show how artwork made on presses in collaboration with artists is handmade and original, and that lots of love and care go into the making of each separate piece. People can see presses we print on, and they’ll be inked up and running – and the artists will all be there.”

Shop There Are Colors in My Head beginning at 6 p.m. at Banshee Press, 2715 Larimer Street; prints will sell for $40 to $175 apiece. Get information at bansheepress.com or visit the Facebook event page.

Fri., Dec. 5, 6 p.m., 2014