In a constant trade-off with the biannual Denver’s Month of Photography, which falls in March during odd-numbered years, the Denver Month of Printmaking, aka Mo’Print, hits the scene in even years with a region-wide celebration of printmaking in all its diverse mediums and levels of difficulty. As with MoP, Mo’Print can be daunting, with multiple exhibit and event choices crowding the calendar, so we’ve put together a list of twelve ways to best use your time while becoming immersed in the local printmaking world. Give these a shot, then branch out if you can.
Master Printmakers and Print Educators in Colorado
McNichols Building, 144 West Colfax Avenue
Through April 8
Mo’Print’s centerpiece exhibit, Master Printmakers and Print Educators, engulfs the third floor of the McNichols Building with works from more than twenty of Colorado’s finest printmakers, many of whom double as teaching artists who help keep the craftsmanship of printmaking alive. This show opened quietly in January, jumping the gun over most Mo’Print exhibits, but if you haven’t seen it, you should: It provides a gorgeous overview of printmaking techniques and mediums before you head out to see the more specific exhibits around town.

Giant Woodcuts
Art Gym Denver, 1460 Leyden Street
March 1 through 17
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 1, 5 to 8 p.m.
The shared artist workspace Art Gym, home to an active printmaking studio, is showing off its attributes to interested printmakers with a trifecta of print-inspired shows, beginning with Giant Woodcuts, an exhibit showcasing print artists from the national scene and curated by Art Gym printmaking director Gregory Santos. Its focus is on big prints, many of them rendered on the ground under a steamroller; in the member gallery, (Tac)Tile presents new mixed-media works incorporating printmaking techniques by Matthew Swisher and Kelly Austin-Rollo. Art Gym wraps up Mo’Print 2018 with imPressed, a comprehensive national show that opens on Thursday, March 22.

Can’t get enough of the really big stuff? The Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design will host a live, participatory steamroller printing demo on April 21 (rain date April 28). Come back on May 5 for an opening reception and artist talk featuring steamroller prints by RMCAD students. Details at the Mo’Print website.

Pieces Together: Printed and Manipulated Surfaces and Objects
Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex
March 1 through May 25
Opening Reception: Monday, March 12, 5 to 8 p.m.
The three-person exhibit Pieces Together is a bit of a well-kept secret, as it’s generally only viewable by ticketed theater-goers at the Buell (i.e., those with hard-to-get Hamilton tix). So it’s essential to hit the free March 12 opening reception if you want to have your socks knocked off by a look at new frontiers in a centuries-old medium, including Taiko Chandler’s experiments with monoprinting on Tyvek, resulting in a swirling, marbled effect on cloud-like paper shapes, and Mark Friday’s interactive assemblages incorporating printmaking elements. Rounding out the show, Chuck McCoy offers more traditional, improvisational monoprints and inkjet prints. It's that good.

Informed: Print as an Influence
Space Gallery, 400 Santa Fe Drive
March 1 through April 7
Opening Reception: March 1, 5 to 8 p.m.
Space Gallery gathers together an octet of printmakers — all of whom happen to be women — working in mixed-media constellations for Informed: Print as an Influence, an exhibit that places print work by each artist alongside their works in other mediums. If the edges between those mediums bleed together a little, don’t be surprised: Sometimes a drawing or painting is a preamble to the more work-intensive print. The artists will talk more about this in conversation at the opening reception, beginning at 5 p.m. sharp.