Printmaking

Mrs. Difranco's perspective of the Tomaquag Museum and Printmaking:

The trip to the Tomaquag Museum was inspiring for so many reasons, but especially lesson planning.  This museum is only a five minute ride from door to door and we have neglected to visit or connect with these community artisans. While visiting the museum, I noticed the baskets decorated with a printmaking technique.  This ancient technique was, and remains, an important process in art making. Printmaking is seen in so many cultures across the world and we are fortunate to have a student’s parent that is a master printmaker. She graduated from RISD and offered to run a class with our fourth graders.  We looked at the history of printmaking and the different techniques used in a variety of cultures. She let us use her linoleum cuts to make our prints. We were able to purchase linoleum for a fourth grade project this year. It was great to have community artists share their technique with our students while linking a very modern process to a very ancient one.