Opportunities
A new beginning: Apply for membership!
Show new work every month
Plan your solo show
Send us a CV, and samples of your work at
membershipwpg@gmail.com
Membership
Washington Printmakers Gallery is a dynamic cooperative of accomplished artists that has provided original prints and photographs to residents of the DC metro area and its visitors since 1985. WPG members enjoy gallery representation yet maintain the freedom to set prices and select work to display. Our artists often exhibit at other national and international venues. Members also have the opportunity to learn new techniques from their peers by joining this inspiring artistic community. The Gallery provides a street-side retail location in the Washington DC ‘arts area’ with other galleries nearby. As such, WPG attracts national and international arts audiences, news media, print collectors, and other purchasers.
WPG shows are frequently reviewed in the Washington Post and other publications. The gallery has LED art lighting designed specifically for its exhibition space that shows art to best advantage. During the Covid epidemic, the gallery has been open with precautions, while increasing its online presence by adding virtual exhibits and a shop to its web site, along with an active social media program.
Artmaking at WPG is a ‘big tent’ idea. Artists who are experimenting at the edges of traditional printmaking and photography are encouraged to consider applying for membership. Photographers, digital printmakers, 3-D printmakers, book artists, artists mixing methods such as sculpture, painting, and drawing with photography and printmaking are also welcome to apply. Monthly membership fees and members’ tasks make possible this professional, contemporary exhibition space in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., just south of the Book Hill Park.
There are three levels of membership: Full membership, Digital membership, and Fellowship Grant membership. Dues for a Full membership are $175/month, Digital membership $50/month, and Fellowship Grant membership, which is a free one year Associate membership. Please, contact us at washington.print1@gmail.com to get a full description of the membership’s benefits.
Internships
Washington Printmakers Gallery offers art gallery internships to area undergrads for school credit. We design each internship around a specific project based on the student’s skills and interests. Tasks may include administration, marketing, social media, design, photography, printmaking, research and event planning.
National Small Works Exhibition
Each year, Washington Printmakers Gallery exhibits outstanding prints, photos, and artist books by artists from across the United States in its National Small Works Exhibition. This annual juried exhibition, has run for more than twenty years, attracts an exciting range of entries in both traditional and experimental printmaking techniques including intaglio, relief, woodcut, linocut, Solarplate, serigraph, digital and photographic prints, plus three dimensional works with print components. The first prize winner receives a solo show at the gallery the next year.
Past jurors have included curators and consultants for major Washington/Baltimore area museums and institutions: Eric Denker (Senior Lecturer National Gallery of Art); Krystyna Wasserman (Director of Library and Research Center, The National Museum of Women in the Arts); Linda C. Simmons (Curator Emeritus, The Corcoran Gallery of Art); Joann Moser (Senior Curator of Graphic Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum); Katherine L. Blood (Curator of Fine Prints, Library of Congress); Stephen Phillips (Assistant Curator, The Phillips Collection); Greg Jecmen (Associate Curator, Old Master Prints and Print Room Supervisor, National Gallery of Art); Anne Shafer (Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Baltimore Museum of Art); Helen Frederick (Founder and longtime director of Pyramic Atlantic); Jane Famer (independent curator); JD Talasek (Director of Cultural Programs for the National Academy of Sciences); and Philippa Hughes (Founder and Chief Creative Contrarian of the Pinkline Project, as well as DC Commissioner for the Arts and Humanities.)
To Apply for the 2023 Peggy Doyle National Small Works Competition and Exhibition, click on the button below.
Outreach
Washington Printmakers Gallery has long contributed to the DC community through a variety of activities. These include:
Our Guest Lecture Series which invites celebrated printmakers, curators and other specialists to the gallery to speak on their expertise for the benefit of the DC printmaking and collecting community, as well as artist talks and demonstrations.
Our Docent Series is a free educational program offered to docents from area museums, such as the Corcoran and the National Gallery of Art. Several WPG artists walk through a series of print processes to give a general understanding of the depth and breadth of hand-pulled printing techniques. The Docent Series is scheduled upon request. If your organization is interested in participating, please contact us.
Demonstrations of printmaking techniques for area schools and groups can also be requested, sponsored by Washington Printmakers Foundation. If your school is interested in participating, please contact us. Artist Talks, Demonstrations & workshops offered at the gallery. These give visitors a chance to learn about the artist’s process and ideas followed by Q & A and light refreshments.
Join our email list to keep informed of upcoming events.