Come celebrate Sixty Inches From Center’s first book, Chicago Archives + Artists Project: Case Studies in Collaboration, at designer and letterpress printer Ben Blount’s studio. The printing press will be in action!

Meet artist Ben Blount and archivist Dino Robinson, one of the archive + artist pairings commissioned for the publication, and hear about their work and research within the collection of Shorefront Legacy Center, which contains historic materials and relics from Black communities in Chicago’s suburban North Shore.

Ben’s new series of posters references archival materials from mid-century Black social clubs, and Dino will have some of the materials on hand for visitors to see.

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**Masks are required for those who attend. ASL Interpretation and Live CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation) can be requested by contacting us at info@sixtyinchesfromcenter.org. Read more about accessibility for this venue and event in our Accessibility Guide.

Accessibility Guide for ‘Printmaking from the Archive: Ben Blount & Dino Robinson in Conversation’

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The book Chicago Archives + Artists Project: Case Studies in Collaboration serves as a site for new archive-inspired explorations, a directory of Chicago-based archives and collections, and a printed space where past artists, archivists, librarians, curators, and other collaborators can reflect on 5+ years of the Chicago Archives + Artists Project.

Morris (Dino) Robinson, Jr. is the Production Manager at Northwestern University Press. Throughout his career, he held several positions in various advertising firms in Chicago, IL and later operated Robinson Design specializing in exhibit design and logo development. He holds a BA degree in n Communication Design and a minor in African American Studies. Dino is the founder and current executive director of Shorefront, an organization he pioneered in 1995. Within Shorefront, he has written three books, produces a journal (1999 – present), hosted dozens of lectures and has assembled several subject specific traveling exhibits. Most importantly, Dino built a collection measuring over 500 linear feet that illustrates the histories and contributions of the local Black communities in Chicago’s suburban North Shore.

Ben Blount is a Detroit born artist, designer and letterpress printer. He loves books, type, and putting ink on paper. He is best known for his work that explores questions of race, identity and the stories we tell ourselves about living in America. Ben is a believer in the power of the printed word and shares his passion for print and design speaking to students and educators around the country and as a board member of Artists Book House and Fine Press Book Association. His artists’ books and prints are included in numerous collections including the Chicago Field Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Ben lives and works just north of Chicago in Evanston, Illinois.

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Tags: Ben Blount, Chicago Archives + Artists Project, Evanston, MAKE Letterpress Studio, Morris (Dino) Robinson Jr., Sixty Inches From Center