American Printing History Association (APHA) will host their 47th annual conference in Los Angeles on October 13-15, 2022. "Making Artistic Noise" will explore the printing and printmaking revolution unleashed in the United States by the political and social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Three invited speakers and 25 panelists and short paper presenters will tackle the conference theme from a variety of intersecting topics and perspectives, including printing history, alternative publishing, DIY printing techniques, graphic design, book arts education, community engagement, labor organizing, feminism, Black studies, Chicano and Latino history, and LGBTQ+ activism.
CSPG will be presenting
"LA Political Poster-Making Collectives that Made History"
on Friday, October 14th
Papers Session 2, 3:00- 4:00 p.m.
This lightning round presentation will cover four Los Angeles-based poster collectives active during the 1960s–1980s: Peace Press, Mechicano Art Center, Women’s Graphic Center, and Fireworks Graphics Collective. Panelists will discuss print collective workplace structures, inter-movement solidarity, and how marginalized groups use posters to communicate their experiences and organize for social change. Research materials stem largely from the collections at the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, the nation’s largest post-1945 political poster archive.
Samantha Ceja began her career in archives at California State University-Northridge, where she worked as a work-study student in the Special Collections & Archives department. As a history major, she appreciated the opportunity to work with and learn from primary sources to tell the stories of marginalized people and their communities. As a current MLIS student at San Jose State University, she is dedicated to working in archives to promote social change through the preservation and education of historical movements. She joined the team in March 2022 to help digitize the Center for the Study of Political Graphics’ (CSPG) 90,000+ political graphics.
Lisa Kahn is responsible for digitizing CSPG’s 90,000+ political graphics. She was first introduced to CSPG through an internship facilitated by the UCLA History Department’s Public History Initiative in 2017. Since 2016, she has worked for six different archival institutions including the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, the Jewish Women’s Archive, and Zion National Park. After earning both her B.A. in History and her MLIS from UCLA, she was eager to begin working at a community-based archive and readily joined CSPG’s staff in September 2021.
Emily Sulzer began her time at CSPG as a volunteer in 2015, an experience that fomented her interest in a career in archives. She holds a MLIS from UCLA and a B.A. in Art History and Visual Art from Occidental College. In her mind, preserving and providing access to provocative art is necessary to uncover hidden histories, reveal truths, and change the world.
R.M. Waldorf was introduced to CSPG by a colleague in February 2021, and they have volunteered at the archive ever since. While a current student at UCLA earning their MLIS degree, they work in the Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library and will also begin work at William Andrews Clark Memorial Library in Summer 2022. Serving non-traditional student patrons in the Santa Barbara City College Luria Library inspired them to get curious about ways information professionals can work more closely with and in communities.
More information on the conference including complete schedule, speakers and presenters, and registration can be found at printinghistory.org/2022-conference/