Patio Press’s mission is to help students, artists, and individuals interested in print expand and foster their creative practice. It takes form through virtual and hybrid artist residencies, fellowships, and in engaging a broader community through exhibitions, promotion, and exposure.
At its core, Patio Press strives to provide opportunities for artists that have limited or no access to facilities to work in print media. The spirit of exchange, community driven engagement and dissemination of the analog print are essential to us. In providing our time and materials to print quality editions for participant artists, we hope to cultivate a passion and encouragement for printed matter.
Our motive is based on sustaining an equal and accessible outlet for emerging, mid-career and professional artists desiring to work in print. We believe in the preservation of traditional printmaking processes but welcome experimentation, spontaneity and innovation within the field of contemporary print. Patio Press strives to make connections to the local, national and international art communities.
Artists Sara-Jeanne Bourget and Mark Johnsen co-founded Patio Press in March of 2020. In response to the new reality of distance and isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, they set up a small Etching press on their balcony in Southeast Vancouver, British Columbia.
Initially printing their own work, they quickly realized the potential of printing work for other artists in self-isolation. Their initial “Virtual Residency” program allowed artists to mail in their plates (woodblocks, linoleum, and etchings) while Mark and Sara-Jeanne worked together to print small editions free of charge for the residents. The work and process were featured online and mailed back along with the plates. Since then, Patio Press has evolved into an ever expanding entity that encompasses remote and in-person collaborations and longer-term projects.
We humbly acknowledge that Patio Press is situated on the stolen and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
C.V.
Workshops, Education, and Programming
2023 - Creative Remix Workshop with the City of Vancouver, Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre, Vancouver, BC
2022 - DIY Print Workshop - Patio Press X West Vancouver Art Museum, West Vancouver, BC
2022 – Printmaking workshop with the Empire of Dirt - Iteration and transformation through the unique print, Creston, BC
2021 - PRNT 305: Print Media: Special Topics: Patio Press X Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, BC
2020 –21 Patio Press X ECU, Student Fellowship Program
2021 – Patio Press X Gordon Smith Gallery, Arts for Kids – Connecting though print workshop, North Vancouver, BC
2020 – Paper Making workshop with Atelier Retailles and Emily Carr University of Art + Design – (Planning and hosting by Patio Press, with support from the Audain Faculty of Art)
2020-2021 Development and Instruction of PRNT 205/315 – Alternative processes – DIY Print, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, BC
Residences + Research
2023 - SIG Explore Grant, SSHRC Institutional Grant (SIG) with Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver BC
2022 - Research Residency: Patio Press in partnership with the Audian Faculty of Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and the Shumka Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship. Vancouver, BC
2022 – Self-directed residency program at Patio Press, recipients: Richard Brittain & Jordan Corder-Swanson
2022 – Empire of Dirt Residency, Creston, BC
2021 – Collaborative Printmaking Summer Artist in Residence / with Erick Jantzen, Vancouver, BC
2021 – Empire of Dirt Residency, Sustainable material Research intensive, Creston, BC
Project support and realization
2021-Present Edition printing / material research for Gwenessa Lam
2021-Present Edition printing for Landon Mackenzie
2022 Edition printing for Russna Kaur
2021 Edition printing / material research for David MacWilliam
Curatorial Projects + Exhibitions
2022 - Pressed Together, Michael O’Brian Exhibition commons, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver B.C.
2022 - Re-imaging the Archive, Museum of North Vancouver, North Vancouver B.C.