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Intro text
The Only Thing That Lasts: An Oral History of Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop is an educational platform supported by the Dedalus Foundation.
Interviews were filmed from November 1 - 3, 2023 by Camille Crain Drummond at the Printmaking Workshop on the second floor of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts at 323 West 39th Street, New York City.
In 2023, the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop was awarded a Hauser & Wirth Institute grant to record a video-based oral history project entitled The Only Thing That Lasts: An Oral History of Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop, documenting the life of founder Robert Blackburn (1920–2003) and the history of the community workshop.
Raised in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, Blackburn was a visionary artist of Jamaican American descent, a pioneering master printmaker, and a celebrated educator.
As the longest-running community print shop in the United States dating back to 1947, the Workshop holds a diverse record of printmaking in the United States that reflects the communities with and movements in which Blackburn participated, including the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and Caribbean, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, feminist, and ecologically-focused activism.
These oral histories feature fourteen narrators sharing personal stories that capture the socio-historical context and collaborative culture of The Printmaking Workshop.
Highlights include Ademola Olugebefola introducing his involvement in Weusi Artist Collective, founded in Harlem, 1965; Dindga McCannon discussing the cultural shift in the 1960s and 1970s of natural hair to locks; Eleanor Magid recounting the New York City Teachers’ Strike of 1968; Nitza Tufiño talking about her early development of El Museo del Barrio; Michael Kelly Williams telling a story about Geri Allen’s album The Printmakers, inspired by The Printmaking Workshop; Richard Powell describing the studio’s influence on his earliest curatorial work; and Nanette Carter describing Blackburn’s support of Black artists: “Again in the Black world of ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, New York City, this man was behind all of us…Everyone knew him.”
EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop extends its deepest gratitude to Hauser & Wirth Institute for their generous support of The Only Thing That Lasts: An Oral History of Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop, and to the Dedalus Foundation for their support in making this platform accessible to the public.
We would like to thank those involved in creating this content: Camille Crain Drummond for her guidance and expertise throughout the entirety of this project; Ethel Renia for the considerate and careful curating of clip selections and their guiding themes; the website designers and development team: Nikki Makagiansar and Munus Shih.
Finally, we are grateful to Lisa Darms, Katy Rogers, Paul John, HC Huỳnh, Francesca Strada, Larry Jones, Phillip Edward Spradley, Emmy Catedral, Jocelyn Spaar, Jacob Gorchov, Kai Matsumiya and all the project narrators for helping preserve Bob’s legacy.
For information about accessing the full oral histories please contact rbpmw@efanyc.org or essye@efanyc.org.
Project Directors
Jazmine Catasús
Essye Klempner
Justin Sanz
Website Designers & Developers
Nikki Makagiansar & Munus Shih
Project Curator
Ethel Renia
Interns
Grace Piscitello
Eliana Szabo
video credit
Creative Producer
Camille Crain Drummond
Line Producer
Meghan-Michele German
Cinematographer
Hannah Engelson
Sound Recordist
Javier Caso
Production Manager
Julia Worcman McGill
Production Assistant
Ellie Lindsey
AC
Cristian Delvalle Caicedo
Editor
Cuong Ngo
Still Photography
Leslie Jean-Bart
Interns
Imani Congdon
Luchia Hornsby
Special Thanks
Francesca Strada
Larry Jones
Lisa Darms
Camille Billops and James V. Hatch archives at Emory University, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
Additional Thanks
Curlee Holton
Allan Edmunds
Melvin Edwards
Kay WalkingStick
Corinne Jennings
Judith Blum Reddy
Susan Stedman
Nancy Paredes
John Andrews
Funded by Hauser & Wirth Institute