Close-up of a damaged electronic voting machine screen with a broken display, in a room with windows.

About Us

MISSION

Zygote Press is an established, nonprofit community printmaking studio, gallery, archive, and education center that supports artists through residency programs, studio access, and artistic development in a collaborative environment open to all.

A workspace with an unfinished resin art project on a table, featuring vibrant blue, green, and yellow colors, with clamps holding the project in place.

VISION

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access

Zygote is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all forms. We are committed to using all resources at our disposal to uplift the communities that we serve, and we believe in being accountable to them. Our staff, board, and stakeholders are fully invested in reforms that address systemic and structural injustices against underserved, marginalized, and overlooked groups of people. We will continue the diversification of our board, staff, teaching artist pool, residency programs, and internships. While we are currently engaged in breaking down barriers in fine art printmaking, we will always strive to grow and do better. We vow to continue learning, listening, and rebuilding Zygote as an organization that operates in service of equity, accountability, and access for all.

We believe…

Printmaking must be sustained as a vital contemporary medium in the world of art.
The practices of printmaking can create a community that cultivates collaboration, innovation, and the exchange of ideas.
All artists in our region need access to an affordable, inclusive, professional printmaking shop.
Education and advocacy through the art of printmaking can foster new relationships and partnerships between artists and the community that can improve the quality of life for everyone.

The Zygote Story

Zygote Press was established in 1996 in Cleveland, Ohio as an open, collaborative print shop. Today, Zygote is the largest and only green printmaking studio in Ohio, providing facilities for intaglio, relief printing, screen printing, letterpress, lithography, Risography, and digital media. But Zygote is more than a print shop. It is a third space, neither home nor work, where artists, students, educators, and community members come together around the transformative power of printmaking.

- 1996: Zygote Press was established in Cleveland, Ohio as an open, collaborative print shop by Liz Maugans, Joe Sroka, Bellamy Printz, and Kelly Novak.
- 2006: Zygote moved from our initial Saint Clair Superior location to East 30th Street in AsiaTown Cleveland.
- 2011: Zygote founded the Collective Arts Network (CAN), a vital members network of regional visual arts institutions and galleries that produces a quarterly journal of arts, a website, and events around the city.
- 2011: Zygote opened the Press Artist Share Space (ZPASS), an apartment one floor above the former East 30th Street workshop, which provided a residential space for visiting artists.
- 2012: Zygote was presented with the prestigious Cleveland Arts Prize — Liz Maugans and Bellamy Printz interview
- 2014: Zygote purchased and retrofitted a house in the Collinwood neighborhood, the Ink House (now operating as Deep Dive), to serve as a satellite fine art edition printmaking facility.
- 2015: Zygote eliminated all toxic solvents from the chemistry in our shop, replaced them with greener alternatives, and began sharing this knowledge with printmakers, educators, and other print shops.
- 2018: Zygote’s founder and Executive Director retired.
- 2021: Zygote embarked on a new strategic plan, restructuring its staff responsibilities, recruiting new members to its Board of Trustees, shifting the focus of its residency programs, and setting in motion a multi-year DEI plan to eliminate hierarchies and build access. Zygote launched a residency program for Artists of Color.
- 2022: Zygote embarked on a relocation plan exploration to form a multidisciplinary community arts center in partnership with like-minded arts nonprofit organizations.
- 2023: Zygote launched Pressing Matters, a new afterschool program for Cleveland teens, focusing on social justice and civic engagement through printmaking.
- 2024: Zygote substantially enhanced and rebranded the residency program for Artists of Color from a 3-month program to a 9-month PROOF Fellowship Program (Print Residency of Ohio’s Future), with expanded educational and exploratory support plus paid, career-building opportunities.
- 2025: Zygote launched the In(k)spire Scholarship Program for local artists-in-need.
- 2026: Zygote purchased and relocated to a 19,168-square-foot facility in the heart of MidTown Cleveland. Our new home will allow us to quadruple the number of people we serve annually; expand education programs; provide accessible, dedicated workspaces and community classrooms; and secure Zygote’s future as an anchor in Cleveland's cultural landscape.