Our Mission, Vision, and History
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.
VISION
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.
Our Story
Liz Maugans, Joe Sroka, Bellamy Printz, and Kelly Novak founded Zygote Press in 1996. Located in the Saint Clair-Superior neighborhood, Zygote was established as an open, collaborative shop — to give artist printmakers affordable access to facilities. At the time, many college print departments and print businesses were downsizing and transitioning to digital production. The Zygote founders worked to inherit and purchase discarded presses and other pieces of printing equipment, and so populated the shop with the tools necessary for a functioning studio.
In 2006, Zygote moved from the initial Saint Clair-Superior location to the facility on East 30th St., slowly developing into an anchor institution in the Downtown ArtsQuarter of Cleveland’s AsiaTown. In fact, the ArtsQuarter is a dense urban environment that’s diverse socioeconomically, culturally, and racially.
In 2010, Zygote Press 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.
In 2011, Zygote opened the press artist share space (ZPASS), a residency and incubation space one floor above Zygote’s East 30th St. workshop. Click here for more information.
In 2012, Zygote Press was presented with a Cleveland Arts Prize, a highly coveted award.
Today, Zygote Press is a destination for printmakers nationwide offering facilities for intaglio, relief printing, screen printing, letterpress, and Risography. Zygote Press also initiates and facilitates projects with professional artists in an active environment — where artists, students and the public interact. Offering individual studio spaces for rent, working archives, classes and individual instruction, and an artist apartment — the ZPASS loft apartment above the shop — Zygote is the only open-access print studio in Northeast Ohio and is the largest in the state of Ohio.
As the largest independent fine-art print shop between Pittsburgh and Chicago (and one of a few non-profit galleries in Cleveland) Zygote’s programs provide much-needed resources for artists and educational non-profits. The collaborative dynamic of the print shop encourages artistic growth … and classes for all skill levels grow the medium. To round out the offerings, Zygote’s innovative Mobile Art Printing (MAP) program takes fine-art printmaking to schools, prisons, rehabilitation centers, and city festivals.
