WHAT IS PRESSING MATTERS?

It’s a way for you to express what matters most to you today!

What if art wasn’t just art but was also a way for you to communicate everything you love (and don’t love) about your life? What if you could also get to talk to some of the most creative minds in Cleveland, pick their brains, and find out how they overcame the challenges and hurdles of life? If you like these questions, come work with us on the Pressing Matters project.

Pressing Matters is a free, after school program for Cleveland area teens that introduces students to printmaking as a tool for expression, interpretation, activism and self-advocacy. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum, Pressing Matters encourages teens to deepen their understanding of public humanities, civic engagement, socially-engaged art production, and art education. Students and educators alike have the opportunity to learn from one another and develop new ways of thinking and making, utilizing printmaking as the central medium for its historical significance in communicating personal and political events. The program is facilitated weekly by Antwoine Washington and Michael Russel, co-founders of the nonprofit organization MOCHA, in collaboration with Zygote Press’ Aaron Williams (Arts Education Specialist), Brittany Hudak (Senior Program Manager), and Jackie Feldman (Executive Director).