Rachelle Woo Chuang

Printmaking Open Studio
The Printmaking Studio consists of one Vandercook-4 proofing press, one poster sign press, and one 3.5 x 5 table top Kelsey. The studio is primarily set up for letterpress printing, but can also accommodate individuals interested in woodblock, monotype and sign printing. Letterpress inks are provided by the facility. The studio features a gallery for storing type, a dry rack for prints, and six cabinets of various wood and lead type. Open Studio users must have taken Intro to Letterpress class or equivalents, and must complete an orientation by the studio technician. Open Studio sessions are by reservation only. For more details or to reserve a session, call 949-724-6880.
Click here for a flyer on studio rental.

Classes are being offered with excellent instructors Colin Brown and Madeleine Zygarewicz and starting Summer 2010 by myself.

Click here for current classes.

HISTORY
The story behind the studio is that the press and half of the type originally belonged to the Biola University Art Department. I had been storing it in my parent’s garage (Peter and Gloria Woo) for several years while I desperately tried to move from Bethesda, MD to my beloved Orange County. We finally made it back by driving across the country in 2007 and have now settled in beautiful Aliso Viejo in a lovely town house. However, my tandem garage can’t fit my stuff (it has my papermaking studio in it currently + 2 cars) so I contacted Katy Metz and Jamie Russom of IFAC. With her visionary support along with the entire staff at IFAC, we’ve established perhaps the first and only publicly-accessible community Orange County letterpress studio outside of private and commercial presses, colleges and universities (please correct me if you know of others in OC). Jamie Russom added her tabletop Kelsey to the studio and IFAC purchased a large sign proofing press from the International Printing Museum. The studio held its first letterpress class in Fall 2008. Additional cabinets of type were donated in 2009.

Besides letterpress, the center offers classes in painting, jewelry, ceramics, photography, book arts, calligraphy and more. For more information about classes and rental rates for the letterpress studio, contact:
Irvine Fine Arts Center
14321 Yale Ave Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 724-6880