The 2nd Annual Power of the Press Fest is returning to Eastern Market this weekend! The celebration of traditional printmaking will take place in Shed 5 this Sunday from 10 am – 4 pm and feature over 50 artists who specialize in screen printing, wood engraving, paper making, and more. Plenty of amazing art will be for sale at the event and visitors will get to learn techniques of the trade via live demonstrations by the artists.

Shed 5 in Detroit’s Eastern Market. (Photo: Jeanne Pope/@beanandcole on Instagram)

The event made its initial debut in 2017 but was put on hold for a year due to the pandemic. “We are excited to bring the festival back,” said Lynne Avadenka, Director of letterpress print shop Signal Return and globally recognized artist and printmaker. “It has been a challenging time for the creative community and it’s great to have the opportunity to showcase artists’ work once again. People enjoy seeing artists at work, and we have a wonderful lineup of craftspeople and artisans.”

The festival will be hosted by Melinda “MeMe” Anderson, who is the founder of award-winning event design and production space Studio M Detroit.

“Producing and managing festivals are my jam in general, but what I have loved most about the Fest is getting to know a whole new community of artists and creatives,” said Anderson.

“All of the artists are so talented and sweet. It has been a joy to work with them during this time.  This is actually our third attempt at trying to produce the fest due to Covid shutting us down a month before we would have opened last year. I find the amount of talent that will be in one place at one time incredibly exciting, but putting this together during a global pandemic has been rewarding.”

When asked if her role in the festival has taught her something new about the print industry, Anderson exclaimed “Oh yes! I have learned new printing techniques and methods that are incredibly inspiring to my design work.”

Crowd shopping 2017 Power of the Press Fest. (Photo: Jeanne Pope/@beanandcole on Instagram)

If you plan to head down to the festival this weekend, don’t forget to check out the Quarantine Public Library, the internationally recognized project by Katie Garth and Tracy Honn.

To learn more information about Power of the Press Fest and view the full list of participating vendors, visit the event’s website here.

What are you most excited to explore at Power of the Press Fest this weekend? Leave a comment and share what you’d love to learn!