Win a Very Short Version of a Hatch Show Print Internship!

As a part of the Fossil collaboration with Hatch Show Print and other artists, Fossil is giving away a chance to go to Nashville and make your very own Hatch Show Print. I find it interesting that a place like Hatch is taking part in a contest, but I also love the fact that a chance to work in a print shop and make art is a prize. So I approve.

In some ways it is like you are winning a very short version of the Hatch Show internship. Instead of sending a coverletter, resume, going through the interview process, finding a place to live for a few months, and using all your savings to work for free, you just go to the website, and fill out the contest form. I'm not dissing it by far, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I was wondering actually if I am eligible to win since I am a former intern. I was only there for 2 months, and had not yet begun to explore the potential of Hatch Show Print's extensive archive. I say sign up for this contest, and if that doesn't work, try to get an internship. You will not regret it.

Fossil's LONG LIVE VINTAGE campaign @ Hatch Show Print

I can't believe I didn't show you guys this sooner. During the internship we did some work for Fossil(the clothing and watch people). Since we were new, we kind of showed up at the end of everything, but if you look closely, you can see the other interns and myself, running super-speed in the pan of the shop. It was a very cool experience.

Right now at Fossil's website you can find out more about the Long Live Vintage/Long Live Art Campaign. You can also buy a Hatch Show Print poster, and some T-shirts and things like that also.

Famous People.

Today one of the Flaming Lips came into the shop. Pretty exciting stuff. Back in my pre-intern days I wondered what it would be like if someone came into the shop to pick up their posters, place an order, or just visit, and it turned out to be a celebrity. Would people make a big deal out of it? I don't know who I imagined coming in really, but someone should right? I mean we are a famous print shop, we make posters for famous people, and we are right next to one of the most famous venues in the history of music.

At Hatch we have 3 presses. The "mid-press" is also the celebrity press. It has autographs of all the famous people who have made their way through the shop. It's kind of cool, but I can't really read or recognize a lot of the names on it. Right above that is an autographed Weezer poster that was designed by Hatch Show Print.

There is a superstition at the shop where if you play a certain musicians music all day while they are supposed to be in town to play a show, then they will stop by. For example: Tegan and Sara played here a few weeks ago, right around the corner from Hatch at the Ryman Auditorium. So all day we listened to nothing but Tegan and Sara. They didn't come in, but if the myth was true, then they would have. The reason has something to do with how embarrassing it is to be caught jamming out to a band when the real band is in front of you. The awkwardness, and unlikeliness of the situation, makes it more likely to happen. We tried the same thing for Vampire Weekend a week later, but we only had one of their albums at the shop. We listened to it once, and no one showed up.

That isn't to say that we never get the famous visitors. In the two months that I have been there, we have seen our fair share of famous-type people. Designer Stanly Hainsworth came by before giving a lecture at nearby University, the director of the documentary "Helvetica" Gary Hustwit stopped by, the Bassist (I think) for the Flaming Lips, some people from American Routes, and I think maybe some soap opera people have stopped by.

As fun as it is to see people like that stop by and have access to those bragging rights, Jim's philosophy is sort of different when it comes to celebrity. In essence, it is about all the posters on the walls that are for people who have had their time come and go, or the people who never got their time. For every one poster of Johnny Cash, there are 20 posters of people nobody knows. This is supposed to keep you humble and grounded. A common saying around Hatch is that "It's just a poster."

That is great advice, but in the two months I have been here, very little of the magic has worn off. I still feel like I have become a part of the history you see in books, read about in magazines, and listen to on the radio. I have made posters for annual events, indie bands, and even 40th birthday parties, but I have contributed to something larger than myself, and more personal and less corporate than the retail world. So while I agree that I am just and intern, and it is just a poster, I am going to enjoy my few remaining days soaking in the specialness of this opportunity that I have been given.

Tonight! Live! On Stage!

I recently designed a poster for a client called Music City Roots. It is a weekly live radio show/concert from the Loveless Cafe in Nashville TN (which is a pretty famous spot). The show features lots of musicians, and is broadcast on WSM-AM 650 every Wednesday.

The poster I created was to be used for the opening of their spring season. It's a pretty cool thing to be a part of. Today I went to the Loveless Cafe for breakfast and they had one of my posters hanging behind the counter. Also they sell the Music City Roots posters that Hatch Show Print has designed. It is interesting to see something that I have designed and printed being for sale right next to the preserves, biscuit mixes, t-shirts, and key rings.

Something else cool about my poster is that it was right up on stage with all the musicians. If you click the link HERE you will see a gallery of that first spring season show. My print is orange and green and is right on the wall with the other Hatch Show Print designed posters. On stage in front of a live studio audience.

Hatch Show Print On American Routes

We were in our first or second week of the internship the day that this segment was recorded.Click here, and scan about 40 minutes into the show to hear the Hatch section. It was very cool to be there when something like this was being recorded, and it is very cool to hear how the hours of people wandering around with microphones and cameras, have turned into a 15 minute segment.

Old Pictures of Hatch Show Print

You've seen all of my pics of Hatch Show Print at its current location, but here is something you may not know. Hatch Show Print has had other locations before its move to 316 Broadway.

First there was the location at 22 North Cherry Street which is now called Fourth Avenue South, then they moved to 116 Fourth Avenue North. Here are a few pictures of Hatch Show Print at that location which is right around the corner from its current location at 316 Broadway.

All of these photos are from Hatch Manager Jim Sherraden's collection, I am just helping put together a Powerpoint presentation for a lecture he will be giving later this month. In other words, these photos are not mine, I just scanned them. I have permission from him to use them here.The front of the shop used to face the Ryman Auditorium. The AT&T skyscraper now resides where Hatch Show Print once was.
inside
inside

The reason the interior looks so clean and organized in these photos is because it was not the thriving print shop/working museum that it is today. When Opryland bought Hatch Show Print they were doing mainly restrikes, and postcards. Jim was brought in originally as an archivist for Hatch Show Print. This article is from the Tennessean January 8th, 1986
Hatch Show Print after being torn down.
Invitation to the grand re-opening of Hatch Show Print at its current location.

Appropriation.

This image taken from World Famous Design Junkies is a part of a larger post that explores the ideas of appropriation. Appropriation is a beautiful, and confusing thing. Sometimes it is good to borrow the ideas of others when you share a similar view. Sometimes, you are just a rip-off artist.

In the case of the above concert poster, it is a playful tribute to the history of the concert poster. Why did I choose this image? Because the Silas Green poster is a Hatch Show Print poster. This image has a lot of history, and it is interesting to know so much about the origin of this image in particular, and see how it is appropriated. Be sure to check the link above and see the rest of the appropriated images, it really is cool to see the way people are influenced by certain aspects of print culture.

Print Collection 2

This print from Hatch Show Print has an interesting story for my personal history despite the fact that it was not acquired by me personally, but instead was a gift from my mom when she went on a business trip to Nashville about two years ago. When I found out that she was going I told her about Hatch and where it was and what kind of stuff it was that they did, because I thought it would be great if she could bring back a souvenir that was Hatch Show Print related. At this point I was well on my way to graduation, and had been involved with various forms of printmaking for a few years, but had yet to return to Hatch Show print with my new knowledge and respect for letterpress printmaking. I also asked her (mostly joking) to see if they were hiring.

The result of this trip was the print you see above, some post cards (posted in another Hatch related blog post somewhere around here), and the information that Hatch Show Print was not hiring, but had intern positions. I don't know if I have ever been so excited in my life! That was all I could think about, all the time! I mean I guess that, and my BFA show. I visited Hatch that summer, I sent off my resume and cover letter, and now almost 2 years later I am prepping myself for the move to Nashville and an internship at Hatch Show Print.

One of my favorite things about Letterpress prints, is that when you turn them over, they are dirty and imprinted. This print is no different. The yellow and red ink seems to have bled through to the back side of the poster because of the pressure involved in the printing process. I don't know if that actually IS why this happened, but it reminds me of printing reliefs with oriental papers and the image almost shows up on the back of the paper from rubbing. I guess I will find out in a couple of months.

The red ink used for the word "Hatch" seems to have a marbled effect that resembles what the ink probably looked like laying on the roller. Red with blackish drips smudged in it. Those mystery globs of dark paint or ink that you can't always seem to get rid of no matter how clean you are, but don't always ruin the work.

The yellow in used as the background for the window has a similar feel to it. In addition to the smudges here and there, the yellow background contains imprints of a skull pattern that I assume is not an intentional part of the original image. The skull design makes me think of a chapter in the Hatch Show book that talks about how old wood blocks were reused not only on other images, but sometimes the old blocks were dismantled to make shelving in the shop. This yellow block of windows could have at some point been a block from a Halloween print, or rock n' roll concert poster.

The yellow bleeds through the black ink layer in some spots from inconsistent inking and seem to reveal a wood grain pattern. All of these unique traits, in my mind at least, make me think about the different layers, the process, and the history of the process, associated with letterpress more than I would with your average computer designed and printed poster. That's the way I like it.

The Intern Effect

When I started seriously writing this blog, I did so because I wanted to be able to share my adventures in the art world with other people I know who I may not have a lot of contact with. People who stumble across my blog through Google searches, or through my Myspace page (that I don't really use) or my facebook fan page (see right side of the page) can be in contact with my current work, or adventures through the art world, but most importantly, I made this thing because I won't be living in the same state in a few months, and I wanted to have a way for people to be able to see what I am up to while I am gone.

The reason I won't be living here-if you didn't know- is that I am interning at Hatch Show Print in Nashville starting in February. I will be away from my friends and family, I may not have a job that pays, and I may not be able to afford to live in Nashville without putting it on my credit cards. In other words, my life is about to change, big time!

To put this change into perspective, I can look back at the last 9 years of my life and all 9 years are spent almost exactly the same. I had a pretty stable life. 9 years at UofL. 9 years at the same job. 9 years living at home.

Since I have graduated, and got the internship at Hatch it has affected my life quite a bit and The last nine years' status quo is already starting to go out the window.

The internship, and the possibility of grad school afterward has strained my last relationship to the point of breaking up, and as a result of my 2 month absence, my current employer has said that I won't be able to take a promotion (which would have been my 3rd) because they can't have me be gone for 2 months. Every member of management wants me to take this position.

They say now, that I may not be able to keep my health insurance benefits, and that I may have to start all over again from minimum wage when I get back. The classes at The Mellwood Art Center have been put on hold, and even if they started today, I probably wouldn't be able to teach them because it would end right as the internship was beginning.

I wish that all of these things didn't happen, or could have been resolved, but regardless of the outcome of these events, I need to do this internship. I very rarely take chances with any aspect of my life, and for the first time, I am taking steps towards a positive change. I know that if I decided to stay here, stay to teach, or stayed for a promotion, it wouldn't be me following my dreams, and I would always wonder what it would have been like to work at a place as important to the tradition of printmaking, the history of Nashville, and pop culture in general, as Hatch Show Print.

This is something that I have wanted for a long time, and worked very hard to get. If I decided not to take the opportunity given to me by the people at Hatch Show Print, I would kick myself for the rest of my life.

The History of a Great American Poster Shop

I just finished reading "Hatch Show Print: The History of a Great American Poster Shop", in preparation for my upcoming internship. It is a really great book for people who are interested in letterpress posters, or the history of Nashville. The book goes into a lot of detail about the times, places, employees, and even some technical details about the shop, and considering that the shop has been in operation for 130 years,that is a lot of ground to cover.

The story is a straight forward history detailing the founding of the company, and the basic types of posters printed. It's interesting to see how advertising with posters has changed so much in 130 years at Hatch even if technology has not. It seems when entertainment changes, posters are still there, whether it be minstrel shows, country music stars, wrestling, state fairs, or politics, Hatch Show Print has been there! For me, the best part of the book was being able to witness the decline of the business and the triumphant return of the shop to its glory days in its new location.
--(above) My first Hatch Show Print--

I feel like this end part of the book is where I come in. Around 3 years after the book was published I went on a road trip to Nashville with my brother and my cousins, to see the Curiosa Festival. When we arrived we were too poor to afford tickets and instead spent our time riding Go-Karts, playing mini golf, and going to the Opry Mills mall. We also went downtown to checkout the happenings. While walking past a building I looked in the window and saw a poster of the concert we were unable to attend. Inside I bought a copy of the poster I had seen on display in the store window. That store was Hatch Show Print.
--(above)Pieces from my Hatch Show Print collection, not including window cards, or t-shirts--

At this time I had yet to take a single printmaking class in college, but I knew that the distinctive Hatch Show design was something great. A few years later my mom went to Nashville on business. I asked her to ask the employees of Hatch if they were hiring. A few days later she returned with a couple of postcards, a print from Hatch, a t-shirt, and news that they were going to have internships available in the Fall of the next year. I checked out the website info and began looking into what I needed to do to get the internship. That summer we went down for the day and like always, stopped in to Hatch Show Print, where I bought a sticker, a t-shirt, and a print. As a joke I asked them to go ahead and put my name down on the list for interns the following fall. The person behind the counter told me I would have to apply online. For the next year there was nothing on my mind but to work on my BFA show/graduation, and think about the internship that (hopefully) awaited me afterward. I wondered what it would be like to work in the shop, printing the way people have been printing for hundreds of years! Getting to learn a new type of printmaking, getting hands on experience, meeting new people and being able to live on my own in a different city.

A few months later I graduated, and I sent off my resume for the Fall 2009 session of the internship at Hatch. I got a call back for an interview, and I thought that I did okay. They decided not the pick me for whatever reasons, but said I could still be considered for future sessions. I was excited by that, but I felt like I shouldn't get my hopes up. They didn't pick me before, so why would they pick me now? I thought I should focus on getting a real job, moving out on my own, and maybe thinking about grad schools.

Luckily, (in a way) I didn't have a new job, or a place of my own, or a grad school selected, because I received an email from Hatch Show Print a few weeks ago inviting me to participate in the February-April internship! I, of course, was bouncing off the walls with excitement and had to change my mission for my life once again. So that is pretty much it. This week I received my internship packet. Like one would expect, it includes letterpressed stationary with a personalized message, a card with a letterpressed history of the company, and a letterpressed price guide, as well as a bunch of photocopies relating to the behavior expected from interns.--(above) Letterpressed internship Packet--
As excited as I am that all of this is happening, I am also a little nervous. The people I have talked to at Hatch seem really cool and laid back, and the history of Hatch I have read seems to back that up. A community of musicians and designers with Luddite tendencies working together and listening to music (interns are not allowed to touch the CD player BTW) to preserve Hatch Show Print's legacy through production.

The intern manual is very rule heavy, and it needs to be, but reading it also brings in some self doubt. I can't let it get to me though, because everyone at my current place of employment tells me I am a machine! I work hard, and I take pride in my work, and Hatch Show Print will be no different. I can do this and it will be good for me. I feel that I will finally be able to work somewhere artistic, and be a part of something bigger. Hatch Show Print is a part of history, and when the next chapter of the Hatch Show Print story is written I will be a part of it.

Southern Graphics Conference/Hatch Show Print Internship

Looks like it is that time of year again!! The Southern Graphics Council's conference has just released the info for the 2010 conference. This year it is in Philadelphia and just from looking at the info on the website it's gonna be a good one! Going to this conference in Chicago (2009) with my printmaking class was probably the best experience of my college career.

This year since I am no longer a student I can't go to the conference on the University's dime. It looks like the $200+ for registration, membership, travel, room, and food may not be the only thing that may prevent me from going to the SGC this year, because I got the internship with Hatch Show Print in Nashville. Thats right! From February 15th-April 16th I will be living in Nashville, four hours further away from Philly than I would have been in Louisville.

I have been thinking that if by some miracle I manage to scrape enough money together to live in Nashville on my own, and then somehow get enough money together to go to the SGC conference, then maybe I can take a weekend off from Hatch and drive up there. I think I get weekends off with the Hatch internship, but I could be wrong.

Here are some pictures of Hatch Show Print in Nashville (1-3) and pictures from my trip to the Southern Graphics Council (not including the pictures of people doing somersaults, eating Epic Burgers, or making weird faces).