This Friday at 7pm, Zea Mays Printmaking, located in Florence, will be hosting a discussion on the frequently overlooked environmental hazards of certain commonly-used art and printmaking materials. The discussion will be supported by Artists in Context, a collaborative artists’ organization that focuses on social and political issues,  and will include a talk by Erin McKelvy of The Beehive Design Collective - a volunteer-driven non-profit organization that employs graphics media as an educational tool - about the process of researching, creating and disseminating graphics at Beehive. It will also feature a discussion of their Product Safety Impact Study by Zea Mays.

The conversation will  investigate methods artists might use to address an issue like environmental toxins. In addition, it will explore the process of sharing these methods with both the printmaking community and the general public. The event will include an exposition and discussion of projects from both organizations, including a sixteen-foot Beehive graphic.

The talk will be free and open to the public.  “This event is for anyone, artists or not,” says Adele Mattern, program coordinator of Artists in Context. “The event will be a casual coming together of two arts organizations who are both using their art practices to investigate the world outside of the studio.”

Photo courtesy of Beehive Design Collective.