The oldest print club in the United States, the Print Club of Cleveland has educated print collectors and art enthusiasts since 1916. Over the last 96 years the club has remained dedicated to the founders’ purposes of stimulating interest in  fine prints, from old masters through contemporary artists, as well as augmenting the print collection of the Cleveland  Museum of Art.

The club has purchased some of the crown jewels of the collection including unsurpassed impressions of prints by  masters of every period—including Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso. The commitment and  support of club members continues unabated and about one-third of the museum’s superb collection of more than  20,000 prints are gifts from the club or its members.

The Print Club’s activities also include outreach to the larger community. By sponsoring lectures that are open to the  public as well as the Fine Print Fair, the club continues to educate the general public about printmaking and encourage  interest in the fascinating and enjoyable activity of print collecting.

The Fine Print Fair is the Print Club of Cleveland’s annual benefit for the museum’s Department of Prints. Each year  fourteen dealers from around the country exhibit and sell fine prints—from old master to contemporary— plus drawings  and photographs.

The Fine Print Fair is a major art event in Cleveland and draws an enthusiastic crowd to the preview benefit, “A Prints of  a Party,” as well as to lectures, demonstrations, and to view and purchase prints throughout the three-day event. This  year, the Club celebrates its 28th Annual Fine Print Fair, Cleveland’s largest and most comprehensive exhibition of fine  prints. The Fair begins Friday, September 28, 2012 with an opening night benefit preview and continues Saturday,  September 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sunday, September 30 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Corporate College located  at 4400 Richmond Road in Warrensville Heights (at I-271). For event information please visit  www.printclubcleveland.org.

PRINT CLUB MEMBERS LEARN about printmaking and print collecting. Programs include printmaking demonstrations in artists’ studios, lectures, and tours of private and corporate collections.

CONTRIBUTE to educating the public about prints and to building the museum’s collection.

COLLECT Members receive a specially commissioned print each year as a gift from the club.

TRAVEL locally as well as around the country and the world seeing museum and private collections that are otherwise
inaccessible.

SHARE an interest in prints with artists, curators, other members, and collectors. The Print Club offers the opportunity  to connect with those who have similar interests in art and print collecting.

GET INVOLVED in the many programs and events both as a participant as well as a volunteer. Visit  www.printclubcleveland.org for more membership and program information or call Meghan Olis at 216-707-2579 or  email molis@clevelandart.org.

Mary Kay DeGrandis is president of The Print Club of Cleveland