Pressing Matters Afterschool Program Continues at Zygote Press This Fall

Pressing Matters (PM) is a free afterschool program for Cleveland area teens that introduces students to printmaking as a tool for expression, interpretation, activism and self-advocacy. Founded in 2022 by Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) professor Dr. Erin Benay, Pressing Matters utilizes an interdisciplinary curriculum that brings history to life for young Clevelanders through the experiential practice of printmaking. Since its inception, Pressing Matters has served several cohorts of students, and in spring 2025, for the first time Zygote partnered with the Cleveland High School for Digital Arts.

Led by Sequoia Bostick, Zygote’s community engagement manager, students attended ten afterschool sessions with a focus on a single art exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA). Co-curated by Dr. Benay and CMA Curator Britany Salsbury, Karamu Artists Inc.: Printmaking, Race, and Community, demonstrated how the graphic arts played a groundbreaking role at Cleveland’s Karamu House, one of the nation’s preeminent Black community art centers. The students studied these artists’ work by visiting the exhibition, learned about how this work correlates to historic events, and its continued relevance today, through lectures and group discussions.

The students explored how the Karamu artists developed deep bonds to their community through printmaking, and then they explored their own feelings about their community by learning relief printmaking. Led by Zygote teaching artist, tahm lytle, the students learned how to carve linoleum and created their own work inspired by the exhibition. The program culminated with the students showcasing their relief prints and leading printmaking demos at the CMA as part of the Artist in the Atrium series. A record-breaking 570 museum visitors engaged with the students and learned about relief printing and the Karamu House artists.

Zygote is gearing up for the fall session of Pressing Matters, which will begin in late September with support from a Case Western Reserve University’s Community Enhancement Grant. Registration will open on August 25. Head to zygotepress.org to learn more. If you are a high school art teacher and would like to partner with Zygote, please contact Sequoia Bostick at sequoia@zygotepress.org.

ZYGOTE PRESS
1410 East 30th Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
zygotepress.org
216.621.2900

EVENT

Pressing Matters registration opens August 25

CAPTION: Zygote staff and Pressing Matters students at the Cleveland Museum of Art.