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Upcoming Events: Common Press

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Apr 09
  • Workshop
Open to Penn Students, Faculty, and Staff

Making Books for Class Projects

Learn how to make books with printed content for class projects, focusing on the saddle-stitch structure and the single-page book structure.

  • April 9, 2026
  • 11:00am - 12:00pm
  • Fisher Fine Arts Library, Lower Level Seminar Room
An open book with hardcover
Apr 10
Open to the Public

Open Studio Session: Ink and Flax in the Revolutionary Era

Join us for a drop-in Open Studio at Common Press to print a broadside exploring a key ingredient used to produce ink, fabric, and paper during the Revolutionary era: flax!

  • April 10, 2026
  • 2:00pm - 4:00pm
  • Common Press Space
Antique botanical illustration of a slender flax plant with delicate blue flowers, green leaves, and roots, framed by a blue border.
Apr 15
  • Workshop
Open to Penn Students, Faculty, and Staff

Printing Your Own Postcard: Learning how to set type and letterpress-print

Learn and practice the basics of letterpress printing and typesetting with the Common Press collection of metal typefaces. Create a simple postcard design and print a small edition on the Vandercook printing press!

  • April 15, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 2:00pm
  • Common Press Space, Fisher Fine Arts Library
Photo of a typeset
Apr 18
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

Open House: Papermaking at Historic Rittenhouse Town

See the work of Common Press during our residency at the papermill at Historic Rittenhouse Town where we will be turning the cloth collected during our community rag collection into large sheets of handmade paper.

  • April 18, 2026
  • 11:00am - 4:00pm
  • Historic Rittenhouse Town
Black and white illustration depicting the processing of rags for papermaking
Apr 22
Open to Penn Students, Faculty, and Staff

Common Press: Studio Use Training

The Studio Use Training is a one-hour intensive session focused on proper studio practices to use the Common Press independently as an advanced user.

  • April 22, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 1:00pm
  • Common Press Space, Fisher Fine Arts Library
Person operating letterpress machine
Apr 28
Open to the Public

Printing in 1776: Making, Using and Restoring Ink Balls

Typography of Independence: Join us for an event celebrating Common Press's acquisition of a set of ink balls with special guest Sara Karpinski.

  • April 28, 2026
  • 12:00pm - 2:00pm
  • Common Press Space, Fisher Fine Arts Library
An old illustration of book printers at work
May 01
  • Workshop
Open to Penn Students, Faculty, and Staff

Papermaking on Weitzman Plaza

Common Press will be demonstrating hand papermaking, pulling sheets of paper from our vat of cotton and linen fibers. The paper pulp was made from fabric collected from our fall 2025 community-wide rag collection, and beaten during our spring 2026 residency at Historic Rittenhouse Town. We invite you to come understand the ancient craft of papermaking, and to make a sheet or two of paper for yourself!

  • May 1, 2026
  • 1:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Weitzman Plaza
Black and white illustration of papermaking: one individual walks with a stack of paper and another works with material in a barrel
May 14 - 15
  • Workshop
Open to the Public

The 12-Hour Declaration of Independence: Community Typesetting

To honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration, Common Press will host a 12 hour, two day community typesetting event during which all are invited to hand-set metal type to help create a historically-accurate replica. The final forme of metal type will remain available for printing on our 19th-century hand press through August 2026.

  • May 14 - 15, 2026
  • Common Press, Fisher Fine Arts Library, Lower Level

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