From Plate to Press: Print a Botanical Specimen Book

Morris Arboretum & Gardens is hosting a botanical printmaking workshop on Thursday, October 29, at their Welcome Center in Chestnut Hill. It's called From Plate to Press: Print a Botanical Specimen Book, and the whole thing is run in partnership with Common Press.

Here's the deal: you'll spend the afternoon printing historic botanical letterpress plates using a portable press, and then you'll bind those prints into your own specimen book by hand using the Japanese stab-binding technique. It's a two-part process—printing the pages first, then stitching them together—so you walk away with something you actually made from start to finish. The workshop is led by Jessica Peterson, Director of Common Press at the University of Pennsylvania, and Bryan Thompsonowak, Director of Education at the Morris Arboretum.

The session is part of the Arboretum's fall program, which they've billed as "ArBOOretum month" throughout October. During that time, the 92-acre public garden in Chestnut Hill opens up its seasonal exhibitions and garden spaces, so if you're heading up there for the workshop, there's plenty more to see around the grounds. The Arboretum is a public garden, and this particular workshop is one of the hands-on things they've got running as part of that autumn stretch.

Registration is required, so you'll want to sign up ahead of time rather than just showing up. It runs at 2 PM on Thursday, October 29, at the Welcome Center. The cost is $30 for members and $35 for non-members.