Linocut Printmaking

Linocut Printmaking is running at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, a six-week class that meets on Sundays from noon to 3 PM. It's part of the museum's Art School for Life series for adults, which means it's built for people who want to spend a few hours a week making something rather than just looking at it. The sessions run from September 27 through November 1, so you'll be at it for a good stretch of the fall.

Linocut is a relief printmaking method—you carve away the parts of a block you don't want to ink, and whatever is left standing is what ends up on the paper. It's a bold, graphic way of working that the German Expressionists leaned into in the early 20th century, and later Picasso and Matisse. Plenty of contemporary artists still use it today, and that's the same tradition you'll be working in here. Over the six weeks, you'll carve both traditional linoleum blocks and newer alternatives, and you'll see how the different materials give you different effects.

One of the best parts of taking a class at the Carnegie is that you're working inside the museum. The series is designed for adults of all skill levels and media interests, and it draws on the museum's galleries and collections as source material. You can step out of the studio and into the galleries to find something that sparks an idea, then bring it back to the block. It's a nice way to connect what you're making with the art hanging on the walls around you.

The class meets in the Yellow Studio at the Carnegie Museum of Art. It costs $200, with a reduced rate of $175 for Carnegie Museums members and $150 for seniors. That covers the full six weeks, Sundays from noon to 3 PM, starting September 27.