About the Program:
Hatch Show Print is a letterpress poster and design shop located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1879, HSP is still designing and printing over 700 jobs a year, using the original wood type found on countless posters advertising live music, carnivals, circuses, and vaudeville and minstrel shows of years gone by, combined with hand carved imagery that spans the history of the shop. Though the 145 year old business is known for its twentieth century country music posters, the work the shop has put out over five generations in operation reflects changes in technology, communication arts, and commerce, as well as the evolution of popular entertainment.
About the Speaker:
Celene Aubry is the Director and Print Shop Manager at Hatch Show Print, one of America’s oldest surviving letterpress show poster and design shops. While the business thrives as a letterpress, expanded programming includes a visiting artist program, a gallery showcasing print-centric art, and hands-on tours and workshops from the education space. In between poster runs and whatnot, Celene also enjoys analog photography, making cyanotypes and van Dyke photo prints specifically.
About Hatch Show Print;
Opened in 1879, Hatch Show Print is recognized around the world for its nineteenth and twentieth century posters and billboards advertising the stars of country music, rock n’ roll, jazz, carnivals, circuses, and variety shows. This tradition continues today with its limited-edition prints and posters for shows and artists appearing live in the twenty-first century, as well as prints, cards, gifts and more designed by the shop’s staff who draw inspiration from the vast collection of wood and metal type and hand-carved print blocks created in the shop.
This program is made possible in part by a grant from America 250 NC, an initiative by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.