GOWANUS — A former industrial ruin on the Gowanus Canal, now reborn as Powerhouse Arts, hosted the Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair for its second year. The event has quickly become a gathering point for a tight-knit, growing printmaking community, proven by the fair’s turnout from Thursday, April 9, through Sunday, April 12.
The Powerhouse Arts facility, a 170,000 square foot former transit power plant, was built in 1904 and decommissioned in the 1950s. The decrepit, graffiti-covered building formerly referred to as “The Batcave” was well situated on the pre-superfund Gowanus Canal. By the 2000s, the building stood half-demolished, a shell and symbol of an industrial past.
Print fair exhibitors in the Grand Hall at Powerhouse Arts. Photo: Julie Thompson/Brooklyn Eagle
Luther Davis, printmaker and executive director of Powerhouse Arts, recalled, “When I first saw it, with no roof on it, with debris, with snow and puddles and plants growing out of the cracks, I thought, ‘This would make a great print fair.’”
The rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Power Station was led with this spirit in mind. “As it was being founded, there was real consideration for how we could build facilities where thousands of artists can gain access and have their lives touched,” said Davis.
In 2012, the site was acquired by the Powerhouse Environmental Arts Foundation and a team of architects and designers, including Herzog & de Meuron and PBDW Architects. The site was rebuilt as an arts institution that houses fabrication shops, membership studios and the annual Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair.
Powerhouse Arts Public Programs Manager Jacqueline Veliz adds a poster to the wall of Poster House’s Wheatpaste Poster workshop. Guests of all ages and abilities were invited to apply a poster with hand-mixed wheat paste — a mixture of water, flour and vinegar. Photo: Julie Thompson/Brooklyn Eagle
Despite only being in its second year, more than 60 exhibitors participated alongside robust programming. Davis attributes the strength of the print fair’s community to its predecessors and a deficit that came into existence as similar print fairs across NYC shut down due to the pandemic. “Part of it is that we are all friends and family here. There is a rallying cry around a new opportunity,” Davis said.
The Brooklyn Fine Art Prints Fair brings together a diverse lineup of printshops, exhibitors — including academic print shops such as SUNY Purchase College and Parsons’ Print Making Club — international printmakers, and a host of Brooklyn-based printmakers and producers.
Like the list of exhibitors at the fair, the world of prints is diverse. On display, hobbyists, collectors and appreciators can find linocuts, woodblocks, intaglios, lithographs and other print types that paint a nearly complete portrait of the medium. The print fair offers attendees a rare chance to learn about these 1,000-year-old techniques through demonstrations, guided conversations and one-on-one conversations with the artists.
“For many of the exhibitors here, they want to talk about their processes as much as they want to sell. Everyone here has ink under their fingernails,” Davis said.
Thirty-six states were represented at the fair, but local names were also highlighted. Shoestring Press, a fine art print shop and membership-based shared workspace based in Crown Heights, marked its second year at the print fair. It shared a booth with the Bushwick Print Lab. To Lane Sell, founder and owner of Shoestring Press, the Brooklyn Print Fair is “a fantastic chance to get people together.”
“The Brooklyn printmaking community is a very mutually supporting one. There’s a lot of hanging out and catching up, but there’s also the chance to really get our members’ work out in front of eyeballs,” Sell said.
Shoestring Press, which has been in operation for 12 years, serves around 50 member artists who work out of its studios. “Our goal is for it to be possible for you to show up at our shop with nothing and be able to do everything,” Sell said.
At the Brooklyn Fine Arts Print Fair, the lines between the local, national and international print communities blur. When printmakers at the University of Utah received an invitation, the team of current students, alumni and faculty “locked in,” packing their materials and applying for a travel grant to attend.
“The printmaking community is a bunch of people who are all very passionate about something, and it’s a smaller community, so there are a lot of people we already know. It’s tight-knit with a lot of people lifting each other up,” said Mars Apa, a senior at the university.
After its first iteration, the fair underwent an expansion, thanks in part to the inclusion of MGC Community Print Shop’s 2026 National Print Exhibition. The juried competition featured contemporary print works curated by Ann Shafer, a leading figure in the print world, and Diya Vij, the vice president of Curatorial and Arts Programs at Powerhouse Arts.
MGC, which is housed in the Powerhouse Arts space, is a forty-year-old print studio that serves as a cornerstone of New York City’s print scene. Accessibility is key to MGC’s mission, as exhibited through the studio’s new membership structure prioritizing “openness to let someone’s process unfold,” according to MGC Director Lisa Archigian. “There’s a spaciousness and a graciousness in our capacity to let people experiment and have their work unfold over a prolonged period of time.”
The Brooklyn Fine Arts Print Fair does not count its success by works sold, but Davis got a kick from reports of patrons spotted on subway cars with prints under their arms. The vendor stalls offered a wide range of styles, designs and techniques at lower price points than are common at other fine art fairs. Even those who left empty-handed shared the same joy as seasoned collectors — a good show and the chance to be part of the print community.
SUNSET PARK — “As a resident of Marine Park, one of the great surprises I found biking around Industry City and visiting Japan Village was to discover Bush Terminal Park. I continue to be amazed at the serene hideaways that the city offers in some of the busiest places — and, still, with an iconic view.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘A miracle that no one was killed …’ That’s what neighbors are saying about the collapse of the Hotel St. George marquee. Shown in this photograph are workmen beginning the removal and repair of the historic, old neon sign at the corner, referencing a relic of Brooklyn Heights’ past: the St. George Hotel.
ATLANTIC AVENUE — Exhausted shopper with cluster of bags and goods from mall at Boerum Place stops to look at huge construction site across the street. “Is that REALLY going to be a jail??” Her male companion is reassuring, “Nothing like Rikers … this is 21st Century.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Overheard in line at one of most popular pastry outlets on Montague Street: “Hope I can get them into a camp …” A mother with two pre-schoolers in tow was showing a friend the Dodge Y flyer for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 18.
