printmaking program

Make Your Mark
in the Print Studio

The Sonoma Community Center’s Printmaking department offers public workshops and classes, in addition to hosting weekly monitored open studio access for experienced artists who wish to work on independent projects. We have a beautiful well-lit studio with a variety of machinery to explore many methods of printmaking including, monoprinting, intaglio, and relief printing.
Enroll in a ClassEnroll in a Class Open Studio
upcoming

Class Schedule

All current and upcoming Printmaking sessions.

Showing 9 of 10
Showing 9 of 10
flexible rates

Printmaking Open Studio

Experienced printmakers are welcome to work in Sonoma Community Center’s dedicated print studio, alongside monitors who are available to answer questions about techniques and equipment. Sessions are uninstructed and focus on etching, monoprint, and relief printing, but you are welcome to use other techniques. With 700 sq. ft. and 3 presses, there’s plenty to do. Join our printmaking community and create something unexpected!

If you are new to printmaking, and interested in arranging a special project or scheduling private, instructed printmaking studio sessions, please contact our Studio Coordinator for more information and pricing: [email protected]

Printmaking Open Studio Daily Rates:
$20 for a half session(10:00 – 1:00 or 1:00 – 4:00)
$38 for a full session (10:00 – 4:00)

Enroll in a ClassRegister Here Join the StudioView Studio FAQ

Meet our Team

Meet the dedicated staff, instructors, and assistants who make learning fun and engaging every class.

  • Kelly Autumn
    Printmaking Coordinator

    [email protected]

    Kelly Autumn is an Asian American visual artist and multidisciplinary printmaker based in Sonoma County. Raised in Santa Rosa and deeply rooted in the Bay Area, Kelly is a passionate arts educator with a natural curiosity for combining traditional print methods with an experimental mixed-media approach. Kelly received her BA degree from San Francisco State University and an AA degree in Studio Arts with emphasis in Printmaking from Diablo Valley College. She currently leads the Printmaking Department as a studio instructor and Program Coordinator at the Sonoma Community Center where she enjoys sharing her love of print with folks of all ages. Kelly currently serves on the Board of Directors of the California Society of Printmakers and her work has been featured in various public exhibitions throughout the Bay Area.

  • Dennis Ahearn
    Instructor

    Dennis Ahearn is a multidisciplinary artist and printmaker. He received his BFA in Studio Art Ceramics from the University of Central Florida in 2004 and his MFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 2007. During his time at Tyler, he spent one year at their campus in Rome, Italy. From 2007-2019 he was a full-time Lecturer at the University of Central Florida where he taught all levels of printmaking, drawing, and design. Dennis uses painting, drawing, and printmaking to combine art with text and creates deeply personal images. He lives and works in Santa Rosa, California with his wife and two young children.

  • Catherine Cruz
    Instructor

    Catherine Cruz is a French-American artist whose work is informed by textures and patterns created by the passing of time and the effects of the natural elements on the built environment. She holds a Bachelor of Science in interior design and she has worked in the field of architectural design and green building certification for over 25 years. Since 2019, Catherine has taught collage and mixed media workshops in the Bay Area and in France and this is her fifth year in Sonoma County. Her studio is located in Sebastopol and she participates in Art Trails Open Studios.

  • Margot Hartford
    Instructor

    For over three decades, Margot worked as a freelance lifestyle photographer in the Bay Area, specializing in images of people within their environments for clients such as health clubs, hotels, and universities. As the commercial world shifted toward hours of digital retouching, Margot chose to refocus her creative energy on fine art. Her current work spans self-directed photographic projects and mixed-media collage using image transfers, paint, and paper. Across all mediums, her fine art practice remains grounded in her own high-resolution photographic images. Margot also teaches image transfer and encaustics workshops in Mill Valley, San Anselmo and Sausalito, California.

  • Tomoko Murakami
    Instructor

    Tomoko received her MFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute and her MA in Transformative Arts from John F. Kennedy University. She is also a Registered Expressive Art Educator with the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (REACE) and a certified SoulCollage facilitator. Her career includes teaching at California College of the Arts, John F. Kennedy University, and Santa Rosa Junior College, among other community centers throughout the SF Bay Area. Aside from her long career in teaching, Tomoko is skilled in restoring the beauty and integrity of Asian paintings.

  • Cindy Ostroff
    Instructor

    I am passionate about printmaking. It is the creative tension in printmaking that draws me in and motivates me to pursue my artistic path. Inspiration can arise in an instant, often provoked by light, shadow, texture, or color. But then the long processes in printmaking slow me down, forcing me to be patient as I experiment with images and techniques. I find that this creative tension is what keeps me open to the greatest surprise and artistic potential in my work. Equally intriguing is the intersection of traditional printmaking practices and newer technologies. I have found a wide range of ways to exploit the print process. I am also experimenting with a range of papers, collage, stencils, monotypes, and paper weaving. In recent years I have been able to return full time to printmaking, and I am more motivated than ever to experiment, learn and grow as I express the images that come to me. 

  • Tricia O’Brien
    Instructor

    Tricia O’Brien was born in Michigan in 1963, and moved to San Francisco in 1981. She studied textiles at SF State with Candice Crockett, then later finished her BFA in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking at Cal State Hayward in 2001, earning a juried Award for Excellence in the 3-dimensional work of Xerox transfer for a hand-crafted book. At Hayward, she was introduced to printmaker Jimin Lee,  and fell in love with the printing press and the many faceted processes of printmaking. In 2021, after retiring from the hospitality industry, she reignited her relationship with printmaking. Her unique, one of a kind monoprints are made using assorted recyclable materials; plastic bags, string, cardboard, paper and other packing materials that are put through the press. Tricia is interested in the play and surprise of the image you get with these discarded materials as it intersects with the structure of the printing press process. She teaches printmaking at the Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma, as well as at the Benicia Arts Center Annex. She is a member of the Sonoma Arts Guild, and the California Society of Printmakers. She lives in Sonoma with her husband Glen.

  • Eileen Parent
    Instructor

    Eileen Parent is an abstract printmaker living in Sonoma County. She has a Bachelor of Arts in painting and drawing from UC Berkeley. While experimenting with different artistic mediums she was drawn to the process of printmaking. She fell in love with printmaking’s traditional techniques and historical background and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from Sonoma State University. She has exhibited her work in Sonoma County and the greater San Francisco Bay area. Eileen received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the California College of the Arts and is currently a lecturer in Art Studio at Sonoma State University. 

  • Bettina Pauly
    Instructor

    Bettina Pauly was trained as a professional chef, then worked as a head server throughout Europe before she received a B.A. in Hotel-Economy from Hotel Management School in Heidelberg, Germany. After coming to the U.S. and working in hospitality, she went back to school and studied at the Academy of Art University San Francisco in the Fine Arts and Letterpress program under Chris Rolik, Dorothy Yule and Macy Chadwick. Bettina has also worked with Kim Vanderheiden at Painted Tongue Studios in Oakland, California, as a letterpress printer. She is very experienced with Heidelberg Windmill and Vandercook Press Machines. She has taught book arts and letterpress classes throughout the Bay Area at the Academy of Art, the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, and at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Her award winning work has been presented in national and international collections and galleries including library collections at: St John’s/Saint Benedict College Minnesota, Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Denver, University of Colorado, San Jose State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Nebraska. 

  • Michelle Wilson
    Instructor

    Michelle Wilson is an artist living in Oakland CA, whose work explores hand papermaking traditions from all over the world. Her practice includes frequent collaborations with other artists; in particular the Rhinoceros Project (with Anne Beck). She has been making paper since 2002. Wilson has an MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking from the University of the Arts, and a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design. She lectures and teaches widely, including places such as Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Magnolia Editions, the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art Print Center, the Kala Art Institute, and currently teaches papermaking, printmaking, and book arts at Stanford University.

  • Ash Hay
    Instructor

    Ash Hay is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Santa Rosa, California. They are the Printshop Lab Technician at Santa Rosa Junior College and the founder of Sonoma County Sketchbook Club, an artist social group that brings creatives together across Sonoma County. Ash first fell in love with printmaking over a decade ago while studying at Sonoma State University. Their teaching invites curiosity and experimentation alongside technical skill, encouraging students to learn from each other while exploring the rich possibilities of printmaking.

stay connected

Printmaking updates
in your inbox.