Print Big! Festival supports Full Belly Project

By Pam Creech

Contributing Writer

Rain didn’t stop 250 children and adults from enjoying the second annual Print Big! Steamroller Print Festival at the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Cultural Arts Building Saturday, April 18.

“We went up about 150 from last year,” said Shannon Bourne, the event’s organizer. Speakers blasting upbeat songs, like “Snow” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, countered the dreary weather.

“We made a giant playlist of ’80s and ’90s music,” Bourne said.

Local artists brought 14 4-foot by 6-foot hand-carved wooden printing blocks. Originally, the festival was scheduled to take place on the outdoor walkway near the Cultural Arts Building’s parking lot, but materials were moved to a dry covered patio.

Bourne, the artists and student volunteers rolled black ink over the blocks before covering them with white muslin and driving over them with a steamroller. Meanwhile, spectators carved small sheets of linoleum and made their own prints at stations inside.

“There were so many kids in here carving. Each one had a knife and linoleum and they were going at it. … The youngest kid was about 7,” Bourne said.

Adults also joined in the printmaking at the indoor stations.

“We had an elderly woman here. She was about 80,” Bourne said. “We had a nice age range.”

Each of the large prints was inspired by the work of the Full Belly Project, a nonprofit organization that provides agricultural devices to communities in developing countries. Four of the prints were sold after the festival. Later, the prints will be displayed in a gallery and the remaining prints will be put up for sale.

“The price range for each print is $200 to $400,” Bourne said. “Ten percent of that will go to the Full Belly Project.”

Daniel Ling, director of the Fully Belly Project, brought a water pump to the festival to show people one of the devices the organization distributes. The foot-powered pump allows people who suffer from physical disabilities to use their body weight to pump water instead of straining the muscles in their upper body.

After the festival, the prints were moved to the Cultural Arts Building’s Mezzanine Gallery. One print featured a sun shining over a peanut field. Another depicted a boat anchored underneath a bridge. Artist Jeremy Millard chose a construction scaffold as his subject matter.

Millard, who owns Southern Tide Construction, was motivated by advice he received while completing his Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees in drawing and painting at East Carolina University: Draw what you know. He was also inspired by a Paul McCartney song, “Monkberry Moon Delight.”

“The song is about not being left behind, and that’s what the print is about,” he said.

Like Bourne, Millard was happy with the festival’s turnout.

“It’s great for the printers around here. … We’re really just a big group of friends who all carve wood blocks,” he said.