Less-Toxic and Sustainable

Printmaking Practices

Frontline Arts is a workshop, gallery, educational facility and research center dedicated to the safest and most sustainable printmaking practices available. We offer workshops and private instruction in safer and non-toxic approaches to intaglio, photopolymer, lithography, silkscreen, relief and monotype printmaking. We are focused on studying and developing better studio practices which better protect the artist, environment and community. We share this information through our workshops, artist consultations and one-on-one contract printing sessions.

Printmaking and papermaking are evolving fields,

and we constantly strive ​to make our studio safer

and more sustainable.

At Frontline Arts we strive to create sustainability in many ways, including:

• Using water-miscible inks that clean up with soap and water (Akua, Caligo, Speedball, Charbonnel, Blick)

• Using Saline Sulfate and Ferric Chloride salts instead of harsh etching acids

• Using BIG ground and citrus-based & odorless cleaners to minimize use of leads, tars and heavy solvents (we use Gamsol, Isopropyl Alcohol and Simple Green as opposed to Lacquer thinner, Acetone or Mineral Spirits)

• Using photo-sensitive polymer plates and films for intaglio in addition to salt-etching metals, and being careful to have proper ventillation

• Recycling all paper, plastic, metal and glass (including reusing all 'bad prints' for papermaking)

• Using bath towels for blotters and reusable rags instead of paper towels- to be washed/used repeatedly instead of discarded

• Using compact fluorescent light bulbs in all studio fixtures, and transitioning to LED for our gallery lighting

• Carefully containing synthetic fibers used in papermaking (Frontline Paper & the Scrubs Paper Project) and adding in recycled cotton rag. We do not use any permethrin or flame retardant-treated uniforms, and many items have been washed at home; we then wash again in hot water or a vinegar rinse to minimize detergent residue

• Filtering synthetic microfibers and other materials from papermaking through a variety of net strainers, as well as traps and baskets in our wetroom sink and floor, being careful not to let contaminated wastewater go down storm drains by collecting debris. Then additionally filtering the remaining wastewater from the pulp-making process through a 20 gallon natural sediment filter to remove micro-plastics. This filter is made of rocks, sand, and activated charcoal and the filter media can be recycled to repeated usage.

• Doing all we can to create a sustainable working environment​

Frontline Arts is forward-thinking in

sustainable research, along with many other

non-toxic studios and suppliers

Printshops

• Zea Mays, Florence, MA, creator of Substratum.org

• Zygote Press, Cleveland, OH

• Ron Pokrasso, Santa Fe, NM

• Making Art Safely, Santa Fe, NM

• Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY

• New Directions in Printmaking, website

• Non-toxic Print, website

• Trefeglwys Print Studio, Wales

• Printmaking Non-Toxic International, Facebook Group

• Printmakers Open Forum, Oxford, PA

• Tiger Lily Press, Cincinnati, OH