Paper struts

I SCREAM Karen Lederer’s etching Dropped Youth (2008) appears in “International Print Center New York: New Prints 2009/Winter” at Columbia College.

We’ll be shocked if any zinfandel or crackers are left in Chicago after the explosion of art parties inspired by this year’s Southern Graphics Council (SGC) conference, “Global Implications,” which Columbia College hosts through Sunday 29.

The SGC’s name is deceptive. Although the nonprofit was founded, in 1973, by printmakers at universities in the southeastern U.S., today it includes artists from across the country. While the SGC aims its conference at a die-hard audience (admission is $275, $150 for students), its attitude toward nonprofessionals is surprisingly inclusive: Anchor Graphics, the printmaking studio housed at Columbia, invited museums and galleries throughout the city to organize print-related shows this month, including “Pressing Matter” at the Polish Museum of America.

These venues—such as Columbia’s and the SAIC’s exhibition spaces, as well as galleries in River North and the West Loop—all host receptions on Thursday 26, Friday 27 or Saturday 28.

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