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Soap Box Prints:

For a Cleaner Environment

An Open Portfolio Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the American Print Alliance

Soap Box 1. A carton or crate used for holding soap. 2. A temporary platform like a shipping crate on which one stands while making a spontaneous and often impassioned public speech or call for action.

Show your work and show the world our artists’ concern for the environment!

The American Print Alliance is organizing an open portfolio of prints, paperworks and artists’ books by artists who are 2006 subscribers to Contemporary Impressions or members of our allied councils.

Theme The environmental theme will be interpreted broadly to include landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, fauna and flora, conservation and preservation, consumption, pollution, global warming, genetic diversity and endangered species, etc. Non-toxic and less-toxic methods and materials are highly encouraged. Work must fit the theme but will not be rejected even if it does not reflect the views and opinions of the Alliance's director and board of representatives. The Alliance will not accept any work that incites people to break the law. Political discourse, speech protected by the U.S. Constitution and First Amendment, is very welcome, but as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, the Alliance may not campaign for or against candidates for elected office.

Christine Holzer-Hunt, Carlos on My Mind, 2005, digital print. 8 x 10".

Melissa Kaup-Augustine, elemental, 2006, accordian bound artist's book: letterpress,

vintage wood type and polymer plates, 5.5 x 5.5 x .375".

Susan Litsios, Aftermath II, 2005, mezzotint, 2.5 x 1.56".

More inspiring prints from the portfolio can be seen here.

Entry Open only to ORIGINAL prints, paperworks and artists’ books. Reproductions will not be accepted. The Alliance accepts traditional and non-traditional printmaking, including computer-manipulated and -printed (inkjet or laser) images that are original prints and not reproductions of artwork in other media.

Artists must send TWO impressions of the same print, paperwork or artist’s book (or, in the case of monotypes and monoprints, two very similar works). One impression will travel in the portfolio exhibition and be kept in an archive for the American Print Alliance, eventually donated to a non-profit collecting institution. The second impression will be sold to benefit the Alliance (operating expenses, exhibitions, online posting of the full September 11 Memorial Portfolio and creating a CD to give to all of the families, and resource projects like our Guide to Print Workshops). Collectors seeing the exhibit may purchase work by sending payment to the Alliance. The Alliance will offer the work for sale at the artist’s stated retail price (up to $1,000), but retains the right to discount that price and/or offer the artwork at auction if it does not sell in a reasonable time.

Size Maximum dimensions of the paper/support are 8 x 10” (horizontal or vertical) with a maximum depth of 1/4” to fit our clear plastic envelopes. This is also the size that would fit a laundry soap powder box. Stringing the prints on a clothesline is a display concept that fits the theme.

Quality Artwork must be professional since it will be shown under the auspices of the American Print Alliance. Students are encouraged to submit their best work.

Administrative Fee Current subscribers to our journal, Contemporary Impressions: include $5 administrative fee with your artworks and entry form. Non-subscribers are eligible if they are members of one of our councils: include $20. Any artist may subscribe for $30 at the same time as entering (which brings you two 2006 issues of the journal, a gift print and website password). Full-time students may subscribe for just $15.

Deadline extended! Two impressions, fee and signed form must arrive together by December 31, 2006. Please don't use paperclips or staples to attach your check, these could leave an impression in the paper. Allow at least a week for first class or priority mail. UPS, FedEx, etc. are also fine. If using a delivery service or insurance, please mark your envelope so that it may be left at the door, without a signature.

Venues Our director, Dr. Carol Pulin, wants to be able to accept every print, paperwork and artist’s book submitted and will select exceptional works for display on our website, www.PrintAlliance.org. We expect at least 500 to 1,000 prints and hope for even more. Venues will have the option of displaying the entire Soap Box Prints portfolio or may ask for a few hundred prints at a time to fill their available space. Environmental organizations will be invited to show the portfolio at cost with no exhibit fee (i.e. just shipping and the cost of brochures, that’s about $250). Please help our grassroots effort! Contact the botanical gardens and ecology organizations in which you are active, local offices of The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, etc., as well as your favorite “green” businesses. Ask the curators, owners or whoever can approve a display in their lobby or contribute towards underwriting a venue to contact Carol at director@printalliance.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q May I send more than one entry?

A Yes, we would be pleased to accept as many as three different images per artist! Please be sure to send two impressions and a separate completed entry form for each.

Q My new work is too big. May I send an older print or a part of a print?

A Ecological issues aren't new. We would be glad to accept artwork made in any year. If you are comfortable with showing part of a print or paperwork, we will also accept "fragments" cut from larger works (as we did for the Memorial Portfolio). Please be sure to state this clearly on the entry form, so that a potential collector will understand.

Q Do you accept digital prints?

A Yes, we accept inkjet and laser prints that are original prints, not reproductions of artwork in other media. Use the best combination of paper and inks or dyes that you can, to be sure that the print will last (see the Links page in our Resources section for sites that have information about inkjet permanence).

Q What if my council is not part of the Alliance?

A Encourage your council to join the Alliance! If your council's board cannot make a decision and apply for membership by December 15, you may enter the portfolio by becoming an individual subscriber to Contemporary Impressions.

Q Do I need to send separate checks for my subscription and the entry fee? What if I want to order back issues of the journal or a Guide to Print Workshops?

A You may combine all costs in a single check, just be sure to enclose an order form or write us a note so that we can send you the correct item(s).

Click here for entry form (pdf)