Print Media
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Concentration*
Traditional techniques colliding with the radical spirit of today.
| Type | Credits | Duration | Format | School and Department |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Fine Arts – Studio Art | 120 | 4 years, Full-time | In-person, studio | School of Visual Art (SVA) |
| Secondary Concentration, BFA or BDes | 15 | 2 years (completed alongside primary degree |
Print Media at AUArts is where images become agents of change. Dive into silkscreen, intaglio, zines, digital prints, and guerrilla posters—exploring the power of process while questioning how images circulate, who they reach, and why they matter. Join a lineage of artists, designers, and rebels who have used print to agitate, amuse, and inspire. Here, you’ll turn ideas into multiples, experiment fearlessly, and use the press to amplify your voice—whether you’re pulling a single etching or staging a city-wide wheat paste crusade. This is the home of printers who are restless, innovative and fiercely curious about the world and their place in it.
Program Overview
In Print Media, you’ll experiment across lithography, relief, silkscreen, letterpress, digital, and hybrid processes—constantly pushing the boundaries between tradition and innovation. You’ll thrive in a collaborative studio community, working alongside passionate peers and learning from expert print makers. Move fluidly from zines and artist books to large-scale public projects, while connecting your creative work to social issues, pop culture and contemporary publishing. Here, the image is never just an image—it’s a catalyst for dialogue, activism and personal expression.
Program Highlights:
- Explore Drawing Through Print: Use traditional and experimental printmaking techniques to transform drawings into small-edition prints and unique multiples.
- Pixels Meet Paper: Combine digital imagery, photo-based processes and hand-drawn techniques to create innovative prints.
- Print as Activism: Engage with social and political issues, using traditional and alternative processes to create art for activism and public dialogue.
- Text + Image: Use relief, letterpress, and other print methods to experiment with the relationship between word and image, exploring narrative and conceptual possibilities.
- Digital + Hybrid Processes: Work with digital manipulation, photographic print techniques and hybrid forms that push the medium forward.
Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the Print Media program will:
- Produce professional-quality prints using intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, relief and digital/hybrid techniques.
- Translate creative concepts into print, integrating drawing, photography, digital processes and text.
- Develop and execute a cohesive body of work that demonstrates technical skill, conceptual growth and personal voice.
- Research, analyze and discuss print media in contemporary and historical contexts, including its role in activism and social engagement.
- Experiment independently with new processes, materials and methodologies to solve technical and creative challenges.
- Critically reflect on and present their own work and the work of others through peer critique, research and professional exhibition.
- Collaborate in communal studio settings and contribute to the wider printmaking community through exchanges, publications or public projects.
- Prepare for professional practice by documenting, exhibiting and presenting work for diverse audiences and contexts.
Faculty
Our Print Media faculty and technicians are practicing artists who bring expertise in traditional and experimental methods, guiding students to expand the possibilities of print.
Faculty
Studio Technician
Alumni
Print Media alumni exhibit internationally, publish editions, run print studios and contribute to contemporary art, publishing and design.
Print Media Alumni
"Our print department instructors are all working specifically in printmaking as their primary artistic output, and their real-world knowledge has been influential in shaping how I contextualize my work in the broader printmaking community. Their mentorship has been invaluable regarding the production of my prints, but even more so in preparing me for life as a printmaker after graduation." - Scott Baird, Print Media major
"Print is a medium that is based in drawing which is my forte, and print gives my work a refined, finished quality. Everything printed seems so intentional and I love that in printmaking the technical aspect is highly important along with concept. But the best part of print is the comradery of printmakers. Everyone is so supportive! - Ken Li, Print Media major
Studio Facilities
Print Media at AUArts means full immersion in a vibrant, hands-on environment where students have access to:
- Silkscreen Studio: Water-based, eco-conscious, and equipped for both small runs and ambitious projects.
- Intaglio Lab: Three etching presses, a massive electric press, and everything you need for both copperplate classics and radical experimentation.
- Relief & Letterpress Studio: Rollers, presses, and all the wood, linoleum, and type you can handle.
- Lithography Studio: Stones, plates, vacuum exposure—where chemistry and art meet.
- Darkroom & Digital Suite: Integrate analog and digital seamlessly, with professional-quality equipment for photo and digital printmaking.
- Dedicated Spaces: Third- and fourth-year students have individual studios for focused research and large-scale projects.
Career Paths
Print Media graduates thrive in fine art, publishing, design, curation, education and creative industries where image-making plays a central role.
Possible career opportunities include:
- Studio artist
- Printmaker
- Illustrator
- Zine-maker
- Installation artist
- Book artist
- Independent publisher
- Commercial print production
- Editorial designer
- Graphic designer
- Art director
- Communications specialist
- Gallery/museum professional
- Archivist
- Print shop operator
Culture & Community
Print Media at AUArts is a community of makers and thinkers, critics and collaborators.
Beyond the classroom
- Work-Integrated Learning: Opportunities for internships and job placements with local studios, festivals or non-profits.
- Community & Events: Join student-run clubs, discord chats or attend on-campus events, visiting artist lectures and workshops.
- Awards & Scholarships: Receive financial support through scholarships, awards, paid call-for-submissions and funding for creative projects.
- Academic Resources: One-on-one faculty mentorship and access to technical support. Plus, full access to AUArts' Writing Centre, Luke Lindoe Library and Learning Commons
About the Print Media Concentration
The Print Media concentration combines traditional techniques with experimental approaches to image-making. You’ll explore screenprint, intaglio, lithography, relief and digital methods, developing both technical expertise and conceptual insight. Courses encourage critical inquiry, hands-on experimentation and collaboration across disciplines, helping you build a portfolio that reflects a personal voice in contemporary print culture
