KNOX SMALL PRESS FEST 2025

Poster design by @log_the_human

JOIN US THIS OCTOBER

Knox Small Press Fest is an annual community celebration of independent publishers, artists, and printmakers. The festival engages Tennessee artists, makers, writers, and poets through city-wide events including: exhibitions, poetry readings, printmaking demonstrations, BIG PRINTS! Steamroller weekend and a Small Press Publishers Fair - featuring more than 30 local artists, writers, zine-makers, and publishers.

SAY IT AGAIN! Prints of Resistance

Exhibition Dates – October 3 – 25, 2025

RELAY RIDGE GALLERY

4124 McKinley St, Knoxville, TN 37917

Opening Reception – First Friday October 3rd 6-9pm

Juror: E “Oscar” Maynard of Tender-Heart Press

History can repeat itself, but when it does, so too does the resistance and our messages often bear repeating. With printmaking’s reproducibility and paper’s portability and ease of distribution, prints are the original mass communicator of ideas. Artists have long taken advantage of this process to gain attention and shout our messages through repeated imagery, text, and design.

This is a creative call to action to record, respond, reflect, express, or simply process recent changes in our world affecting both the people and our planet. 

We invite artists who utilize printmaking as a means to distribute ideas, to process, or to instill hope to submit to this exhibition. Whether you find your recent outlet in the form of fine art printmaking, protest signs, wheatpaste posters, flyers, zines and books, documentary photography, or even designed and printed on the clothes you wear–any print process that embodies the democratic spirit of printmaking and centers around visual information made to be shared to the masses are welcome to apply. 

Eligibility/Requirements

  • Works must fit the theme of the exhibition and must contain at least one hand-pulled printmaking process. 

    • Exception: we will accept other artworks such as hand-made protest signs, documentary photography, zines, etc that fit the theme but may not have a hand-pulled print process or other work that you feel is very relevant to the exhibition’s concept. 

  • No AI or purely digital artwork accepted. Artwork drawn digitally, but outputted into physical forms ARE accepted.

  • Framing is not required. All are encouraged to consider what best fits the work for installation. Art must be ready-to-hang, otherwise, unframed prints will be carefully hung using magnets or art-safe, archival tape/putty. 

  • Submit up 1-3 works

  • 2MB max, JPEG or PNG file format, 1200 pixels on the longest side

  • Entry Fee – $10

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT WORK – SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2025

SMALL PRESS PUBLISHERS FAIR

October 4th + 5th, 1-5PM

Emporium Arts Center

100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902



Our Small Press Publishers Fair invites local writers, poets, artists, and publishers to showcase and sell their work as part of this community celebration of print! The application and booth fee are $20, please submit the payment via the link below at the time you submit your application. This covers a 6' folding table, and two chairs over the weekend of October 4th and 5th (2025) at the Emporium Center in Old City (Knoxville, TN). We do not take a commission on any sales at this event. Sharing a table with another artist / publisher is totally welcome, just fill out one application together.

Vendors must be available for both days!

APPLICATION CLOSED

For any questions, please email museumofinfiniteoutcomes@gmail.com



BIG PRINTS! STEAMROLLER WEEKEND

October 11th + 12th, 9:30AM-5PM

Relay Ridge

4124 McKinley St, Knoxville, TN 37917



Knox Small Press Fest is proud to present a weekend of large scale Steamroller prints at Relay Ridge. This two day event will be October 11th and 12th. 30 spots are available and participating artists will receive 2 prints on cotton muslin fabric. Entry fee is a nonrefundable $20.


Requirements:
Participants will carve a large scale wood block (3⁄4” thick) between the minimum size (24 x 24inches) and the maximum size (48 x 96 inches). Participants must be available to volunteer some time during the day that they are assigned to print their block, either Saturday, October 11th or Sunday, October 12th. There will be three optional meetings between August 1st and October 9th where participants can meetup to carve, learn, and talk about their progress on their blocks.


Any questions? Email printanonknox@gmail.com with the subject line “Steamroller Event”


APPLICATION DEADLINE: AUGUST 15th, 2025



PERSONAL SPACE: A Portfolio Exchange Curated by Shannon Ferguson and Lucja Bankowska

Reception: October 3rd- 5-7pm, Open Hours: October 4th- 10-1pm

GALLERY 1010

100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902



This exhibition is a 30 print portfolio exchange between members of the UTK Print Club and the print club at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy for Fine Art in Wroclaw, Poland. This portfolio exchange was developed through the long-term partnership between the printmaking programs of both universities.



UTK PRINT PARTY

October 9th, 5PM-8PM

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE Printshop

RM 241, Art + Architecture Building, 1715 volunteer Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37996

Join the UTK printmaking students and faculty for our annual party in the UTKPrintshop! During this open house event, you'll make your own take away prints in lithography, relief, screenprinting, and letterpress. Enjoy a screenprinted pancake while listening to some of Knoxville's finest karaoke singers.


Requirements:
Participation is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome!


Any questions? Email Professor J. Leigh Garcia at jlgarcia@ukt.edu with the subject line “UTK Print Party”

 

BE A PART OF OUR FESTIVAL THIS YEAR:

MORE DETAILS ON PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS TO COME

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