Imprint 2026 Reception: Groundbreaking

Join us on Sunday, April 19th at 2:00PM for a virtual reception celebrating WEM’s 18th year of Imprint— our annual high school printmaking competition. This year, we are celebrating the act of groundbreaking in all forms and the talented young printmakers who made creative breakthroughs in this year’s show! 

We’ll be joined by our guest juror, Em Dombrovskaya, the Suzanne Andrée Curatorial Fellow in Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Em will share their insights on the history of print education in 20th century Philadelphia and the development of printmaking initiatives throughout the region to support this practice – including ones that remain an important resource for young printmakers today. We’ll also take a brief look at the history of the Imprint program and Esherick’s own time as a graphic artist. 

Woodcut printmaking provided Esherick with a critical medium to develop his artistic practice. Esherick transitioned from a young painter to an internationally recognized artist and designer by way of carving woodblocks. Now in its 18th year, the Imprint program encourages new generations of young artists to share their voices and vision in this dynamic medium. Join us in celebrating the exceptional artworks on view in the year’s Imprint exhibition and the talented young printmakers and dedicated art teachers in our region!

Juror Bio:
Em Dombrovskaya is the Suzanne Andrée Curatorial Fellow in Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They are a graduate of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware. Em previously worked as an editorial assistant focusing on books in language and literacy education at Routledge. They believe that getting hands-on experience with printmaking improves art historical scholarship, and have taken classes in relief printing, screenprinting, lithography, and etching.