THE PRINTED WORD. Melanie Walby, a Minneapolis-based print artist – and creator of the "Clear Water" art installation and book - will return to the Chippewa Valley from 1-6pm on Saturday, Feb. 28 at The Brewing Projekt (1807 N. Oxford Ave., Eau Claire) for a one-day installation, print sale and artist talk. The event will also serve as a resource-sharing collective. (Submitted photo)

“If I facilitated anything, it would be planting little seeds of individual power that people could recognize," Melanie Walby, the Minneapolis-based print artist said in anticipation of their return to the Chippewa Valley. “In context of not just Eau Claire – or me living in Minneapolis – but rather anybody across the United States.”

Walby will return to Eau Claire from 1-6pm on Saturday, Feb. 28 at The Brewing Projekt (1807 N. Oxford Ave., Eau Claire) for a one-day installation, print sale and artist talk.

Given the presence of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents federally across the country, particularly in Minnesota – where the artist currently resides – the event will also serve as a resource-sharing collective.

This collective aims to support families and small businesses affected by ICE's activities, and other ways to uplift small creators amidst points of struggle, Walby shared.

“My art puts people into a position where they have to have multiple conversations and years long worth of research because once they see this – you can't unsee it,” Walby said. “Even right now, we are still seeing there are people who think things are better in Minneapolis because of what news they are watching.”

Walby's 2021 exhibition “Clear Water,” presented through the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire – with its accompanying book published just a few years later – explored the conscious and unconscious narratives of systemic racism, while simultaneously providing a means for her communities to find healing.

“Worship of the written word is really, really important. My work is focused on text (and) to put (text) in people's faces – in places and spaces where they don’t expect to learn about racism.”

melanie walby

multimedia artist, printmaker of good graces paper co.

Today, those dialogues now unfold through Walby's continued production of physical prints, under the moniker “Good Graces Paper Co.,” in which she illustrates – through typography and language – her response to current events and their links to the past.

“The truth doesn’t really need a lot of defending. It just needs repetition,” Walby said to describe her latest collection of prints – many of which will be available for purchase on Feb. 28. “I am very relentless with historical facts and tying (my work) back to things that people in different centuries have already written about, including solutions on what to do about it.”

In conversation with Walby, she expressed the importance of physical media and print production, amidst the circulation of misinformation and algorithmic patterns she observes on social media.

Artists and creatives have long used posters and flyers as a medium to share their messages and call-to-action regarding social justice issues, she added. In this same tradition, Walby’s latest art collection embodies these concepts and provides a secure – while also direct – outlet for individuals to engage in her values.

Melanie Walby, pictured above.

“I make art in a format where (people) can’t talk over me or interrupt me; this is everything I wish I could say to everyone in the entire country.” Walby said. “Worship of the written word is really, really important. My work is focused on text (and) to put (text) in people's faces – in places and spaces where they don’t expect to learn about racism.”

In tandem with her collection of print products available for purchase, Walby also invites attendees to gather for an artist talk during the event at 2pm, where she will sit in conversation with A Abu-Bakr, an advanced practice public health nurse, healthcare innovation consultant and doula.

This discussion will envelop many of the social injustices Walby has witnessed in Minneapolis, uplift localized alternative news media organizations to learn from, and how art remains a vessel for both creative expression and social reckoning.

There, copies of Clear Water, Walby’s book, will be available for purchase with an option to be signed by the author. 15% of all proceeds acquired through print and book sales will be sent directly to Stand With Minnesota, a rent relief campaign focused on offering mutual aid assistance to vulnerable families in the state.

“Now that I have that in a collection of art, my goal is to get in front of as many people across the country as I can,” Walby said. “I'm definitely going to give people things to take into consideration about their individual power they hold.”

Walby believes collective power can stem from one's own recognition of personal power, which is where change can stem from – whether in the Chippewa Valley or in connection with the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

"Fire Hazards," a print by Walby, pictured. "Good Graces Paper Co. is a paper and novelty brand that weaves social justice, history, and spirituality as an interconnected story of hope and healing," Walby shared with customers online. (Submitted photo)

Learn more about Melanie G.S. Walby and their previous art collections online, through VolumeOne.org. She will return to the Chippewa Valley for a one-day-only print installation and artist talk from 1-6pm on Saturday, Feb. 28 at The Brewing Projekt (1807 N. Oxford Ave., Eau Claire).