Lecture

Arion Press Craft Talks No. 7 & 8 – The Endless Possibilities Of Puppetry & From Zines To Metal: Building Community Around Print

August 19 and September 17

August 19 @ 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

$10 ($12.51 plus fees)

Craft Talks No. 7 & 8 – “The Endless Possibilities Of Puppetry With Risa Lenore Of Possibly Puppets” & “From Zines To Metal: Building Community Around Print” Presented By Arion Press

Join Arion Press for two craft talks featuring Risa Lenore of Possibly Puppets and Brian Bagdonas and Rebecca Gilbert from C.C. Stern Type Foundry.

EVENT DETAILS

Arion Press concludes its 2026 Craft Talk Series with two dynamic presentations from artists representing the field of puppetry and typesetting.

In “The Endless Possibilities Of Puppetry,” artist and educator Risa Lenore of Possibly Puppets shares her practice, puppets, sets, and performance philosophies with the audience and invites them to create a simple quick puppet. This talk explores the foundations of puppetry as living visual storytelling that can integrate any art or craft form into a unified presentation.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. at the Magic Theatre, Building D, Third Floor on Thursday, August 19, 2026. The talk lasts one hour (6;30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) with a reception to follow in the Arion Press Gallery, Building B, First Floor.

In “From Zines To Metal: Building Community Around Print,” C. C. Stern typecasters Rebecca Gilbert and Brian Bagdonas, inspired by the traditions and culture of craft printing, and by the DIY punk ethos of the 1990s, discuss their personal paths through print – from zine making to commercial printing and hot metal typecasting. This talk touches on their shared histories in community-focused printing and publishing, including the establishment of the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC), Stumptown Printers Worker Cooperative, and the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. As they consider the past three decades of their adventures in print, Gilbert and Bagdonas point out a few sights of interest – the inspirations and key influences that have kept them in pursuit of meaningful, well-crafted print. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. at the Bayfront Theatre, Building B, Third Floor. The talk is 45 minutes (6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.), with an additional 15 minutes for audience Q&A. A reception follows in the Arion Press Gallery, Building B, First Floor.

About The Artists

Risa Lenore is known for her creativity in arts education and in her puppet creations. She is the creator, writer, director, designer, and builder for more than 15 family-friendly puppet shows which have toured the San Francisco Bay Area since 2013. She is the artistic lead for Possibly Puppets – a puppet company led by materials and committed to searching through the flotsam and jetsam of our over-consumptive society to create beauty and meaning.

Ideas – thrown out like confetti, cascading.
Some catch the light, the eye, just right.
They gather in the hat
Later, they change, forming into being.
The rest become meals for the wind.

– Poem by Risa Lenore

Rebecca Gilbert holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pacific Northwest College Of Art | Portland, OR Art School, where her studies integrated community publishing, graphic design, and book arts. She has been involved in founding and growing small community arts non-profit organizations (The Independent Publishing Resource Center, C.C. Stern Type Foundry, Partners In Print).

Gilbert is a past publisher of both print and audio zines. Inspired by the sharing of cultural subjective histories, Gilbert works on a variety of documentation projects related to typecasting and printing and ongoing archive and legacy consulting with regional artists.

Brian Bagdonas has worked as a commercial printer since 1992. During work shifts while operating production printing machinery, he likes to dream up ways to use the equipment for non-commercial purposes. With an affection for the tools and techniques of “hot metal” letterpress printing, he activates his commercial experience to create whimsical print work that celebrates the “art” and “industry” of the craft. He is a volunteer and board member of the C.C. Stern Type Foundry. Bagdonas is also an active participant in the Portland, OR traditional music community.

Together Bagdonas and Gilbert operate Craft Printing House, a small letterpress shop located in Clatskanie, OR. Previously they were partners in Stumptown Printers (1999-2019), an offset and letterpress shop specializing in paperboard music packaging. They are also both active board members and volunteers at the C.C. Stern Type Foundry and have received certificates for hot metal typecasting from Monotype University.

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