Meet the Printer
Irene Michnicki is the owner and collaborative printer at Milestone Graphics Fine Prints, the oldest professional print shop still operating in Connecticut. An artist, printmaker, and educator living and working in southwestern Connecticut, she began at Milestone in 2015 and took over ownership of the studio in 2020, continuing a legacy that stretches back to the shop's founding in 1976.
Irene Michnicki is a Certified Tamarind Trained Printer, having completed the Printer Training Program at Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the only program of its kind in the world dedicated entirely to training collaborative fine art printers and skilled lithographers. Founded in 1960 to revive a fading art form, Tamarind built its training around a simple but enduring idea: pairing a skilled printer with a working artist so that each pushes the other toward work neither could make alone. This spirit of collaboration is what Irene brings to every project at Milestone Graphics. And this collaborative core philosophy and process continues to drive Milestone Graphics forward into the future.
Photo credit: Robbie Maynard
It is Michnicki's goal to continue the legacy of the shop and keep the unique practice of collaborative printmaking alive.
Irene Michnicki holds a BFA in Drawing from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and an MAT in Art Education from Rhode Island School of Design, a combination that shapes her work as both a professional collaborative printer at the press and a teacher of the craft. Michnicki currently teaches printmaking and fine art as a Lecturer in Painting/Printmaking at the Yale School of Art and at CT State Housatonic.
As a practicing printmaker, artist, and educator, Irene's goal is to keep the atelier tradition alive at Milestone: pairing a master printer's technical knowledge with an artist's vision to carry a print through from concept to finished edition. Under her leadership, the studio continues to work across lithography, intaglio, and relief, collaborating with artists at every stage of experience.
Irene Michnicki and shop dog/shop manager Baxter
As part of completing the Printer Training Program at Tamarind Institute, Irene was presented with her own printer's chop with a symbol designed by her. The chop is a small embossed mark that collaborative print studios have used for generations to identify the workshop and printer behind an edition. Combining her first initial, I, with a crescent moon resting at its base, a symbol rooted in Diana or Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Original prints pulled at Milestone carry this mark. It's a quiet signature of the craftsmanship and care behind each edition. If you'd like to learn more about the tradition behind printer's chops, check our blog post: The mark behind the print.
Photo credit: Robbie Maynard
Curious about a collaboration or have a question for the printer?
Curious about collaborating with Irene on a limited edition print? Or have a burning technical printmaking question that needs answering? Whether you're an artist exploring traditional printmaking for the first time or returning to the press for a new body of work, she'd love to talk through your project and what's possible at Milestone.