Block Party

This Father’s Day weekend, the Foundry Art Centre hosts the inaugural ‘Block Party’. This event is free and open to the public, featuring a full day of family fun – interactive art projects for all ages, food trucks, beer booths, live music, heavy machinery, and steamroller printing. This outdoor art festival is made possible through a partnership with Grafik House and others. 

“The Foundry is excited to announce the first Block Party!” explains Sean FitzGibbons, the Foundry Art Centre’s Executive Director. “The Block Party encapsulates the Foundry’s mission to engage the community through the arts. Not only that, but it does it in a BIG way. We are all thrilled to create something that has so much positivity and provides a festive artistic experience for the whole family, especially on Father’s Day weekend.”

The Foundry’s Block Party centers on a unique and over-the-top method of printmaking, using a STEAMROLLER! Large-scale images created by regional artists Julia Curran, Dr. Slime, Patrick Owen, Edo Rosenblith, Natalie Schloss, and Grafik House artists are carved on four by eight foot woodblocks. The Foundry’s team of inkers roll ink onto these blocks, a large sheet is laid on top, and then the whole thing is run over with a steam roller – squishing the ink from the woodblock to the sheet. These fantastic prints will be taken into the Foundry’s Grand Hall to dry on display. 

“Our goal is to educate and share traditional printmaking both locally and globally. We are excited to work with the team at the Foundry Art Centre, and look forward to getting inky and making art with the community!” says Grafik House’s Liz Hermanson.

In addition to the steamroller prints, the Foundry’s Block Party features an interactive heavy machinery and vehicle display in the Foundry’s parking lot, where families can safely climb aboard and experience vehicles from the St. Charles Police Department, the St. Charles Fire Department, Fabick Cat, and more. The Foundry will also host live music and food trucks in the parking lot throughout the day. Visitors are invited indoors to visit artist and sponsor booths, a bar featuring beer from 2 Plumbers Brewing, and of course, to view all of the prints created throughout the day.

For more information, please visit us at https://foundryartcentre.org or email Jessica Mannisi, Art & Exhibitions Coordinator, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About the Foundry Art Centre

As a vibrant home to the arts, the Foundry Art Centre raises awareness and appreciation of the arts throughout the region. Alive with activity, the Centre’s programming reinforces the importance of the arts and helps ensure that arts and culture remain vital. Artists, patrons, young people and the community at large continually find new ways to interact at this unique facility.