Public Space One's Zenzic Press Project Makes $10,000 Kickstarter Fundraising Goal

Update 5:13 p.m.: They've made their goal. But everything above it now goes to establishing the public programming for the equipment.

John Engelbrecht, Public Space One director, had this to say in an e-mail to Patch:

"I'm excited to make this resource part of the future of the arts in Iowa City. Beyond being humbled by the support of our backers, I am pleased to be working with such a great group of volunteers at Public Space One. We took our time in putting together this campaign and I'm happy for everyone involved that our work paid off."

Previous Coverage (When they still had a few hundred dollars to go.)

With a little over two days of fundraising left to go, Public Space One, a local nonprofit, has nearly reached its $10,000 fundraising goal to establish a community printmaking space.

The organization is using Kickstarter.com to raise the funds. Under Kickstarter's rules, it is required that individuals or organizations soliciting fundraising dollars meet their total amount in pledges before the allotted time runs out or no money will be rewarded. You can see the printmaking project's fundraising page here, where you can also see what gifts you will receive based on the amount of your donation.

Here's the organization's press release on the project.

Public Space One (psONE) is a nonprofit arts organization that has been providing a venue for the local community to present their work for the last 10 years.

An open, all-ages, collaborative, communal social sculpture operating on a
shoestring budget, psONE hosts and supports a variety of Iowa City’s cultural offerings. Recently psONE expanded its physical and conceptual space to include two downtown Iowa City locations, PS1 and ps·z. The new ps·z space takes the accessibility of the PS1 presentation venue and applies that to production and process. This new workspace hosts both private and communal art studios, a kitchen, and a community print shop, Zenzic Press.

To found Zenzic Press at ps·z, psONE is using Kickstarter.com to appeal to its extensive community of supporters to raise the considerable funds this project requires. To put the $10,000 fundraising goal for the establishment of Zenzic Press in perspective, psONE’s yearly operating budget has never exceeded $15,000. They have sustained their programming thus far with one part-time
director, a team of dedicated volunteers, and a community of moral support.

When using Kickstarter.com, creative projects have a set number of days to reach their target fundraising goal. Kickstarter fundraising is all or nothing. If Zenzic Press does not reach the target goal of $10,000 by September 15th, all pledges are canceled and they receive no funding at all. An advantage to the platform is Kickstarter’s merchant partner Amazon.com, which enables supporters to pledge funds from anywhere in the world. Kickstarter also allows Zenzic Press to thank their supporters by providing specific rewards
for the various donation levels.

As part of the ps·z project, Zenzic Press aims to provide space, equipment, and knowledge for anyone interested in exploring the methods of printmaking. It will create a sustainable space with professional printmaking facilities that will provide people with affordable access to expensive equipment. This cooperative print shop will accommodate the techniques of Intaglio, Relief, Screenprint, and Letterpress. ZenzizenziZENZIC is committed to engaging diverse populations in the practice of printmaking, and promotes alternative educational opportunities through the organization of free workshops, lectures, and classes.

Over the past few months, volunteers have been working to make Zenzic Press and ps·z a reality. They have started to accumulate the equipment necessary to outfit a professional print shop, but Zenzic needs additional support to create a truly functional space. Money donated to this project will first go toward purchasing a used Etching Press, and all of the equipment, big and small, needed to provide the community with an outstanding resource.

Anything above and beyond the initial goal will support the first year programming costs, including the provision of free classes and workshops. If this Kickstarter project is funded, Zenzic Press expects to be fully operational in October 2012.

For more information about Zenzic Press, or to donate online, please visit www.kickstarter.com/profile/publicspaceone

For more information about ps·z, please visit www.pszic.com

For more information about Public Space One, please visit www.publicspaceone.com