SGC CHICAGO 2009

It came and went so rapidly that we almost missed it, but it certainly left a mark before it was gone. The long anticipated SGC show in Chicago was spectacular to say the least.

While the final numbers aren't in yet, the attendance was off the charts. Over 1800 printmakers registered for the 3 day event, far and away the largest attendance ever for Southern Graphics. The 35 vendors in attendance was another record, and a like number of publishers helped to make the Product Fair the best ever.

I'd like to offer a special thanks to the tireless volunteers on the Organizing Committee led by David Jones from Anchor Graphics. For a year and a half this group met to plan and execute a great show, and that's exactly what they produced. Chicago is always a great place for a trade show.

I'm biased, but the city is a true gem that lends itself to showing visiors a great time. Our restaurants are second to none, and the city's committmentto the arts is unrivaled anywhere. Yes, there were a few glitches - the City that Works decided to do sidewalk repair outside of the main entrance to one of our venues just days before the show started.

A huge last minute registration left many of the demonstrations seriously over crowded. As a vendor, give me a crowd like this any time. The picture at the left was honestly taken during a lull in the Product Fair.

Next year, SGC visits another of my favorite cities...Philadelphia for the 2010 show. With the Chicago show to build from, I expect that this will be another great show. And, about the only thing that comes close to topping a great Italian Beef sandwich from Chicago could be an authentic Philly Cheese Steak!

2ND CENTURY - BETTER THAN THE FIRST

Yes, this begins the second century - not of Graphic Chemical & Ink (we're only 89 years old), but rather the second hundred posts on the Printmaking Materials Blog. And, what better way to start post #101 than with a recap on the recent Southern Graphics Conference meeting in Chicago last week?

First and foremost, this show was staggeringly successful. I want to extend a special thanks to David Jones of Anchor Graphics who was the guy in charge of everything. Additionally thanks need to go to Andrew Whatley from host school Columbia College. Andrew and David were instrumental in minimizing the problems that always happen with anything this large.
Speaking of large, the registration numbers aren't final yet, but we anticipate about 1800 printmakers registered for SGC! We also had a record number of vendors and publishers. This just serves to prove what many of us already knew - Chicago is a great city, particularly for artists.

As the show ended, we began final preparations for the Graphic Open House. Mother Nature also began final preparations for a nasty late winter storm. We were told to expect 6" of wet, heavy snow, and we probably got 2" at Graphic, but we also got an additional 2" of water inside our production department, too. It was hardly noticed by the 3-4 dozen die hards who braved the elements. Hopefully they appreciated the effort that was displayed by our staff to get everyhting ready.

Thanks also to Gary and Sherril Owens from E.C. Lyons and Walt and Ginny Glazer from Speedball Art for helping out. Lascaux, our Swiss supplier of Etching, Screen Printing and Painting supplies provided Swiss chocolate and free samples of some of their products.

Our hit products at SGC included the Lascaux paints, and the brand new brayers from England. Of course, the Graphic Chemical inks were almost sold out by the end of the show. Everyone that we talked to at the show was similarly impressed with the SGC Conference, and rightly so.