A goal of ImagineARiver Press is to be a supportive space for collaborative artistic exchange through the medium of printing. Whether it’s teaching printing as a new medium to an artist or helping a poet handset their poem in type, the press (“Bertha” a 1922 Chandler & Price housed in an 1896 Carriage House) has been a hearth of creativity through collaboration. Below are some community projects beginning in 2018 and some of the wonderful relationships that have developed (and continue to) because of them. 

ALLEY CAT BOOKSTORE Resident Writers Collection

Here is my collaboration with Alley Cat Books (located where Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore is currently on 24th Street in the Mission) for their Writers in Residency program from 2018-2019. I collaborated with booksellers, poets and community members to design and print covers for chapbooks. Each chapbook was written during a residency in the bookstore. Invitations to an event to celebrate the chapbooks were also printed and designed in the press with Alley Cat booksellers.

AUSPICIOUS BOOKS:

Abby Banks of Auspicious Books has been and continues to be a wonderful collaborator in the press. We have printed three different chapbooks covers together, two of which involve the work of Ernesto Mendez, a photographer living in Mexico City. “Sudor Station” was brought to Mexico City for an exhibition in late 2024. These collaborations in particular highlight the ways in which different artistic mediums are able to shine together and lead to beautiful creative friendships.

POETS AND BROADSIDES:

Collaborations with poets have been especially central to ImagineARiver Press. Here are pictures of local poet Katie Tomzinsky setting type as well as the printing of a broadside designed with Trans poet Misha Crafts printed for a reading series in San Francisco in 2025. Multiple collaborations with poets and small press poet publishers are currently being designed including with the zine, SUDS and a poem about letterpress printing.

MAIDEN LANE FILM:

Spring of 2025, ImagineARiver Press collaborated with filmmakers Ivy Anderson, Devon Angus and Maiden Lane Film to print posters for their film set in a West Coast town in the 1910s. This collaboration was especially unique, bridging film, history and letterpress printing.

UPCOMING WORKSHOP EVENT: MARBLING

After a day-workshop in the press, ImagineARiver Press will be hosting an upcoming event for the community to come marble and create together. This will offer a meaningful chance to gather together and learn a new and very fun craft! More details to follow.

LET’S COLLABORATE:

Come Visit and Collaborate! The press is meant it to be an accessible place of sharing and printing. Email imagineariverpress@gmail.com to visit and collaborate