Boston, MA — This winter, the MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) ignites the season with two powerful exhibitions that celebrate artistic innovation, cultural legacy, and mythological imagination. Opening January 22, Press & Pull: Two Decades at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop brings together more than 35 original prints to honor the radical vision and enduring impact of Robert Blackburn (1920–2003). A pioneering artist, educator, and master printer, Blackburn founded his workshop in 1947, creating a collaborative space where artists of color and women could experiment and thrive at a time when they were excluded from mainstream institutions. His workshop became a national hub for artistic exchange and social change, reshaping the trajectory of American printmaking.
One week later, on January 29, MAAM unveils Masako Miki: Midnight March, an expansive, site-responsive exhibition that transforms the museum’s Paine Gallery into a fantastical mythological world. Born in Osaka, Japan in 1973 and now based in Berkeley, California, Miki draws inspiration from Japanese folklore and Shinto beliefs to create vividly hued, felted sculptures that inhabit a realm of riotous resistance and joyful transformation. Featuring 23 works, Masako Miki: Midnight March invites visitors to step inside a richly imagined landscape where difference is celebrated as a powerful, positive force.
Both exhibitions will be on view through May 31, 2026, at MAAM.
Artists in Press & Pull: Two Decades at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop: Haig Aivazian, Xenobia Bailey, Romare Bearden, Camille Billops, Robert Blackburn, Betty Blayton, Chakaia Booker, Elizabeth Catlett, Ed Clark, Renee Cox, Lizania Cruz, Devraj Dakoji, Ayana Evans, Raque Ford, Michele Godwin, Maren Hassinger, Baseera Khan, Seung-Min Lee, Tsedaye Makonnen, Dindga McCannon, Glendalys Medina, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Otto Neals, Ademola Olugebefola, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Krishna Reddy, Faith Ringgold, Kenny Rivero, Elliott Jamal Robbins, Shellyne Rodriguez, Stephanie Santana, Charles White, Michael Kelly Williams
Press & Pull: Two Decades at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop is generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Dedalus Foundation. The oral histories presented in the exhibition were made possible through the support of the Hauser and Wirth Institute. Additional program support generously provided by the Teiger Foundation. Works are courtesy of the collection and archive of the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, a program of The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. Organized by The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, the exhibition is curated by Shameekia Shantel Johnson in collaboration with Essye Klempner, Director of Programming and Partnerships, and Jazmine Catasús, Artistic Director, of the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. The exhibition is organized by MAAM Executive Director Lisa Tung.
Masako Miki: Midnight March is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco and curated by Alison Gass, Founding Director and Chief Curator with Meghan Smith, LYRA Foundation Curator.
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About Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
Founded in 1947 by visionary artist and master printer Robert Blackburn, the Printmaking Workshop is the longest-running community print shop in the United States. Celebrated for its spirit of collaboration and inclusivity, the workshop has long served as a creative haven for artists of all backgrounds, fostering technical innovation and aesthetic exploration in printmaking. In 2002, Blackburn ensured the continuity of this legacy by relocating the workshop to the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA), where it now operates as the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW). Today, RBPMW continues Blackburn’s mission by providing an accessible and affordable studio environment that supports both traditional and contemporary printmaking techniques, and stewards the Robert Blackburn Print Collection.
About Masako Miki
Masako Miki (b. 1973, Osaka, Japan) is an artist whose paintings, sculptures, and installations blur the boundaries between the sacred and the secular. Using a variety of materials, including wool, wood, bronze, ink, and watercolor, Miki creates characterful artworks rooted in the Indigenous culture of her Japanese birthplace but informed by the freedom and ambition of three decades of living in California. As Miki explains, “I hope that my works generate the kind of curiosity and empathy that enables us to come together.”
Miki has enjoyed solo shows and projects at the de Young Museum, San Francisco; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), CA; ICA San José, CA; and KMAC Contemporary Art Museum, Louisville, KY. She opened a two-person exhibition titled “(Super)Natural: Paul Klee and Masako Miki” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) on August 17, 2024. Her work is in the permanent collections of SFMOMA; BAMPFA; the McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, CA; Collección SOLO, Madrid; and Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation, New York, among others. Recent commissions include the design of Maison Hermès’ windows in Ginza, Tokyo; a site-specific installation for the Minna Natoma Arts Corridor in San Francisco; and a permanent installation of bronze sculptures at Uber HQ, San Francisco. Miki has a BFA from Notre Dame de Namur University and an MFA from San José State University, CA. She lives and works in Berkeley, CA. Miki is represented by Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, and Ryan Lee, New York.
About MassArt Art Museum
MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) is Boston’s only free contemporary art museum. As the teaching museum of Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), MAAM offers groundbreaking exhibitions and programs that bring contemporary art to the public while providing unparalleled educational opportunities for MassArt students.
Press Contact
Kara Westhoven
Senior Communications Manager, MassArt
kwesthoven@massart.edu
