Connection

Hatch Show Print, a working letterpress print shop since 1879, uses its vast collection of vintage type and hand-carved imagery to create timeless designs that express and commemorate America’s evolving cultural identity. Participants from local high schools and the community were invited to engage with Hatch Show Print by exploring the company’s history and creative process. Participants learned that well-executed posters create points of connection and inspire action—like promoting a musical performance or calling for civic engagement—by using images, words, or a combination of both. Participants were then encouraged to design and create their own posters, as featured in the Taylor Swift Education Center exhibition, Connection.

In partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools, local art students from Cane Ridge High School, Hume-Fogg High School, Stratford High School, and Nashville School of the Arts participated in a half-day Hatch Show Print tour and workshop. During the field trip, students learned about Hatch Show Print’s significant history, reviewed principles of design, and explored the letterpress printing process. Students fashioned their own foam and sponge shapes and then printed their designed forms, which served as inspiration for their final posters on display in the Taylor Swift Education Cetner. Using a combination of action words and imagery, the posters represent movement towards an idealized future where people connect over social causes and creative art.

Located in Nashville, Friends Life Community provides opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities to grow personally, develop socially, and be active members of the community. Friends Life Community invited Hatch Show Print Master Printer Emeritus Jim Sherraden to be a Teaching Artist in Residence in 2023, and in late 2024, Friends Life Community artists gathered at Hatch Show Print for a “behind the presses” tour of the print shop. Jennifer Haston, visual arts program coordinator, and Sherraden assisted poster-making Friends Life Community artists Grant, Meghan, and Sam to colorfully bring their words, lettering, and images to life in the posters, as featured in Connection.

Grant is an artist and illustrator. He works quickly in a style dependent upon stark lines and colors, similar to the artist Keith Haring. As with Pop Art of the 1960s, his preferred subjects include fruits and vegetables, household items, soda machines, and his favorite restaurant, Chili’s.  He enjoys drawing faces, embodying moods and emotional states: happy, sad, silly, and surprised. His illustrations have been used by the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild and for many Friendmade Goods products.

Sam’s art is a muted, romantic discovery of landscapes. His ethereal works allow the paint to create impressions of soft sophistication within their simplicity. Art makes Sam feel powerful. His landscapes are comparable to those of Degas, with their washy, poetic flows of color. The setting for his work is often evening, morning, or nighttime, when the lighting is more dramatic. Sam is also a Friends Life Community illustrator. He has designed many images for Friendmade Goods products.

Meghan contributed to the posters by lending her eye for color in hand-watercolor painting the images on the posters with Sam. Her enjoyment of color, shape and pattern extends into fashion, and Meghan is especially delighted by ball gowns.

Kennedi Cash
Teacher: Larissa Ottinger
Cane Ridge High School
Two-color reduction linoleum print

The theme “Connection” signifies being linked through relationships. It includes all forms of media, music, and art—anything that can be shared, liked, and discussed. During my brainstorming, I thought about what people can observe. For instance, giraffes are tall, but many of us can’t see everything high up. So, we change our perspective to view things differently. I took my time carving my design, initially sketching a giraffe and creating a slogan. I chose colors like orange, yellow, and red. I hope viewers will see and understand my vision.

Hayden Gepner
Teacher: Larissa Ottinger
Cane Ridge High School
Three-color reduction linoleum print

In my artwork, the phrase “Empathy for Others” is displayed across it. This phrase illustrates the theme of “Connection” because of the display of a power dynamic between a hand, a symbol of strength, and an ant, a symbol of weakness. This universal truth connects everyone in the world, and although it is inherently unfair, there is and will always be someone who desires more. The word “Empathy” is intentionally placed at the top to highlight what this hand is doing and also the importance of sharing empathy with others who are close to us or do not receive the care they need. I dedicated myself to carving out every little detail, and in the end, this piece truly reflects what I believe connection means.

Anusha Rai
Teacher: Larissa Ottinger
Cane Ridge High School
Three-color reduction linoleum print

The theme “Connection” means the ways people, emotions, and experiences link us together. When brainstorming, I thought about relationships, shared feelings, and how even different individuals can still be connected. I showed this theme visually by using elements that interact and overlap to represent unity and relationships. During the process, I started with sketches and then created the final piece step by step, focusing on balance and meaning. I hope that this artwork shows a sense of connection and that people reflect on their own relationships and experiences when viewing the artwork.

Alanna Townsend
Teacher: Larissa Ottinger
Cane Ridge High School
One-color reduction linoleum print

Whenever I think about connection, I think about community and more specifically, fandom. In today’s age, many communities (and especially artists) turn more to digital places due to the greater reach that they have. Because a fandom is a community of fans created through loving the work (art, book, etc.) created by a person or a group of people, I named this piece “Creation Sows Community.” I articulated it by showing someone making something (left purposefully vague because it could be notes for a piece of writing they’re planning, a sketch, editing a video) on their tablet in their room, as I feel that you don’t need anything specifically geared towards doing “x” to create something someone falls in love with. It doesn’t even need to be an extremely serious piece of work. You just need to love what you make and hope you inspire others in turn. When creating this piece, I made four draft images, testing out alternative ideas. The concern “Labor of Love” is one, with a focus on theater and the hard work that goes into plays. While I liked that idea, I admittedly couldn’t really relate to that since the closest thing I had to theater was theater arts and StarKid musicals. The other three were basically playing around with the text placement and perspective of this piece. One only showed their hand, which had a focus on the work they made. In this version, however, while I like the anonymity it provides the creator, I didn’t like that it would force me to specify and outline what they’re creating. The things that people fall in love with are so broad; they could be videos, art, a piece of writing. . . .

When it comes to what the audience receives from my work, I hope they interpret it in a way that relates to their own fandom experiences.

Wesly Valladares-Matamoros
Teacher: Larissa Ottinger
Cane Ridge High School
Three-color reduction linoleum print

To me, the theme “Connection” represents how living things are tied together through relationships, balance, and shared movement through life. When I brainstormed this theme, I immediately thought about how connection can be shown through symbolism in nature. I chose to create two koi fish swimming around each other because koi often represent harmony, unity, and the way two beings can stay connected even while moving independently. I included the word “interlinked” in the center to emphasize that their bond is constant and meaningful. The physical process of creating this artwork was a printmaking project, so I had to trace my design, transfer it onto the linoleum, carefully carve the details, and then print the image. Through this work, I hope the audience reflects on the importance of connection and feels inspired to appreciate the bonds that link us all together.

Tamia Patton
Teacher: Larissa Ottinger
Cane Ridge High School
Two-color reduction linoleum print

The theme “Connection” means to me staying linked to something meaningful. When I brainstormed, I thought about music and how it connects us to memories and feelings, which inspired my piece “Still Tied.” I showed this visually by creating a music player surrounded by flowing lines that represent rhythm and emotional connection. I made this artwork through a printmaking process, carving my design and layering ink to create texture and contrast. I hope viewers feel how powerful music can be and recognize how some connections stay with us no matter what.

Ciel Holbert
Teacher: Dale Rehn
Nashville School of the Arts
Watercolor

I feel that it’s often misunderstood how impactful simple kindness can be. Kindness is cyclical. When you are kind to someone, they may repay it back to you or be inspired to help someone else. I wanted to connect people to others through global symbols of peace, the dove and the olive branch, without it coming off too cliche.

Hayden Kulick
Teacher: Dale Rehn
Nashville School of the Arts
Drawing

“For Goodness Cakes” is a nonprofit organization that calls volunteers to make and deliver birthday cakes for children in foster care on their birthdays or graduations. This poster is intended to connect bakers who might be interested to information on how to volunteer.

Marilyn Miller
Teacher: Dale Rehn
Nashville School of the Arts
Painting

Black cats aren’t bad luck. Black cats have been stereotyped as bringing misfortune and bad luck to those who cross their path. They face more abuse due to their status, but in reality, they are adorable creatures who want to love just as much as any other animal. This poster was made to raise awareness about their mistreatment and how they want people’s love and affection despite the challenges they face.

Iruba Miranda
Teacher: Dale Rehn
Nashville School of the Arts
Painting

My poster represents the emotional and virtual connection I get with my friends online.
Playing online games like Marvel Rivals and Fortnite have helped me build stronger bonds with the people I love. The poster is in a meme-like format with the words “Hop on, bro,” a common phrase when asking a friend to join in a game, and an electric bolt between the dog and mouse to reinforce the call to online gaming.

Allison Rico Cazarez
Teacher: Dale Rehn
Nashville School of the Arts
Painting

My poster represents the connection made through music. I believe that music is a universal language and can be used to connect people, especially in hard times. Music can be personal to the artists and listeners at the same time, relating to the theme or general vibe of the song. My poster depicts two people sitting shoulder to shoulder while sharing wired earbuds, the two colors representing each person fading into each other where the earbuds connect. Music itself doesn’t have to be complicated at all, and connecting with others through music isn’t hard either. Music is one of the simplest things people have in common with each other and can be used to connect those with similar tastes.

Juliana Adams, Jair Cabrera Arias, Everett Hagewood, and Ellis Montgomery
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Serigraph

Ingredients mix.
A bond deeper than taste
Their chemistry makes.

Maggie Anderson
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Mixed media on linocut

“Be Your Own Duckling” represents the idea that connection and belonging is important, but you cannot be afraid to go. Let your community empower you to be confident in following the burning in your heart, rather than trapping you in the old patterns of sameness. Find your place, but don’t become stuck there; stay true to what you believe in; be kind to everyone; and go where you are called. The design of ducks on a river was inspired by the famous story of the Ugly Duckling, and also by the children’s book Make Way for Ducklings. The spiral pattern was born out of a phase I went through of doodling spirals everywhere—on homework, scratch paper, whiteboards, anything. I love that I got to use these nods to my childhood in creating something totally new with the new skill of printmaking.

Anastasia Carty
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Linocut

This poster is based on the lore and world of my original character, who is a magical girl whose team fights against monsters made of human suffering and hopelessness known as The Despair. Its purpose is to connect that world to the real one, as if you could actually find this poster hanging on a wall somewhere.

Greta Davis
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Linocut

This piece is about environmental protection and the importance of preserving the habitats of these animals. We as humans need to be able to connect with our planet and defend the ecosystems that these animals call home. This topic is very important to me because I care about animals and their well-being.

Sherlyn Estrada, Sally Gandhi, Vivi Hall, and Ace Welch
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Serigraph

For our theme, we chose to portray connection through strings. In our piece, the string connects two hearts, wrapping around both. It represents the feeling of entanglement and heartstrings. We added the phrase “I love you to the moon and back,” since some of our group members have a connection with this phrase.

Money Farmer, Kam Ford, and Molly Wright
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Serigraph

There are so many different faces representing so many different people in the world and no one looks exactly the same. The dark silhouette that we used can represent any two people from anywhere looking at each other.

Polly Kalonick
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Linocut on newspaper

“What About Me” is about the effects of climate change and global warming and how as a society that is constantly striving to progress and improve, we forget about the animals and environments that are slowly dying from our daily use of energy and fossil fuels. I decided to use a newspaper background from an old article from the late 1900s that talked about all the new improvements in cities and factories. This is connected to the theme of connection because everyone is always going to be contributing to climate change every day. It’s not one person’s fault, it’s everyone’s. And I think that shows how we are all at fault and connected to the issue and should be aware of the footprint (carbon and metaphorically) we leave on this earth.

Ally King
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Digital Print

This poster is about the connection between people. No one person is the same. That is a fact. We are all different in our own ways. We look different from each other, we have different cultures, we live in different places, and we speak different languages. But traits such as these are what make us individuals. And even though we may all be different, at the end of the day we all come together to make up a world full of people, because that is what we all have in common; we are all human, we are all people.

JoJo LeVasseur
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Linocut

“Voices United” is about advocacy. It represents strength that comes from diverse individuals coming together as one. The layers symbolize different perspectives, blending while still maintaining their uniqueness. This print reflects the power of unity, empathy, and collective expression in creating meaningful change.

Juliet Reynolds
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Linocut

This piece was built off the fact that I wanted to show our overconsumption of non-renewable resources is coming back to bite us. It connects not only humanity to our toxic relationship with nature, but also us to past generations for molding our ever-growing craving for more.

Lucero Rosas Martinez
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Linocut

My piece, “Adopt Don’t Shop,” focuses on the importance of keeping animals safe and practicing ethical ways to own one. Adopting, compared to shopping, is a more ethical way to own a pet as it requires a screening process where the person applying is verified to be a good candidate for owning that animal. This prevents people with prior criminal charges, or backgrounds that show they might not be the best owner, from owning that animal, helping to keep our pets safe and away from possible danger. This is an action that typical pet shopping doesn’t do, as you simply walk into one of these establishments and pay thousands of dollars for a single dog, which was most likely unethically bred. This relates to the theme of connection because through the practice of ethically owning and/or taking care of an animal, such as a cat or a dog, we create communities through shelters and volunteering to help out a cause that affects a larger part of not only our lives, but also the lives of our pets.

Oliver Rouse Suay
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Linocut

This monoprint visually connects the world to art itself by displaying the earth on a palette. A paintbrush is seen touching the earth on this palette which directly connects us, the earth, and art as art is essential and has made our planet what it is today. This monoprint expresses how crucial it is for us to make art and highlights the impact art has on the world by directly displaying it with a paintbrush, a palette, and the earth. I chose blue and green because I feel that they are the colors that make up the earth, and I chose the seashell-like pattern on the ocean to show that there is art everywhere—even in the deep waters.

Edward Valle
Teacher: Shayna Snider
Hume-Fogg High School
Relief print on paper

The meaning behind the print “Love More” is to represent the idea that the more positivity one puts out, the more one is able to not only love more but be able to be loved. But on the other hand, I also wanted the print to represent how it is the small interactions like the “thank yous” and the “you’re welcomes” that are what catalyze human connection and allow it to turn into something deeper.