Art studio receives grant to raise vaccine awareness within Richmond community

Mikayla Heightshoe, Contributing Writer

The unmistakable smell of ink invades the nose upon entering the glass door of Studio Two Three. Up ahead artists are smoothing vibrant shades of orange, pink and red on matrices, to transfer onto paper or fabric, soon to be merchandise, prints and banners.

The Center for Disease Control Foundation announced in December 2021 that it was granting Studio Two Three $75,000 to utilize printmaking to promote vaccination within the Richmond community, according to co-founder and Executive Director of Studio Two Three Ashley Hawkins.

“The idea is to do on-site printing with food and drinks and music,” Hawkins said. “Bring the prints out and distribute zines with accurate information on vaccinations and boosters from trusted members in the community.”

Studio Two Three’s zines are self-published booklets that are mass-produced with a “high-volume, low-cost printing method using a risograph duplicator, which is a kind of copy machine that produces prints with a similar look to screenprinting,” Hawkins stated.

The studio and 30 other art-based community organizations nationwide received a total of $2.5 million in grants on Jan. 6 from the CDC to advocate and “build COVID-19 vaccine confidence,” according to the CDC Foundation’s website.  

Studio Two Three got its start in 2009 when Hawkins and three of her peers from VCU’s painting and printmaking program wanted to create a space that was affordable and accessible to new artists. The studio operates as a community art space with individual and communal studios, classes, workshops and an artist residency program, according to Hawkins.

In addition to equipping local artists with the necessary tools and aid, Studio Two Three’s intends to maintain a healthy and diverse organization that reflects the Richmond community and utilize printmaking as a tool for civic engagement, according to the studio’s website.

Hawkins said due to the nature of printmaking and the studio’s community efforts, the CDC reached out to her and Director of Partnership for Studio Two Three, Kate Fowler, for a vaccine initiative geared toward children and their families.

“In the most direct way, we hope to just get our community vaccinated. That is our number one goal, to instate that vaccination can help protect families,” Fowler stated. “The more external goal is to challenge the myth-building. So a lot of the work we’re doing is showing how we can bring data to a community with more play.”

Hawkins stated she “immediately” reached out to Richmond Public Schools for the project, agreeing with RPS that it was a “great fit” and a useful way to provide up-to-date information on vaccines.

The studio will tackle this project in three ways: production and circulation of 25,000 zines for RPS students, 10 community print days located throughout the city for RPS students and families and five sets of large-scale banners for installation around various sites in the community, Hawkins stated. 

“It’s [printmaking] one of the most democratic art mediums you can make. Instead of one painting, you can make hundreds of prints,” Hawkins said. “It’s historically been a medium for disseminating information and sharing resources and really getting messages and work out into the community in a big way.”

Printmaking and pop-up printmaking events provide a great tool to reach people, according to Studio Manager KB Brown.

“It’s always kind of like this ‘Aha’ magical moment when someone sees a screenprint fold. And it’s the dissemination of information that’s really important there — that you can make this really cool interaction between someone who’s never ever seen printmaking happen before,” Brown said. 

A large part of the community initiative includes Studio Two Three producing zines with accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters for RPS students. The studio will make one set of zines specifically for grade school students and their parents, and another for middle and high school students, according to Hawkins.

In addition, the studio will produce pop-up events in conjunction with distribution of the zines at the Arthur Ashe Junior Athletic Center vaccine clinics, but their schedule was delayed due to the new COVID-19 Omicron variant, according to Director of Advocacy and Outreach for RPS Matthew Stanley.  

“There’s going to have to be a lot of continued education about vaccines because of the variants of boosters and different age groups, so there’s a lot of information out there for people to digest,” Stanley said. “And this just feels like a way to make it like a little bit of fun and friendly rather than like the sterile page of the CDC.”

The CDC grant will also cover Studio Two Three’s plan to design and install large vinyl banners promoting vaccinations around Richmond, mostly in high-traffic areas that the organizers have yet to determine, according to Stanley.

Studio Two Three and RPS hope to get the community events running by March and eventually move these events from vaccine clinics to school premises, according to Stanley.

“We really appreciate the tie with advocacy at Studio Two Three and how they’re using this partnership to advocate for our community,” Stanley said. “By people printing a poster, that’s talking about vaccines and educating about vaccines. That’s advocacy for our community.”