The Grand Founder and Volunteer Cellar Press Manager Anne Makepeace said the collection of letterpress and printmaking machines in the Cellar Press studio is unique in the Southern Minnesota area. Since the Cellar Press first opened it has helped The Grand secure thousands in grant funding due to this unique position

Makepeace said the Cellar Press has expanded their offerings greatly since its first machine was brought in five years ago.

“We had about four or five classes that first year,” she said. We started in the basement having summer camps. The adult classes pretty much stopped during the pandemic so we only had four or five classes for the first two and a half years. The last two and a half years we’ve had over 60 classes and we’ve had five or six people attend on average each class.”

An empty 2000 square foot space in The Grand’s basement is now full of machines, wooden and metal letters, and plenty of artwork.

The Grand founder and Volunteer Cellar Press Manager Anne Makepeace and craftsman Andy Kahmann stand with the first press ever placed in the Cellar Press studio. To commemorate their five year anniversary, letterpresses will be on display outside The Grand, on the first floor, and in the Cellar Press basement.

To celebrate five years, there will be presses in front of The Grand, on its first floor, and in the Cellar Press basement. There will be hand presses kids can operate and two street corner letterpresses brought in from the twin cities so kids and adults can create bookmarks. Demonstrations of presses and souvenirs from Cellar Press will also be available.

“I hope people have fun,” Makepeace said. “I hope people have more exposure to all the different equipment and things we have here that they could come experience and use. [I hope] they spread the word through friends and family and tell people.”

In addition, a letterpress-based exhibit by craftsman Andy Kahmann will be opening Friday, May 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and available for viewing Saturday as well. Kahmann has a special attachment to New Ulm’s Cellar Press, as he brought the location’s first letterpress ever.

Kahmann said Makepeace had visited his printmaking shop and was inspired by the experience to bring letter presses to The Grand. Kahmann first worked with printmaking at 15, working at a newspaper that used hot metal and letterpress.

“It’s all done by hand one letter at a time,” he said. It takes an enormous amount of time. I found over the years if you use good paper, that’s half of the battle. I like to take on projects.”

Kahmann’s exhibit includes posters he’s made for the Meander Art Crawl and Edge of the Big Woods Art Wander. A small wall showcases how he made the poster for this year’s Meander Art Crawl.

Andy Kahmann’s sister Patsy Kahmann will also be reading a selection from her book “House of Kahmanns” that details the 12 Kahmann siblings and their family history.