Wayzgoose Kitsap at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art’s DogEar Festival 2022 – A Celebration of Artist’s Books & Print Works

Margaret Millmore | Posted on June 3, 2022 |

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) – DogEar Festival 2022 is BIMA’s three-day festival, a joyous celebration of artist’s books, print works, letterpress, and the curious world of book arts. With drop-in activities, live music, demonstrations, presentations, and panel discussions, this festival is a packed weekend with all things artist’s books and printmaking! The festival will feature:

Rita’s Traveling Bookstore and Textual Apothecary (family-friendly)
Artist Books, Book Artists, and Stories from the Library of Congress with Mark Dimunation
Steamroller Printing with Wayzgoose Kitsap (family-friendly)
Speak Up! Speak Out! Activism in Printmaking (online)
Conversation with Amos Kennedy
Vehicle for Expression: La Prose du Transsibérien with Kitty Maryatt
Self-serve Typewriter Poetry (family-friendly)
Let’s Raise Our Racial IQ with Robin Holder
Partners in Print: Plein Air Printing Parlour (family-friendly)
Queer Writers Reading
Pochoir Demonstration and Presentation with Kitty Maryatt

For additional information and details on the festival, click here. BIMA is located at the corner of Hwy 305 and Winslow Way.

I had the opportunity to learn more about one of the participants, Wayzgoose Kitsap, which will be demonstrating Steam Roller Printing on Sunday, June 5^th from 1pm to 4pm in the plaza behind KiDiMu.

What is “Wayzgoose”? In the late 1600s, a master printer, wanting to mark the end of the summer printing season (and the beginning of the candlelight winter season) began a traditional celebration for his workmen at the end of summer. As the printmaking community embraced this event, it evolved into a feast, which often featured a harvest goose (thus the name) as well as games and libations. Today, the event has been reimagined into a public arts festival, with the star attraction being three-foot by three-foot hand-carved linoleum print blocks which are steamrolled onto a slightly larger paper with an actual full-size steamroller.

Artist Marit Bockelie had been involved in both the Seattle and Tacoma Wayzgoose festivals, and dreamed of bringing it to her hometown in Bremerton. In 2016, she and a group of enthusiastic volunteers, which included current Board Members Lynda Sherman and Brie Coolbaugh, created a Steering Committee, and with the assistance of a grant from Bremerton Lodging and Tourism and ongoing support from the City of Bremerton and Kitsap County, the annual Wayzgoose Kitsap was born.

The first festival was held on Labor Day Weekend in 2018 and included art vendors, live music, and with the support of Amy Burnett and the use of her adjacent building, the steamroller printing at the intersection of 4^th Street and Pacific. The festival continued in 2019, but with Covid, they were compelled to re-create it for the 2020 season. The event was moved to a private residence, where the linoleum artists and volunteers could print safely, in a controlled environment.

“We repeated this in 2021, and will be doing the same in 2022 over the June 24-27 weekend, with the addition of a preview/showcase at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art on June 5, 2022,” explained Hadley Cook-Dryden, Program Coordinator.

Artists are given approximately two months to carve their blocks before the printing in June, and are encouraged to document their process and share their experiences online. “It’s always so amazing to experience the energy and absolute joy that goes into printing. Particularly, when an artist sees their very first print being pulled up from the block. That wonder and pride that shows on their faces is something that is never tiring and really just brings all of the work that goes into making the festival happen worth it,” said Hadley.

Although the festival will not be hosted publicly this year, anyone who is interested is welcome to sign up to volunteer, or apply to become a linoleum artist (details are available on their website: www.wayzgoosekitsap.com). They are also working towards making the event live via social media so that anyone can tune-in to watch the process.

This year they will be including their first middle-school carving team in the artist lineup—expanding their mission beyond just steamroller printing to make art and art-making more accessible to more people.

*Images and logos used with permission