was a center for contemporary art in Southeast Portland, Oregon. It was led by a desire to support artists, propose new modes of production, and stimulate the ongoing public discourse around art. This website serves as an archive of Yale Union’s programming from 2011 through 2021.

Yale Union acknowledges that it occupies the traditional lands of the Multnomah, Chinook, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla, and other Indigenous peoples.

PRINT SHOP

YU

What we print at Yale Union is dependent on Emily Johnson and Gary Robbins. In addition to working as Yale Union’s print technicians, each run their respective businesses, EmPrint Press and Container Corps, out of our ground floor. To speak unambiguously, we rely on them for expertise and production; they rely on us for real-estate and electricity. Printing is notoriously non-remunerative, and our constant, reciprocal donation is a simple solution for all parties. Not surprisingly, the benefits outlast the practical dimensions. Not surprisingly, people who own the means of production think differently about the nature of production. There is no lack of romance, but there isn’t a ruinous adoration of the past or its industrial processes either. We expect the contradictory. We expect to eat and stay thin, or perhaps better said, to be able to print, but also choose not to. It’s an exuberant second life for retiring technology.

In addition to printing our own materials, Yale Union prints certain external projects. Send quote requests via EMAIL. Please describe the project and the appropriate technician will contact you.

Miehle Vertical V-50 Press, Serial #V-14827, 3600 lbs, min print size: 3.25″ x 5.5″, max print size: 14″ x 20″, impressions per hour: 3000–5000, from the manual: “The V-50 employs the principle of having the bed and cylinder each performing one-half the printing stroke, with the combined weight of the bed and associated parts, including the form, counterbalancing the combined weight of the cylinder and associated parts, thus permitting high-speed production with an almost total absence of jar or vibration.”

Chandler & Price Old Style 8×12 Platen Press, Serial #, non-motorized, foot treadle-powered

Hamada 611 ECD, Prints 12 by 17.5″ sheets, 3000-12000 impressions/hour.

Vandercook Model No. 3 Proof Press, Serial #, max print size: 14.75″ x 20″, from the manual: “The No. 3 Vandercook Proof Press is built for heavy duty and constant use. It has an extra heavy bed and cylinder, plus six precision over-sized ball bearings to assure rigid, accurate impression.” No auto-re-inking or gripper pedal, but still has its original traveling sheet delivery tray.

AB Dick 360 with a Townsend T-head second color unit; This press formerly resided at PICA. The AB Dick 360 was a very popular model and parts and supplies are fairly ubiquitous. This one seems to be from around the 60’s.

Vandercook SP-20 Proof Press, Serial #, max print size: 19.5″ x 28″, power ink distribution, hand-crank print operation.

Our Type, currently