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‘Unidos’ in Prince George’s County

October 14, 2022 Art

Printmaking at Pyramid Arts

Undergrad leads Hispanic Heritage Month poster design.

By Sala Levin ’10 | Maryland Today

From the monja blanca (white nun orchid) of Guatemala to the yigüirro, the thrush that’s the national bird of Costa Rica, to the geometric dahlias beloved in Mexico, this year’s official Hispanic Heritage Month poster for Prince George’s County celebrates the natural—and human—beauty of Hispanic countries and cultures.

A University of Maryland undergraduate student, Jeanette Bolden ’22, co-led the design process that led to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) poster, teaching middle and high school students from across the county the principles and techniques of the screen-printing process they used to create the piece.

Guided by the theme “unidos,” or “united,” the group—including Bolden’s teaching partner, art educator Andrea Worthington-Garcia—focused on colors, nature and symbolism from different textiles and flags, said Bolden. The goal was to “show that even though everyone is different in one way or another, we can still live together in one atmosphere. We are all strong together even despite—or maybe because of—our differences.”

Over a six-week paid summer internship at Hyattsville’s Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, the five students learned about collage, collaborative design and screen printing. Artists at the nonprofit, which offers spaces and services for papermaking, printmaking and book arts, often work in etching, lithograph or letterpress, but “screen printing seems to be the most popular among the young crowd,” said Némesis Zambrano, Pyramid Atlantic’s engagement manager. The medium also lends itself well to collaborative design, she said.

Read the full story in Maryland Today. 

Photo info: Jamison Heckrotte ’26 and Maybelline Herrera were two of the Prince George’s County students who took part in a MNCPPC and Pyramid Atlantic Art Center program to design the county’s official Hispanic Heritage Month poster. Studio art major Jeanette Bolden ’22 was a co-leader of the class, teaching them the principles and techniques of designing for screen printing. Image courtesy of Jeanette Bolden ’22.