East End Arts Council brings in steamroller for printmaking festival in Riverhead
Artist Scott Bluedorn, of Sag Harbor, left, carries his print with Parker Parenti, from the East End Arts Council, right, during the 1st Annual Steamroller Printmaking Festival hosted by East End Arts Council in Riverhead, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Heavy equipment isn't the usual focus of an art exhibition, but a steamroller was the main attraction at a new Riverhead festival on Saturday.
Nearly two dozen artists used the machinery to create large block prints at the first-ever steamroller printmaking festival organized by the nonprofit East End Arts Council.
A large crowd of spectators gathered on the sidewalk outside of the council's Griffing Avenue art studios to watch as artists rolled ink onto carved blocks and carefully laid paper or fabric atop their designs, which were then run over by the steamroller to transfer the ink.
Mich Miller, the head of printmaking at the arts organization, drew inspiration from similar events around the country and said the process has an element of unpredictability.
"It's the spectacle of the steamroller, it has the same draw as a monster truck rally, but for art making, which is really fun," Miller said. "When you pull the paper off the block, it's kind of like opening up a present."
Parker Parenti, from the East End Arts Council, left, and artist Olivia DeFeo, of Northport, add ink to her carved plate to be made into a print. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
On an ordinary day, the town highway department's steamroller is used for rolling asphalt and resurfacing roads. But on Saturday, Mike Zaleski, the highway superintendent, operated the machinery to create the prints.
"This is new to me. It seems to be working out really well ... I actually think this is really cool," Zaleski said, adding that he hopes to see the event return next year.
For artists, the festival was an opportunity to print on a much larger scale.
"I have not used this level of big guns at all," said Bonnie McLoughlin Stiegler, 37, of Deer Park. She was waiting to print her piece, "Wetlands," depicting a woman wading into a moonlit bay, onto muslin fabric.
"I like the handmade process," Stiegler said. "We're seeing a lot of art moving into technology and away from human hands. It's a reason to all come together for it."
The event also drew artists from across the state, with as a group of art students from Rochester Institute of Technology traveled to Riverhead to collaborate on the project.
Beth Coleman, 24, of Rochester, worked with three other students on a series of separate carved panels that they planned to print side by side. "The Genesee River is what runs through Rochester, so we picked a nature theme and the outline of the river connects our blocks," she said.
The students were joined by RIT printmaking professor Kayla Hall, who spent an estimated 90 hours carving a portrait of her grandmother in her Louisiana home. The piece, entitled "Big Mama," featured intricate details, from the grain in her wood-paneled walls to the plush chair in which she sits wearing a muumuu.
Hall said she enjoys sharing printmaking because of its accessibility.
"It's democratic," she said Saturday. "Printmaking has been utilized across history, not just for artistic expression, but communication."
Inside, novices were also experimenting with the medium at a printmaking workshop. Dozens of people carved their designs into 4-by-6-inch linoleum blocks, printing them on conventional presses.
Saturday's festival coincides with the exhibition at East End Arts' downtown Riverhead galleries, focused on the "full breadth and spectrum of what printmaking can be," Miller said.
The exhibit, "The Print Continuum" features 120 artists and can be viewed at 11 West Main St. in Riverhead through Dec. 13.
