Exhibition Statement:

The new exhibition Words For Now: Letterpress Prints From Our Community will be on display at eight of our Madison Public Library locations. These eight exhibitions feature letterpress prints made by the Madison community. In 2024 Pinney Library Artist-In-Residence Phil Hassett asked community members “What is a word for now”? All of the prints in this exhibition came from those collaborative printmaking sessions. During the run of these exhibitions there will be opportunities at multiple library location for community members to make their own prints with words that are important to them now. All workshops will be added to the exhibition website when dates have been set.

The Central Library version of this exhibition, called simply, Words For Now, will also feature words related to a very special upcoming exhibition. Language is changing and evolving all the time, and every year, new words and terms are added to the dictionary. We’ve pulled together a year-by-year list of our favorite words from the years Madison Public Library has been in existence (1875 to 2025). We will premier this list of words, from anamorphic to zhuzh, at the Central Library Words For Now exhibition. We’ve invited 150 artists who have made tremendous contributions to The Bubbler’s programming—through residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and more—to create a new piece of art from these words. Each artist is assigned a year from 1875 to 2025 and this will be their first chance to see the words connected to their year, and select a word to base their artwork on. The upcoming system-wide exhibition will be called 150 Artists x 150 Years and will celebrate Madison Public Library’s 150 years of service to the community.