Cherry Press in the News

With Help from Business Contest, Cherry

Press Makes its Mark

Photo by Lauren Harkawik

Local writer Lauren Harkawik recently came by to interview us and wrote a lovely, half-page printed article about Cherry Press Printmaking in the July 13th, 2025 edition of the Deerfield Valley News.  The story is also available on the Valley News' online edition and can be read below:  

WILMINGTON - Make It On Main Street third-place winner Cherry Press Printmaking has opened its doors. The print shop, which is owned by print artist Corinne Rhodes, is located inside Arthouse, at 12 South Main Street.

Recently, Rhodes was busy at work inside her shop, where she was working on a “lockup,” the process of placing wood type tiles for letterpress.

Rhodes, who teaches printmaking at Bennington College, was joined in the shop by Fionn Wilkinson and Julian Latourelle, who are working with Rhodes as part of a fieldwork term internship.

Wilkinson recently graduated from Bennington College, and Latourelle is a current student there.

Letterpress is a new offering for Rhodes, who previously had a print shop by the same name, Cherry Press, in Rutland, MA.

“I got to learn (letterpress) on the job at Bennington, and I teach woodcut on letterpress where you print an image, and then I’ve been including using wood type for the more adventurous students,” said Rhodes. “So I’m really excited to offer this to people to learn and play with.”

In addition to letterpress, Rhodes has equipment set up for screen printing, a process by which a design is added to a substrate such as a poster, shirt or canvas bag. Rhodes said thus far, most of her local screenprinting work has been for a client who hires her to design and print shirts or other products. However, she said she’s hoping to rent shop space out to those who are interested, provided they know how to use the equipment.

“They have to be proficient,” said Rhodes. “So if I don’t know the person, I’ll ask that they take a class.”

In addition, Rhodes is looking forward to hosting classes in the space. In particular, she looks forward to teaching nontoxic century plate lithography, a technique she developed and has taught over the last decade. She also wrote and published an instruction book on the technique. She’s in the process of obtaining a new etching press, after which she’ll launch the class.

“Century plate lithography is much quicker, easier, and less harmful to the artist and the environment than traditional stone or plate litho,” she said.

Wilkinson and Latourelle said that for them, getting to work closely with Rhodes not only in her shop but as she’s in the process of setting up a shop has been a great learning experience.

“Some of this equipment, I haven’t used in several years, so we’ve been doing research and development together,” said Rhodes. “They can learn what to do and what not to do.”

“You couldn’t ask for a better gig,” said Latourelle. “I’ve been having a great time, and I haven’t gotten to take a letter press class at school yet, so it’s been really fun getting this stuff set up. I’ve been learning a lot.”

Rhodes said she is greatly enjoying having Wilkinson and Latourelle by her side as she gets things up and running. She said she’ll consider having student apprentices again in the future, though it would have to be the right fit in terms of the technical know-how the student brings to the table and what they’re hoping to learn from the experience.

“Fionn and Julian are both such great artists, it’s been so great to work with them,” said Rhodes. “These two,I knew them and the way they are, and they’re perfect.”

Rhodes, who lives in Searsburg, said she’s loving having a shop in downtown Wilmington. Her connection to the town goes way back. She started skiing in the area when she was about 11 years old.

“My parents picked up cross-country skiing when I was about 11, and Prospect Mountain was one of theplaces we would go,” said Rhodes. “So I kind of grew up here, in a way. Prospect was always my favorite of all the places we would go.”

She also visited the area as a professional. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Rhodes was working as a painter for several decorative painting companies based in New York City. In that work, she completed murals, faux finishing, gilding, and Venetian plaster. During that time in her life, a company called Asterixhired a group of painters to travel to Readsboro to work on a house project.

“We came twice for a couple weeks at a time and stayed at the Wilmington Inn and sometimes ate at a restaurant where the Maple Leaf Tavern is now,” said Rhodes. “We absolutely loved it.”

Rhodes and her husband had long hoped to move to Vermont, and they purchased property in Searsburg three years ago, where they’re building a house. Before that, she commuted from Rutland, MA, to Bennington to teach. During that time, Wilmington was her “beloved pit stop” in both directions.

She says that being downtown, now, is an exciting development for her.

“I just love being here,” said Rhodes. “I come here a lot anyway, and now it’s giving me an excuse to be here all the time. It’s fun. I can take a lunch break, go to the bookstore. It’s really nice being here.”

Rhodes said that so far, visitors to Arthouse have been a little shy to pop into the print shop, though she welcomes people to do so.

More information about Cherry Press and its offerings, including forthcoming classes, can be found online at www.cherrypress.org, Make It On Main Street was a business plan contest held in 2024 by Wilmington Works and various sponsors. More information is at https://www.wilmingtonworksvt.com.