Printmaker Sarah Reed-McNamara is the latest guest on “Meet the Artist,” the podcast from Register Star newsroom where we meet the artist who makes our community a more beautiful place.

Sarah operates SRMprints and recently established a collaborative maker space called GEM: Gather, Engage, Make, on State Street in downtown. She makes scarves, tea towels, table runners, and block prints with bold colors and tessellating designs.

Sarah moved to Rockford at age 17, and her early favorite memories here were with her dad checking out the CDs, show posters and books at Media Play, an entertainment shop on the east side.

She went on to earn an art history degree from Rockford University, where she studied and drew inspiration from the Mexican artists from the early- to mid-1900s who formed the collective called Taller de Grafica Popular. The diverse collection of men and women produced work to advance revolutionary and progressive causes which influence Sarah’s work today.

For the next year, Sarah will be Rockford Art Museum’s artist-in-residence, hosting printmaking workshops for young students. 

Sarah is a mother of two small children. And she happens to be married to one of Rockford’s most well-known figures, Mayor Tom McNamara. 

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; syates@rrstar.com; @scottpyates

SRMprints: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SRMprints

Instagram: @srmprints

GEM: Gather, Engage, Make https://www.instagram.com/gem_gather.engage.make/

Rockford Art Museum https://rockfordartmuseum.org

Music

From https://filmmusic.io

"Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)