Empowering Creative Voices
OUr Studio is located at 4700 Kingsessing Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19143. Contact Us
Why Us?
The Soapbox is the only community-based studio in Philadelphia with a full letterpress and papermaking studio, alongside resources in screenprinting, relief printing, risograph, book binding and zine making. We have a zine and artist book library of over 3,500 titles. With a focus on building community, we offer workshops and training alongside access to equipment for independent projects. We want to support you in amplifying and uplifting your voice and creative spirit.
Our Mission
The Soapbox is a West Philadelphia-based 501c3 non-profit that fosters the creative and political voices of the community. By providing resources, equipment, and instruction in printing, binding, and related self-publication arts, The Soapbox seeks to empower individuals and non-profit community organizations to disseminate information and creative voices. The Soapbox values art-making, word-smithing, and skillsharing towards a vision of social justice wherein all people have access to the means of production, and learn to produce materials that are accessible to the many rather than the few.
Meet the Volunteer Board of directors
Kristina Bivona
Kristina Bivona is a printmaker and book artist living in West Philadelphia. Her studio practice emphasizes the lived experience of sex workers and criminalization. Bivona founded and runs the Recess print shop in Brooklyn, New York, and works as a teaching artist alongside their prison diversion project, Assembly. She is also a doctoral student at Columbia University, Teachers College where she specializes in teaching printmaking as a form of harm reduction and prison diversion/re-entry.
Dre Grigoropol
Dre is an illustrator, painter, printmaker, and multimedia artist. Dre has a deep passion for arts and creativity, is involved in numerous artist groups, is a workshop leader, and has been a member of The Soapbox since 2014. Dre had organized the Philly Zine Fest for years before bringing the festival to The Soapbox, fulfilling the wish of the zine fest’s late founder, Casey, for the zine fest to become part of a non-profit. The festival’s popularity continues to grow and Dre continues to help organize it in a supportive role. Dre was also one of the key people responsible for the risograph coming to The Soapbox. The risograph has become one of the most popular presses and a main draw of new members to The Soapbox.
Belle Handler
Belle Handler is a disabled artist living and practicing on Lenapehoking. Her work and studio practice emerge from the intersection of lived experience with disability, and reproductive print technologies spanning from traditional letterpress printing to contemporary computer-aided design and CNC machining. She is a letterpress fellow and board member at the Soapbox Community Print studio in Philadelphia, and holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Haverford College. Working as a visual arts assistant/educator since 2013, Belle expanded her studio practice to include art education and community-building as a studio assistant in the Hurford Center's Maker Arts Space. Her current work focuses on the history and technology of handset type and the idea that artmaking and printmaking are pivotal resources for disabled communities and individuals.
Erica Honson
Letterpress and book arts artist. Bio coming soon.
Cory Karm
Multimedium and 3D Artist. Bio soon.
Peri Law
Peri Law is a printmaker and mixed media artist. She graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2020 with a BFA in studio art and art history. She is currently doing an AmeriCorps service year through ArtistYear as a teaching artist at an elementary school. Her artwork centers on vulnerability and explores the layers of her identity as a multiracial woman.
Karen Lowry
Karen is a printmaker, with recent explorations into papermaking and bookmaking. As a student of Public Health, she is interested in the use of art as a tool for community health and wellness. Karen believes that art-making and collaboration can allow us to engage with diverse identities and forge meaningful connections within our communities.
Erin Robin
Erin is the Chief Registrar at the Delaware Art Museum. She also is a printmaker and occasional papermaker.
