Photo by Dionna Raedeke.
Printmaker Eric Woods is a cultural scene veteran. His enterprise, The Firecracker Press (@FirecrackerP), resides in the heart of Cherokee Street: the unofficial (but certainly eligible) print capital of St. Louis, where it’s been since (in Cherokee terms) the Paleozoic year of 2008. Eric is now in the captain’s chair in the neighborhood’s business association, and Eleven took a minute to catch up and to talk about his experience, his work, and his ideas for the future. Check out his prints at http://firecrackerpress.com/, and read on past the jump for our interview.
What attracted you initially to Cherokee Street? How did you arrive here?
Eric Woods:
The people of Cherokee first attracted me. I‘d been coming here for art shows, and when we were ready to buy a building I met with other business owners for a walking tour and beers. The street seemed to fit my attitude and made it easy.
Could you tell a story that exemplifies the greatness or uniqueness of Cherokee Street?
EW:
About a year ago we had a gentleman walk in to The Firecracker Press and tell us he’d been to parties here before we’d purchased the space. He asked if there was still a mattress in the basement. We said, “ewww, no” and asked where he was going with the line of questioning – he went on to enlighten us that there was porn being made in our basement just a few years ago!
This exemplifies the uniqueness of Cherokee because, true or not, there are many old stories like this about the street’s past. It speaks to the greatness of the street that we‘re still “having fun” on Cherokee but there’s no longer that kind of thing happening in our space.
What kind of music do you like?
EW:
The last band that totally flipped my lid… Tones on Tail.
What are you working on right now?
EW:
We’re putting the finishing touches on our first hardcover book with Typecast Publishing, called Monkey Bars by Matthew Lippman. We designed the cover and a few pages inside the book and had it perfect-bound with another printshop. Last week thirty boxes showed up on our doorstep. We just finished printing a wrap for the book in two colors and have an assembly line of folks putting them together. The official launch takes place in New York in the Fall of 2010. So far we’re pretty happy with the project and hope the rest of the world will be too!
What do you like to do around the neighborhood these days? (Assuming, of course, you ever find time to get out of the print shop.)
EW:
There’s energy oozing from every corner of Cherokee Street. I see something new every time I walk down the street. I like eating and drinking at coffee shops like Foam or at restaurants like Latino Americano. There’s plenty of shopping to do and when I get a chance I check out Archive or Made.
What’s your vision for the future of the street? Where do you see it going? Do you have any plans to help it get there?
EW:
We’re currently looking for ways to install programs that serve Cherokee Street well into the future. That could be a mural program to beautify the neighborhood, incentives that attract more businesses to the street, or bigger events that attract diverse shoppers. I’m really looking forward to May 2011 when Cherokee Street will be swarmed by printmakers from all over the world during SGC, a five day printmaking conference hosted by Washington University.
