For anyone who loves printmaking and fine art papermaking, this week's Fashion District Arts Festival offers outstanding opportunities to literally get your hands wet - and dirty. The festival, now in its fourth year, is organized by the Fashion Center Business District to bring visibility to the many arts and performance organizations, as well as individual artists, who are located in the garment district. This afternoon I previewed the facilities and programs being offered by three stellar arts organizations: Dieu Donne Papermill; the Lower East Side Printshop; and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop.

Left to right: At Dieu Donne Papermill, Caitlin Everett (l) and Andree Ferdinand (r) put the finishing touches on a one-of-a-kind sheet; the silkscreen studio at the Lower East Side Printshop; Todd Anderson working on an intaglio printing plate that combines etching and aquatint at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. Photos: Peggy Roalf.

On Saturday from 1:00 to 6:00 pm, Dieu Donne is offering a hands-on papermaking workshop in which participants will be shown every step in the process from mixing pulp to coloring, shaping, pressing and dying their creations. In addition, an exhibition of large-scale paper reliefs by E.V. Day opens with an artist's reception tomorrow, October 15, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The vibrant pieces were created using an innovative technique of embossing pigmented fishnets into thick casting paper pulp, and are true realizations of Day's sculptural practice in a two dimensional form. Dieu Donne, a non-profit artist workspace dedicated to the creation, promotion, and preservation of contemporary art in the hand papermaking process, is housed in a 7,000 square foot ground-floor facility at 315 West 36th Street. For information about programs and workshops, please visit the website.

My next stop was The Lower East Side Printshop, a landmark East Village arts organization that moved to the garment district in 2005. Housed in a facility five times the size of its old quarters, it is now the largest openly accessible printmaking facility in New York City. Among its many offerings are classes, open workshops, contract printing and artist residencies. For the arts festival, an exhibition of monoprints created by Enoch Perez through the Printshop's publishing residency program is open Thursday through Sunday. Expressionistic and gestural, Perez's monoprints embody the challenges of painting and a simultaneous liberation from traditional printmaking processes, creating something more akin to a spontaneous form of drawing. The Printshop is located at 306 West 37^th Street on the 6^th floor. Please visit the website for information or 212.673.5390.

At The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, I was given a tour of the facilities by Connie Smith, a printmaker and workshop monitor. The workshop was founded by Robert Blackburn, a legendary teacher and a Macarthur Fellow, and went through a variety of incarnations starting in 1948. I was a student there during its Chelsea days, in the 1980s, and appreciated the communal feel of the operation. The workshop has always welcomed artists of all levels of accomplishment and has done contract printing for the likes of Robert Rauschenberg and Helen Frankenthaler among others. On Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, the workshop will offer printing demos, a tour of the plant, and an exhibition of work by its members. Among the artists in the show is Frances Jetter, represented by two extraordinary linocuts that have the delicacy of ink line drawings. Please visit the website for information about classes, workshops, and public programs.

In addition, the Fashion District Arts Festival offers open artist studios, more exhibitions, and performances at a host of theaters including the Baryshnikov Arts Center, the National Comedy Theater, and the Abingdon Theater Company among others. Please visit the Fashion Center website for schedules and information.

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