The 10th Annual Roadworks

This past Sunday afternoon the San Francisco Center for the Book held their annual Roadworks event, in which they use a steamroller instead of a printing press to make make large linoleum block prints. They usually hire a compact modern road roller, but this year they came up with an actual coal burning, steam powered steam roller. They claimed the thing weighs 7 tons. It even has a steam whistle which the driver blew to clear the path before driving across the inked blocks.

Here the festival staff are pulling a print after the steam roller has run over it twice. This has to be done carefully, but they definitely had their choreography down.

About 10 artists contributed works. Many of the images feature local landmarks. The prints were put on sale to raise money for the SF Center for the Book.

The festive afternoon was full of photo-ops.

§ The 10th Annual Roadworks: Steamroller Printing Festival
Sunday, September 29, 2013, 11:00am-4:00pm
San Francisco Center for the Book