The Printstitute is the print workshop at Harold Washington College, Chicago.

In 1979 the City of Chicago secured the current site of 30 East Lake Street for a new construction and eventual relocation of Loop City College, originally opened in 1968 at 60 East Lake Street.

Seymour Rosofsky [ 1924 – 1981 ] of Wright City College and Michael Parfenoff [1926 – 2018 ] of Truman City College & Loop City College were asked to assist in designing the Art curriculum for the new Loop College building. Both Rosofsky and Parfenoff had received their BFA & MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and both had studied stone lithography with Max Kahn. They agreed that a printmaking studio should be part of the new City College.

Unfortunately, Rosofosky passed away the year before the new building was dedicated by Mayor Jane Byrne in 1982. Parfenoff became the coordinator of the Art curriculum which were originally connected to the Humanities Department. In 1984 Loop City College offered its first stone lithography course, ART 126 Printmaking I.

On December 1, 1987, Loop City College was renamed Harold Washington College posthumously in honor of the Chicago mayor who passed away while in office a month before.

With Parfenoff’s retirement in 1996, Armen Sarrafian, MFA Painting & Drawing Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, was hired as the full-time faculty replacement and coordinator of the art curriculum.

Richard Repasky, MFA in Printmedia from the School of the Art Institute, was hired as the instructor for ART 126 Printmaking for fall 1997 semester.

By 2000, Sarrafian had successfully updated the art curriculum to the point of accreditation and transferability. The art courses were separated from the Humanities Department and a stand-alone Art Department was formed with Sarrafian as department chair until 2010.

In 2006 Repasky is hired as full-time faculty for the Art Department’s printmaking area and expanded the print course offerings from 2 in an academic year to the current number of 9.

In 2007 Repasky attended the summer aluminum ball grained plate lithography workshop at Tamarind Institute studying under Bill Lagattuta. In 2011, Repasky takes a sabbatical to complete Tamarind Institute’s Professional Training Program studying under Rodney Hamon.

In 2008 the name “The Prinstitute” was coined by HWC student Matt Murray.

The Prinstitute was originally and remains a stone lithography workshop.