History
Sheila in the Georgetown Studio with Jeffry Mitchell circa 2007 — photo by Robert Sturges
Since 1996
Sidereal Fine Art Press was founded in 1996 by Sheila Coppola. It began as a small storefront space on Elliott Avenue and was part of the NW Industrial Buildings complex in the Belltown area of Seattle, Washington. Initially, SFAP specialized in letterpress and relief printing, concentrating on the printing of editions and other special projects for artists, graphic designers, galleries, and corporate and individual clients. Sheila worked with many northwest artists printing multi-color woodcuts, linoleum cuts, metal engravings, and wood engravings, as well as doing custom letterpress work for the general public.
Years of Collaboration
Around that time Marcia Bartholme opened her print publishing company, Beta Press, a few doors down. Marcia had spent 10 years as a Master Printer at Crown Point Press in San Francisco and she brought that level of experience and expertise to her new press and to Seattle. Many of the intaglio print editions published by Beta Press were large and complex and required an extra printer. Concurrent with running her own business, Sheila went to work for Beta Press as an “on call” contract printer, benefiting immensely from Marcia’s expertise and generosity of spirit. Sheila assisted on print projects by Jacob Lawrence and Fay Jones among others.
Current Location
In 2001 SFAP relocated to the historic Rainier Cold Storage Building in the Georgetown area of Seattle. The press then expanded services to include intaglio printing and platemaking. In 2009 the press made a final move to its current location in Tukwila, Washington, twelve blocks from the Tukwila International Link Light Rail Station and 20 minutes South of downtown Seattle. It is situated in a remodeled pole barn that was originally used to build formula one race cars. The press continues to focus on intaglio and relief printing of editions for artists as well as some publishing of prints by selected artists.