Show Notes: s3e90 with William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani
In this episode of Platemark, Shraddha Ramani and William Villalongo discuss their monumental project, Printing Black America. This modern update, created in response to the George Floyd protests, focuses on the lives of Black Americans today, incorporating contemporary data and research. The project includes 30 prints produced by six major printshops across the U.S. (Graphicstudio USF, Powerhouse Arts, Island Press at Washington University, Highpoint Editions, Mullowney Printing Company, and Paulson Fontaine Press), aiming to reflect the geographic and demographic shifts of Black populations since Du Bois's time. We talk about the project’s historical context, some of the challenges they’ve faced, their personal experiences, and the significance of printmaking in preserving cultural history. We also talk about the upcoming exhibition at the Print Center in New York and the broader implications of the project for future generations.
IG @wvillalongo
https://villalongostudio.com/
https://www.printcenternewyork.org/data-consciousness
Project abstract
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Migration to the U.S. 1/2 from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint, lithograph, photogravure, and chine collé. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Graphicstudio USF.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Migration to the U.S. 2/2 from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint, lithograph, photogravure, and chine collé. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Graphicstudio USF.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Increase of the Black Population in the United States from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint, lithograph, photogravure, and chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Graphicstudio USF.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Employment by Race and Industry, Highlighting Innovative Industries from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Graphicstudio USF.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Amalgamation of the Black Population with Other Races from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Powerhouse Arts.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Distribution of Black Americans in the United States from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Powerhouse Arts.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. City, Suburban & Rural Population from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Powerhouse Arts.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Elected Officials Representing Brooklyn from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Powerhouse Arts.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Visulizando La Afrodignidad: Skin Color & Race in Puerto Rico from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Powerhouse Arts.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Average Annual Income and Expenditures of Black Families in the U.S. from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Print. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Island Press, Washington University in St. Louis.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Employment and Income Disparity Between Black Women & Men in the U.S. from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Print. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Island Press, Washington University in St. Louis.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Occupations of Black Americans, 1900–2021 from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Print. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Island Press, Washington University in St. Louis.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Reclaimed Family Tree: Ancestors Enslaved by Jesuits at St. Louis University and Region 1823–1865 from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Etching, aquatint, chine collé, and digital print. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Island Press, Washington University in St. Louis.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. “Sites of Wounding/Sites of Healing” Alternative Atlas: STL from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Screenprint. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Island Press, Washington University in St. Louis.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Owned Businesses in the Twin Cities from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, screenprint, and chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Highpoint Editions.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Debt-to-Asset Ratio of U.S. Families by Race & Ethnicity from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, screenprint, and chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Highpoint Editions.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Mortgage Interest Rates of Black and White Homeowners from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, screenprint, and chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Highpoint Editions.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Median Monetary Net Worth of Black Families 2001–2022 from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, screenprint, and chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Highpoint Editions.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Characteristics of Black & African American Farmers in Minnesota from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, screenprint, and chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Highpoint Editions.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black College Enrollments 2023–2024, Before & After U.S. Supreme Court Ends Affirmative Action in Higher Education from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, etching, and chine collé. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Mullowney Printing Company.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Teachers in Public Schools by Minority Student Population from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, etching, and chine collé. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Mullowney Printing Company.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Children Enrolled in Public, Charter, and Private Schools from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, etching, and chine collé. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Mullowney Printing Company.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Justice Oregon for Black Lives: Change Makers in Black Communities from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, etching, and chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Mullowney Printing Company.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Visualizando la Afrodignidad: Distribution of Skin Tones in Text Books Compared to Puerto Ricans from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Lithograph, relief, etching, and chine collé. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Mullowney Printing Company.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Interstate Migration by Region from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Etching and aquatint with chine collé. 28 x 22 inches. Printed and published by Paulson Fontaine Press.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Prison Labor Wages by State from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Etching, aquatint, and spitbite. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Paulson Fontaine Press.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black Bookstores in the United States from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Etching and aquatint. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Paulson Fontaine Press.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. Black LGBTQ+ Population in California from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Etching and aquatint. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Paulson Fontaine Press.
William Villalongo and Shraddha Ramani. African American Burial Ground Project & Tropicana Field from the portfolio, Printing Black America: Du Bois’s Data Portraits in the 21st Century, 2025. Etching and aquatint with chine collé. 22 x 28 inches. Printed and published by Paulson Fontaine Press.
Exhibit of American Negroes at the Paris Exposition, 1900.
W.E.B. DuBois (American, 1868-1963). Assessed Valuation of All Taxable Property Owned by Georgia Negroes, from the series A series of statistical charts illustrating the condition of the descendants of former African slaves now in residence in the United States of America, c. 1900. Pen and ink and watercolor. 710 x 560 mm. Library of Congress.
W.E.B. DuBois (American, 1868-1963). The Georgia Negro. A Social Study by W.E. Burghardt Du Bois, from the series A series of statistical charts illustrating the condition of the descendants of former African slaves now in residence in the United States of America, c. 1900. Pen and ink and watercolor. 710 x 560 mm. Library of Congress.
W.E.B. DuBois (American, 1868-1963). A Series of Statistical Charts Illustrating the Condition of the Descendants of Former African Slaves Now Resident in the United States of America, c. 1900. Pen and ink and watercolor. 710 x 560 mm. Library of Congress.
William Villalongo watching printer Sam Orosz roll up an aluminum lithographic plate at Mullowney Printing Company, Portland, OR.
William Villalongo working with printer Tom Reed at Island Press, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
Shraddha Ramani working at Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, NY.
William Villalongo, Shraddha Ramani, and Anu celebrate the completion of the project at Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA.
Ann Shafer
Curator / Podcaster / Blogger / Cyclist
Ann Shafer is an independent curator, art historian, writer, and a leading expert on intaglio printmaking by Stanley William Hayter and Atelier 17. Formerly Shafer was associate curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Baltimore Museum of Art. She has also held positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Gallery of Art. Shafer has a BA from The College of Wooster and an MA from Williams College. (Photo credit: Becky Redett)
Show Notes for bonus ONE PRINT episode: Peter Milton
