Alum Caitlin Harris ’10 creates a nonprofit for printmaking and community
Image: PLU alum Caitlin Harris ’10, co-founder of Open Letter Collective, has built a creative life around printmaking and community.
By Britt Board
Assistant Director of Communications
In a decidedly digital world, Caitlin Harris ’10 has built a career around the tactile art of printmaking. Today, the PLU alum is channeling that passion through Open Letter Collective, a Boise-based nonprofit she co-founded in 2025 that brings printmaking, book arts, and independent publishing to the community.
“Printmaking gives us something we’re all missing – the satisfaction of making something tangible,” Harris shares.
Harris’ connection to the arts began long before she discovered letterpress. Growing up in Salmon, Idaho, her dad served on the Salmon Arts Council and was an Idaho State Arts Commissioner and both of her parents were arts appreciators. “I grew up knowing that the arts are important,” Harris says.
From childhood through her high school years at Tacoma’s School of the Arts, she explored piano, poetry, and design, then landed in the graphic design program at PLU.
It wasn’t until she stepped into the letterpress studio in Jessica Spring‘s class at PLU that she found the medium that would shape her future. Printmaking offered something she hadn’t found elsewhere: a creative practice that blended design, craftsmanship, and human connection.
“At that point, I liked design, but I didn’t want to work in the corporate world and make things to help sell products,” she says. “Printmaking felt like an alternative.”
After graduating, Harris continued studying and working alongside Spring, gaining not only technical expertise, but also a deeper understanding of how a print shop could become a gathering place.
“Jessica taught me so much. Not just about printing, but how to form community relationships, and how to bring people together toward a cause.”
That philosophy has shaped Harris’ work ever since. In 2025, she co-founded Open Letter Collective to create an inclusive space where people can learn printing techniques, create art together, and collaborate on projects that strengthen their communities.
Printmaking gives us something we’re all missing – the satisfaction of making something tangible.
The nonprofit partners with local organizations, hosts workshops for youth and adults, and brings printmaking directly to community events, giving people of all ages the opportunity to experience the artform firsthand. Open Letter Collective are also strong advocates, most recently creating prints supporting reproductive rights ballot initiatives and hosting events for Boise’s queer community.
For Harris, Open Letter Collective is an incubation space for building connection through creativity.
“I like sharing skills with people. Giving people alternative connections to community. Making something with your hands,” Harris reflects.
The path from student to artist, educator, and nonprofit founder wasn’t one Harris could have predicted, but in hindsight, it feels remarkably natural. “I definitely felt called to this work. Letterpress has been a part of me for a long time. Now I get to share it with others.”