Maine Media Workshops + College plans to host an online lecture, “Waste Not, Want Not,” by San Francisco printmaker Marsha Shaw at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2. Submitted photo

ROCKPORT — Maine Media Workshops + College plans to host an online lecture, “Waste Not, Want Not,” by San Francisco printmaker Marsha Shaw at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2.

This lecture is part of the Alumni Lecture Series — a weekly online series offered by Maine Media Workshops + College featuring conversations on topics in photography, filmmaking, book arts and design, and writing. Registration is required at mainemedia.edu/events/lectures.

For more than 10 years in her role as manager of Mission Grafica Printmaking Studio at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco, Shaw noticed how much paper was wasted from artists and students throwing away or simply abandoning their prints, drawings, or end cuts. In response, she began collecting the discarded paper, according to a news release from the institution.

By 2020, when San Francisco residents were ordered to shelter in place, Shaw had collected six 5-foot by 5-foot flat files of paper. Stuck at home in her tiny San Francisco flat, she turned the pandemic lockdown into an opportunity. Clearing everything out of her living room and installing shelves, she transformed her residence into an art studio. This setup allowed her to work every day and inspired her to experiment with the scraps of paper that she had collected for 10 years to make art.

“Waste Not, Want Not” is her approach and personal challenge toward art making during her pandemic-induced at-home art “residency.”

Shaw plans to visit Rockport this July to teach her approach to art making in a week-long live workshop, “Surface Design with Everyday Stuff,” which will be held on the Maine Media Workshops and College campus.

Shaw received a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from California College of the Arts, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree from California State University Northridge. Her work focuses on childhood memories and gender construction.

The Alumni Lecture Series is free and open to the public through the sponsorship of Camden National Bank, WERU Community Radio FM89.9, Eaton Peabody Attorneys at Law, Allen Insurance and Financial, Two Ponds Press, Page Gallery, B&H Photo and Video, and Cedar Crest Inn as well as through donations from individuals.

Maine Media Workshops + College is a nonprofit degree granting institution offering more than 500 workshops annually in the fields of photography, film, printmaking, creative writing, and book arts, and serves over 2,400 national and international students online and on its campus in Rockport.