The Forty Project: Art Sustaining Art at the U of R

Cool air frosts the windows, boots crunch on the snow,
and down in Riddell’s basement, burns a warm, inky glow.

Not a click, not a swipe, nor a pixel on screen,
but a calendar is printed, like you’ve never, ever seen.

With a swoosh and a press and an ink-splattered grin,
the master printmaker has done it again.

The campus is whispering, asking, “Is it here?”
The handmade Forty Project, they wait for every year.

Launched in 2007 by Robert Truszkowski, a visual arts professor and department head in the Faculty of Media, Arts, and Performance, the Forty Project is a fundraising initiative that helps offset the costs of printmaking and gives students access to professional materials and equipment.

Keeping art accessible

Printmaking is a technical, hands-on craft where students can learn to etch copper plates, prepare screens, use acids, carve lino blocks, and operate heavy machinery. This work requires access to professional tools and materials that can often be expensive. To make these shared resources possible, students pay a $40 studio fee, giving them access to equipment and supplies that would otherwise cost hundreds of dollars.

Truszkowski is determined not to let that fee become a barrier.

“I feel like I have a responsibility to the students. If the cost gets too high, they won’t explore this medium. I want them to learn using real, professional tools without being priced out of it,” he says.

I’m so privileged as a professor of almost 19 years to be in a job that values this approach to life. I get to do something I really enjoy, so why on earth wouldn’t I put everything into it? — Robert Truszkowski, visual arts professor and department head, Faculty of Media, Arts, and Performance

Rather than raise fees as costs climbed, Truszkowski came up with a creative solution. He launched the Forty Project, named for the $40 fee he wanted to protect, and began producing a limited-edition calendar printed entirely in the studio. Proceeds go directly toward equipment upgrades and specialty materials students may not otherwise have access to.

Over time, the calendar has become a quiet engine of creativity sustaining creativity, helping keep fees frozen while opening the door to new opportunities for student learning.

The art of time

In an era where images can be generated, edited, and shared in seconds, the Forty Project is a rarity. A single edition can require multiple days of printing, with every sheet inked, wiped, pressed, dried, and inspected by hand.

“We live in a world mediated by a screen,” Truszkowski says. “Instagram shows you a 30-second reel of someone who’s a master, but it doesn’t show you how much work goes into it or what’s behind the scenes.”

For Truszkowski, the value of printmaking lies not only in the final image, but in the time it takes to make it. A past Forty Project calendar was produced using silk screen, a stencil-based technique in which ink is pushed through a mesh to transfer a design. That edition used six separate colours, so every sheet passed through the screen six times; each layer applied slowly and precisely.

One might wonder why he continues to run the Forty Project year after year, despite the monumental effort involved, but to Truszkowski, the answer is simple. “I’m so privileged as a professor of almost 19 years to be in a job that values this approach to life. I get to do something I truly enjoy, so why on earth wouldn’t I put everything into it?” he says.

Clearly, the community agrees. Pre-orders sell out year after year, and Truszkowski jokes that demand is strong enough to make him feel like “a successful small business owner for one month a year.”

Calendars past

Each year, Truszkowski invites a new artist to work with him on a calendar. In the printmaking world, this partnership is known as a collaborative print between a guest artist and master printer. The guest artist, whether a drawer, sculptor, or painter, works alongside the master printer, who helps translate their vision into the language of print.

Over the years, the Forty Project has featured drawings, etchings, letterpress, and silkscreen editions created by U of R Visual Arts faculty and staff. The inaugural edition began with Leesa Streifler, followed by Zachari Logan for Forty Project II, David Garneau for Forty Project III, Ruth Chambers for Forty Project IV, Sean Whalley for Forty Project V, Risa Horowitz for Forty Project VI, and Holly Fay for Forty Project VII.

2026 the year of the fire horse

This year and for the first time in Forty Project history, Truszkowski takes on both roles, as guest artist and master printer.

His rendition of the calendar will feature his famously imperfect “demo horse,” a playful drawing he has sketched in class for years and something that has become loved by students. When Truszkowski realized that 2026 marks the Year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese Zodiac, he knew it was meant to be.

Visit the printmaking studio

For many who buy the calendar each year, picking it up in the printmaking studio becomes an annual pilgrimage to a space they rarely visit during the rest of the year.

“When people walk into the printmaking studio, they always say, ‘Wow, I had no idea this was here,’” Truszkowski says. “That discovery is part of it. I’d love more people to come down and see this amazing space.”

Whether you’re a student, art lover, or simply curious about the ongoings of the Visual Arts Department, you’re invited to stop by the Printmaking studio in the Riddell Centre, basement level, room 035.

Pre-orders for the Forty Project calendar are open until Monday. If you’d like to learn more, you can email Truszkowski at Robert.Truszkowski@uregina.ca.

Curious about ink, presses, and prints? Explore the programs offered in Visual Arts!