Michael Koppa of Heavy Duty Press discusses artistic freedom, collaboration and the evolution of his press over the years.
When Michael Koppa started Heavy Duty Press in Milwaukee in the 90s, he knew that he intended for it to be a creative outlet, and not a press-for-hire. “There's nothing you can buy that is as fulfilling as what you can create,” he said. “Like, if you were a painter, painting would be your medium of creative expression. I’m a printer who wants to print the things that I want to print. It’s the same thing.”
Heavy Duty Press is a private, small-scale fine press situated in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, that publishes Koppa’s multitude of print-adjacent items, such as books, broadsides and polyptychs. Koppa tends to print maybe one or two projects a year, and often collaborates with other artists to create these projects. His most recent project was a publication of poet David Steingass’s collection of poetry Stones Watch in Silence.
“Everything in the world is waiting to become a book,” he said. “I mean, you can think about any subject, and if you have an interesting take on it, presented in paginated form, you get to control all these elements of it. It’s so interesting to me.”
Koppa first was introduced to print art in the early 90s at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was studying art. After college, he worked briefly as a graphic designer but soon quit and moved back home to help out at his family’s grocery store for a bit. Then in 1995, Koppa “sort of serendipitously found a printing press in the basement of a retired printer with a cabinet full of type.” He saved up a bit and bought some more printing machinery, then found a loft in Milwaukee’s Third Ward district, where he set up shop and started printing his first projects with a group of friends.
Koppa then moved to St. Francis in 1998, and again to Viroqua in 2004, where the press was put on hold for ten years as there wasn’t any space for him to work anymore, and the demands of raising a family entered the fold.
Then, in 2014, with the help of a generous patron, Koppa was able to build a shed on a property he and his wife bought in 2001, and slowly over the years he began to insulate it and add to it, and now it is a fully-functional workshop where Koppa does his work for the Heavy Duty Press.
“The space is 16 feet by 16 feet, but I like to think that I'm very good at utilizing small spaces,” said Koppa. “So we're down to 44 drawers of type, galley cabinet, a printing press, basically, a work table, and that's what fits in the building. It's all I need from everything that I ever bought.”
The small space is no hindrance though– Koppa has been more productive there than ever before. Collaboration with different artists in the past couple years, a seasonal job as a stone engraver at a nearby cemetery, and the fact that both of Koppa’s kids are grown up and out of the house means that he has more time than ever to work on projects for the Heavy Duty Press.
“I'm not going to make a bunch of money being the Heavy Duty Press, but I like to think that I can supplement my retirement for the rest of my life, and that's all I really want to do,” said Koppa. “I mean, I love to do it. I don't feel like I would ever stop doing this. There's not an end time for this. It's something I'll do until I can't do it anymore.”
Koppa will be exhibiting his work at this year’s Northampton Book Fair, including a brand-new project called “The Torch,” along with other items he’s created over the years. If you are interested in exploring more of Koppa’s business, his website is linked here, and don’t forget to come to this year’s Northampton Book Fair, Friday, November 20th, 5-8pm and Saturday, November 21st, 10am-4pm at the Northampton Community Arts Trust.
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