7 saint francis magazine | spring 2025 Stephanie (Fenstermaker) Carpenter (BA ’08) deals in words and spaces, wood and metal, museums and art galleries, and just about anything in the letterpress industry she can get her hands on. Extra emphasis on “hands on.” “I love the tactile experience, the action of being hands- on and touching the type, setting the form,” she said. “And all the spacing is very important, just as important as the words on the page.” Carpenter became program officer at Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in 2019 after eight years as assistant director. The year she started at Hamilton—2011—she married her college sweetheart David (BA ’06), a painter and educator; they met her freshman year at Saint Francis. Stephanie’s many titles include letterpress printer, educator and graphic designer. She also plays a primary role in running the Wayzgoose conference, where national and international letterpress printing experts converge. Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum houses the world’s largest collection of wood type (1.5 million pieces) and Carpenter relishes her role. “The people I get to work with are lovely,” she said. “The letterpress community is all over the world and it’s an amazing thing. The internet has helped letterpress stay alive because we can communicate so quickly.” One of her favorite times of the year is her involvement in organizing the Wayzgoose conference. “It’s a magical place with such wonderful people all together.” Home sweet home Born and raised in Fort Wayne, Carpenter assumed she would leave the city for college upon graduating from Northrop High School. A visit to Saint Francis and an engaging chat with graphic design professor Alan Nauts changed her mind. “He told me, ‘I can see you finding your place at Saint Francis,’ and he was right. I loved the campus.” Carpenter studied graphic design, communication arts and photography at Saint Francis, interning with Tim Brumbeloe Fine Art, LaBov and Beyond Marketing and One Lucky Guitar, where she was later employed. She earned a master’s degree in graphic design from Indiana University and fell further in love with letterpress printing. “I didn’t know until then, but that’s what I’m supposed to do.” After Carpenter made several visits to Wisconsin for projects and work with its wood type collection, then-museum director Jim Moran offered her a full-time position. “It was a dream come true,” she said. “It is a nonprofit museum, and David could continue his painting. He’s in education as an adjunct professor, as well. I thought, ‘We’ll live that Bohemian lifestyle for a couple years.’ It’s now been 13 years.” As Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum program officer, she directs the educational mission of the museum. She also continues to do freelance work with her printing and graphic design skills. She taught as an adjunct at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and online with East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Did you say Franciscan? The Carpenters have a 3-year-old son, Owen. “We have been teaching him that you are nice to animals, big and small. And this really sweet woman I worked with at the local Franciscan college said, ‘You’re raising a little Franciscan.’ I thought, ‘This has come full circle.’ Those Franciscan values are never far away.” Carpenter loves to demonstrate how letterpress remains a vibrant art form, how you can clean an old piece of wood and turn it into something beautiful. She enjoys interacting with other passionate letterpress printers. “Letterpress printing is the most sharing and caring community,” she said. “What I like to do is take these historic processes and expand them and turn them on their heads.” Carpenter started a juried exhibition called New Impressions. “Hamilton is known for preserving history and being active in the contemporary letterpress community. It’s all about how we can share that with others, and it has grown over the years. I love letterpress.” ST E P H A N I E ( F E N ST E R M A K E R ) CA R P E N T E R ( ’0 8 ) FO U N D H E R PA S S I O N FO R L E T T E R P R E S S P R I N T I N G A N D N OW WO R KS W I T H T H E WO R L D ’S L A R G E ST C O L L E C T I O N O F WO O D T Y P E P I E C E S . W H E N I T C O M E S TO L E T T E R P R E S S A N D G R A P H I C D E S I G N , S H E H A S T H E R I G H T TO U C H .
