After moving to Milwaukee three years ago, Parker VandeHey wanted to find a way to put himself out there in his new home. After a bit of searching, VandeHey came across something at an unexpected spot in downtown Milwaukee.
“It kind of started because at the downtown hotel Saint Kate, they have one of those cigarette art vending machines that are kind of all over the US,” VandeHey said. “I’ve always kind of had an interest in, I guess, art vending machines.”
Shortly after, he happened to find an old vending machine that used to dispense Pokémon cards. VandeHey knew he could do something of his own with that, and some time later, Milwaukee’s Littlest Print Shop was born.
Over the past few years, the print shop has partnered with the likes of Paperjam, MOD GEN, Ebb and Flo Design Co. and most recently, Milwaukee Magazine.
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“The whole process usually starts with partnering with other store event that I’m going to be featured at,” VandeHey said. “So from there I’ll kind of think of ideas to work with whoever I’m partnering with to kind of ideate other ideas, see what they have in mind.”
After the designs have been created and sketched out, it’s time to make the prints.
“From there, it’s honestly carving the rubber block – so, creating the template, putting that on the rubber block, carving the rubber block – and then beyond that, taking ink pads and then actually hand printing those onto three and a half by two and a half paper cards.”
In his most recent partnership with Milwaukee Magazine, VandeHey has created five new custom designs.
“One of them is the Milwaukee Magazine logo,” he said. “Beyond that, there’s four other designs that are Milwaukee quotes. ‘The good land Milwaukee,’ ‘Milwaukee strong,’ things like that, things that really kind of show that Milwaukee love within the community.”
VandeHey is originally from the Green Bay area and had never really visited Milwaukee much growing up. So, despite being relatively new to the area after moving at the conclusion of his studies at UW-Madison, VandeHey hasn’t struggled to find new and creative ways to capture Milwaukee’s iconic likeness on those little paper cards.
VandeHey says that since he started Milwaukee’s Littlest Print Shop nearly two years ago, the support he has received from the community has been overwhelming.
“I just can’t believe the amount of love I get for each design, each print, especially ones that are like, the more local Milwaukee style prints. I’m just always blown away with the amount of of love I get, the DMs, the stories posted, and I’ve even had people from places that I’ve never even been in the U.S. … So it’s really cool when I have these connections across the country that I don’t even realize that I have, that my art’s made it that far.”
Milwaukee’s Littlest Pring Shop vending machine can be found in the Historic Third Ward at MOD GEN (211 N. Broadway). The machine is currently dispensing Vandehey’s exclusive Milwaukee Magazine style mini prints for 50 cents a piece and will remain at MOD GEN throughout the summer.
