We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Chiaccio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel below.

Daniel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Ever since I was a kid! My initial dream was to be a hot wheels car designer, I would draw for hours and hours. My designs were pretty extreme, lots of rocket boosters and fenders. From there I always found myself spending most of my time in art class. In high school I was not exactly the best student, I remember skipping out on other classes to hang out in the art room. It was pretty obvious from the start that I was going to pursue a career in art, and fortunately my family was supportive of that choice.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a printmaker and small business owner located in Brattleboro VT! I found my love for printmaking by accident, I had to take an elective in college, and the only one that would fit my schedule was printmaking 1. Oddly enough, I did not enjoy the idea of being a printmaker, I was an illustration major, and I thought “why would anybody spend so much time on a plate/screen/woodblock, only to have just one image?” . As fate would have it, after pulling my first etching I fell in love with the process, and it just stuck. I attended New Hampshire Institute of Art and graduated in 2015 with my BFA. I am still very close with my printmaking professor, Bill Cass. He mentored me and even got me a paid position as the shop tech.
After graduation I accepted an internship at Zea Mays Printmaking in Florence MA. There I was mentored by the amazing Liz Chalfin. At Zea Mays I was an intern, shop tech and teacher for 5 years. Myself and my intern partner, Kevin Pomerleau, researched greener alternatives to printing processes. There is a lot of nasty chemicals in printmaking, so it was great working in a studio that was much greener and safer.
During my time at Zea Mays, I was renting a storage locker, in which I started to collect/store printing presses and equipment! Most of the presses were found on craigslist, some were even free, I just had to pay to move them. I knew right after my first printmaking class that I wanted to open up my own community studio.
Fast forward to the present, and I now own and operate a community printmaking studio in Brattleboro! I went with the name “First Proof’ after the act of pulling your first print. The first proof is this magical moment where you get to see all your hard work pay off.
At First Proof we offer varied rates of memberships, workshops, gallery openings, public events, after school programs, social work and contract printing!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Take workshops, buy local art, share stories, promote on social media and more! I often find that folks will shrug off art as. a solid career choice because “artists enjoy it”. I find you can enjoy any job with the right mindset, however art work is work, and it should be respected like any other career.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I just had a battle with stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma. I was pretty terrified during that time, and I had to shift my focus on my health. During those difficult 8 months of doctors appointments, surgeries and chemo, I was still working full time. I had signed on to teach my first college level printmaking class, moving my entire business to a new location, a car accident, a breakup and running the business. It was hard, but honestly having the goal of moving and the studio kept me going. It was nice having a goal to focus on, and not just sitting in bed being sick. My nurses and oncologists were shocked I was able to be as active as I was.
I am thrilled to share that I now have a clean bill of health.

Contact Info:

• Website: firstproofpress.com
• Instagram: @firstproofpress
• Facebook: facebook.com/firstproofpress
• Other: Check us out in person, the studio is open to the public! We have lots of art for sale created by our studio members. Or send us some letters! First Proof 22 High Street Brattleboro VT, 05301

Image Credits
I took all the photos