Alvin’s & Ralph Rinaldi’s Letterpress Art

March 22, 2024–March 22, 2025

OPENING ON MARCH 22 in the Motor City Music exhibition

Working in disciplines ranging from calligraphy to photography; from illustration to letterpress, Ralph Rinaldi (1945-2022) deployed all ofthese abilities in support of the arts in his beloved Cass Corridor neighborhood.  

After graduating from Wayne State University in 1974, Rinaldi worked for several community organizations before opening The Human Press, his own nonprofit printshop that both called attention to the neighborhood’s arts scene and allowed for his own creative outlet.    

Despite a long careeras a formal educator, Rinaldi found time to restore and convert the static Democratic Free Press printing exhibition into a working print shop at the Detroit Historical Museum in 1980. Rinaldi subsequently volunteered his timeand shared his expertise with museum visitors until his death in 2022. See letterpress and posters created over Rinaldi's career in this new exhibition, which also recalls legendary Cass Corridor institutions, artists, and musicians.