Join us for a series of online talks connecting Edinburgh to 5 printmaking studios all over the world: Funen Printmaking Workshop in Odense, Denmark; Kinngait Studios in Nunavut, Canada; Powerhouse Arts in New York City, USA; Fondazione il Bisonte, Florence, Italy; and Spike Print Studio in Bristol, UK.
This programme of talks aims to build our relationships with similar printmaking studios around the world. Invited representatives of each studio, as well as artist members, students or collaborators will give a talk and introduce their organisation, work, projects and facilities to an international audience of creative printmakers.
The Art of Printmaking International online conversations will create a virtual space for sharing in our passion for advancing printmaking, sustaining communities and contributing to the cultural life of our countries.
The fifth and final talk will be on Thursday 13th March from 5pm to 7pm (GMT) with Spike Print Studio, Bristol UK.
Speakers:
Katy Chard, Studio Manager
Emma Stibbon RA, Founding Member
Emily John, Current awardee of the Peter Reddick Bursary for Innovation in Contemporary Relief Printing
In 1976, Peter Reddick (founder of Spike Island Printmakers, now Spike Print Studio) and a small group of artists took on the lease of a warehouse space in the old McArthur building on Gas Ferry Road, establishing Bristol Artspace, which included the Bristol Printmakers Co-operative and studio space for about a dozen artists. The guiding principle of Artspace was that of artists collectively coming together to pool and share equipment, materials and space, and thereby creating a resource to promote greater awareness and understanding of visual art practices.
When the property boom took off in the 1980s those buildings and districts that artists and arts projects had made fashionable became desirable and gentrified. Inevitably, the McArthur site was purchased by a developer and the printmaking workshop moved into what is now known as Spike Island.
Since its inception, Spike Print Studio has changed its name twice. It started off as the Bristol Printmakers Workshop, and changed its name in 1997 to Spike Island printmakers after becoming a licencee of Spike Island ArtSpace. It has always been a membership organisation and currently has 168 members. Over the years it has grown its national reputation and is respected for its ability to support novice printmakers alongside experienced artists. Some of the members make a living by their work, and initiatives such as SPS Editions bring emerging and well known contemporary practitioners into the Studio.
All talks will be at 5pm (GMT), 6pm (European Central Time - GMT+1 ), and 12pm (Eastern Standard Time - GMT-5).
The zoom link to access the talk will be shared with all attendees the day of the talk.
