Looking back at 2020

Edinburgh Printmakers' office and studio will be closed from 18 December 2020 – 5 January 2021. We would like to wish all of our members and audiences a Merry Christmas and we hope that you have an enjoyable and relaxing festive period.  

2020 has been an incredibly difficult year for many artists and arts venues. Our doors have remained closed to the public and we have faced enormous financial challenges as a result. At Edinburgh Printmakers, our artistic community and members are vital to helping us sustain, produce and showcase incredible work from all over the world and we know that the pandemic has also had a huge impact on their work. We’re grateful for the continued support of our Board of Trustees and Print Studio Members and for additional financial aid from National Heritage Lottery’s Emergency Fund and Creative Scotland’s Cultural Organisations and Venue Recovery Fund, which allows us to continue to operate and make plans for 2021 and beyond.  

Thanks to funding from National Heritage Lottery’s Emergency Fund and the William Syson Foundation we were able to launch our Viewing Rooms in November 2020. This online exhibition space allowed us to create two exhibitions From the Archive – featuring some of rare editions Scotland’s best-known artists and Made at Castle Mills: Members Show 2020, showcasing work from 40 of our print studio members. These online shows allowed members of the public to view and purchase limited-edition artworks and our prints have been shipped as far afield as Australia. There’s never been a more important time to support our creative community and we’re pleased to provide this opportunity to present and sell artworks, generating some much-needed income for artists. Christmas posting dates have now passed but the Viewing Rooms will remain open until the end of January.  

We were delighted to receive funding from Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries to recruit an early-career Programme Assistant, offering a new opportunity to a talented person in a very difficult job market. Our exhibition and engagement programme remains on hold but we’re busy planning community initiatives and working towards reopening to the public in the Spring. Our print studio opened to members in September and we’re also looking to restart our course programme in the new year. Look out for updates on our social channels.  

It’s been a busy and at times, extremely challenging year, but we’d like to thank all of our audiences, funders and communities for their support. We can’t wait to welcome you back in 2021.  

17 Dec 2020