Castle Mills: Then & Now is a heritage and resiliance project aimed at researching, celebrating and protecting the cultural, built, social and intangible heritage connected to the Castle Mills building, Edinburgh Printmakers and broader Fountainbridge area.
Edinburgh Printmakers holds a shared heritage as a members organisation of 57 years - and the first open access print studio in Britain - in addition to becoming a custodian of a Grade C listed industrial building in Fountainbridge where thousands of local people worked since 1836. This was mostly during its time as headquarters of the North British Rubber Company - and now, the home of the Wellington Boot is taking a new step in its role as a hub in the heart of the local community promoting discussion and learning in a welcoming environment.
As part of this project we are engaging with different and diverse communities, from third sector organisations to Universities and school students, printmakers, creative producers, actors, researchers, and all those people who have lived and experienced the transforming environment of the Fountainbridge and the Union Canal area throughout the years and still today.
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The project aimed to:
- Grow and diversify community heritage and commercial activities to widen reach and engagement, working with people and communities to generate ideas for new activities;
- Support this increase in community activities through a skills programme, offering staff and independent practitioners the opportunity to develop skills in collections management and engagement and heritage printmaking skills;
- Carry out a governance review to ensure our Memorandum and Articles of Association are fit for purpose;
- Strengthen our use of technology and data through a systems review;
- Work towards Museum Accreditation to ensure our Permanent Collection is appropriately cared for;
- Carry out a feasibility to test the viability of completing our original building plans.
Castle Mills: Then & Now is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on growing and diversifying community heritage activities to widen reach and engagement, working with people and communities to generate ideas for new activities.
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Edinburgh Printmakers would like to thank all people and organisations who took part and shared their stories and experience of the Canal:
Luke Austin at Biketrax, Rob Locke from the Fountainbridge Union Canal Community Trust, Neeru Bhatnagar from NKS Health, Raphael Uddin and Erica Catala from Boroughmuir Highschool, Oskar Hansen at Kafe Kweer, Tudor Westwood from People Know How, Helena Scott at the North Merchiston Club and Ford Buchanan from the Edinburgh Union Canal Society. -
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This... I Like It
This... I Like It is a collaborative curatorial project by Edinburgh Printmakers and the artists from Tiphereth Print Studio. Exploring the EP collection, the title is a statement of intent, kinship and belonging, a selection of what draws artists to the medium of printmaking over and over again throughout the centuries and still today. -
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Exploring and Protecting the Permanent Collection
The Edinburgh Printmakers permanent art collection holds a wide range of prints created in our studio by members and invited artists since we opened our doors in 1967. The Permanent Collection mirrors our rich history as the first open-access studio in the UK, and shines a light on our tradition of creating masterful prints with Scottish and international artists.
Edinburgh Printmakers has been recognised by Museums Galleries Scotland as a non-accredited museum and plan to apply for full museum accreditation. A review of our constitution has ensured we can assuredly take on this function.
In addition to the developing the processes, policies, and practices required to apply for museum accrediation, Edinburgh Printmakers delivered a number of events engaging with the collection. This included: events and activities responding to specific works in the collection (Katy Dove Afternoon; Women Lithographer's Roundable; Prints of Darkness Afternoon; Wood Engravings, Poems, and Open Mic; A Day with the Art of John Bellany); and 'On the Archive' events, specifically for Studio Members, where previous EP staff returned to discuss their experience editioning prints and contributing to the collection.
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