Swansea
Print Workshop @
Kings
Lane Warehouse
now viewing: Kings Lane Warehouse / The New Building / Research / Role Models
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Role Models
Although a Business Plan is not normally required at Stage C, we felt that we could not make some of the necessary decisions for the Stage C Architectural Scheme without researching a considerable amount of additional information about best practice in print workshops elsewhere, successful economic models and local strategic initiatives.
In order to form a scoping study for a Business Plan, we have considered information from the following sources:
Arts Consultant and Researcher Sean Rorke:.
Synopsis Survey of private and public print workshop in UK.
Sean has been in the process of researching information for a definitive guide to Print Workshops for the last two years for A&C Black Printmaking Handbooks.
Marketing Consultants: Angela Tillcock and Rosie Edwards
‘Additional Research to Inform Developmental Decisions’.
This consultation has provided us with a valuable insight into local initiatives and the relative success of different economic models. It has projected some very clear choices regarding marketing and operating factors for the management committee to respond to.
Research Visits to Print Workshops in UK and Eire
These have been undertaken by a combination of management committee members, staff, architects and marketing consultants. All participants have contributed to the reports. These visits have been invaluable in informing our decisions.
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Black Church Print Studio, Dublin
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Cork Printmakers
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Dundee Printmakers
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Edinburgh Printmakers
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Glasgow Printmakers
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London Print Studio
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Northern Print Studio
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Wrexham Regional Print Centre
Synopsis Survey of private and public print workshop in UK.
Arts Consultant and Researcher Sean Rorke: Key Extracts
1. A Timeline of Print Workshops
There are currently 58 open access print workshops in the UK. There follows a summary/ timetable of when print workshops were set up in the UK and Ireland. It should be noted that there have been a number of workshops that have also come and gone in this time. Included here are only the open print workshops which are currently in business.
| 1960s | Graphic Studio; Dublin; (1961), Edinburgh Printmakers; (1963) |
| 1970s | Glasgow Printmakers; (1972), London Print Studio; (1974), Peacock Print Studio; (1974), Bluecoat Etching Studio; (1985), Spike Island Printmakers, Bristol; (1976), Oxford Printmakers Co-operative; (1976), Belfast Print Studio; (1977),' Dundee Printmakers; (1977), North Star Studios, Brighton; (1977), Gainsborough's House, Sudbury; (1978) |
| 1980s | Black Church Print Studio, Dublin; (1980), Seacourt Print Workshop; (1981), Kew Art Studio; (1981), West Yorkshire Print Workshop; (1981), Badger Press, Bishops Waltham; (1982), Bath Artist Printmakers; (1984), Sydney Nolan Trust, Presteigne; (1985), Highland Printmakers, Inverness; (1986), Leicester Print Workshop; (1987), Birmingham Printmakers, (1989) |
| 1990s |
West Cork; (1990), Cork Printmakers; (1991), Poole Printmakers; (1991), Artichoke Print Workshop, London: (1992), Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester, (1992), St. Barnabas Press, Cambridge; (1993), Hot Bed Press, Manchester: (1993), Prospect Studios, Lancashire; (1993), Northern Print Studio; (1994), Double Elephant, Essex; (1997), Print Market Workshop, Cardiff; (1997), Clo Ceardlann nag Cnoc, Co. Donegal; (1998), East London Printmakers; (1998), Leinster Print Workshop; (1998), Milton Keynes Printmakers; (1998), Swansea Print Workshop; (1998), Limerick Printmakers; (1999) |
| 2000 onwards | Brighton Printmakers; (2000), Curwen Print Study Centre; (2001),Print & Artworks, Faversham; (2002), Wrexham Regional Print Centre; (2002), South Hill Park, Bracknell; (2002), Red Hot Press, Southampton; (2004), Editions 19/20, Northampton; (2005), Gloucestershire Printmakers' Co- operative; (2005), Hand Print Studio, York-, (2005), Horsley Printmakers, Northumberland; (2005), Maplebeck Press, Nottinghamshire; (2005), North Notts Non-toxic Print Studio, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire; (2005), Tamar Print Workshop, Tavistock, Devon; (2005), Aberystwyth Printmakers; (2005), Green Door Print Studio, Derby; (2006), Lorg Printmakers, Galway; (2006), Ochre Print Studio, Farnham; (2006), Lockwood Print Studio, York; (2007), The Print Shed, Hereford; (2007) |
2. Wales: a national comparison
There are 5 print workshops in Wales which have open access. The relative scale of workshops, (especially compared to `the big 12' in the UK and Ireland), is small. There is a clear scope for a large print workshop in Wales.
3. Print workshops a developing picture
Open access print workshops are relatively young in the history of printmaking, and indeed as arts organisations in general. The oldest print workshops in the UK and Ireland are Graphic Studio in Dublin, set up in 1961, and Edinburgh Printmakers set up in 1963.
It is fair to say that the longer a workshop has been going the more likely that it has expanded in many areas. Looking at those workshops started in the 1960s and 1970s we can see some of the largest and best known print workshops.
Thirty seven print workshops have opened since 1990, nineteen of which since 2000. This is a sign that printmaking is healthy and that provision is as much in demand as ever. Workshops such as Aberystwyth Printmakers, attracting 60 members, and Gloucestershire Printmakers' Cooperative, attracting 64 members, (both set up in 2005), are examples of just how much in demand a print workshop can be, given the right management and good location etc.
Expansion vs. Consolidation
It should be recognised that longevity does not guarantee greater expansion, and indeed some workshops have remained restricted by their particular situation in terms of building, location, demographic and aspirations of those printmakers involved.
Critical mass
As print workshops expand their membership they increase their capacity to incorporate more printmaking techniques, better facilities, and take on board recent innovations and new technologies, such as incorporating digital and photography alongside printmaking.
A critical mass is often reached, whereby workshops have to decide whether to actively seek bigger premises or consolidate and stay where they are. In the case of the workshops that stay in smaller limited buildings this has meant that long term stability is less sure, as when members naturally leave, retire or move on it has more of a detrimental effect on the organisation.
4. Moving: some case studies
It is also worth noting that print studios such as Northern Print Studio, East London Printmakers, Leicester Print Workshop, and Hot Bed Press have developed and expanded over the past 10 to 20 years, (with periods of stability, often followed by rapid expansion). These print workshops have developed through strong direction and individual circumstances.
Conclusions
For all print workshops who have moved to bigger premises the benefits have been great and the opportunity to restructure, reassess their increased role and build for the future have been an overwhelming success. A move brings a new momentum, a greater sense of purpose and structural assessment of the organisation of a workshop and the best ways forward.
The major workshops are in Scotland, London, Leicester, Bristol, Dublin, Cork and Newcastle. Wales has 5 print workshops; Swansea, Cardiff, Presteigne, Wrexham and Aberystwyth. Compared to Scotland in particular, as well as the rest of the UK it is `lagging behind'. It is undoubted that geographically the impact of a large print workshop would be great. With the nearest large print workshops to Swansea being Cardiff or Presteigne, and thereafter Bristol, Bath, Hereford or Gloucestershire, the reach that a large workshop situated in Swansea could cover in terms of audience and participants is huge. It could undoubtedly become a beacon for printmakers both nationally and internationally.
5. The Bigger Picture
Clearly with so many new open access print workshops opening in recent years there is a need for printmaking provision. The larger and more established workshops have become points of reference and comparison for the smaller and newer workshops. There is a dearer understanding of the general landscape and the types of organisation and business models needed for the modem print workshop. By this measure it should be anticipated that print workshops will continue to get stronger.
A larger network of print workshops is being established, and a new National Association of Print Workshops is on the horizon with the aim of linking all workshops and helping advise, promote and sustain them.
6. Multi-faceted businesses
To summarise; Print workshops have a broader scope and a larger dynamic than they ever have. As businesses they have many arms to their trade. Each workshop has a particular direction or directions. But more and more of these roles are being taken on board as print workshops begin to realise their true potential. Only in expanding and extending the remit and scope of a print workshop can all the possibilities be achieved.