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The 3rd Annual Ipswich Printweek will get underway at 12 noon on 20th May beside the big question-mark outside the University of Suffolk main campus building here at Waterfront in Ipswich. But the big question is, why is there a 2 tonne road roller sitting with its engine

running? Are we going to tarmac over the paving? No. The 'Our Place in Time' project will kick off Printweek as it prints a giant linocut made up of 64, A5 linocuts created by young students from St Albans Catholic High School , Ipswich Academy, Copleston High School and Suffolk One. These linocuts will express the thoughts and feelings of the young people about the year 2022. The finished print will be turned into a wall hanging and will be displayed in the Hold for the pubilc to view before being archived in the Suffolk Records Office as an historic document. Come along and watch this special event and if there are any printmakers out there who would like to help with the print, please get in touch.

' Our Place in Time'

The first of a series of three new civic wallhangings for Ipswich made by students participating in the Our Place in Time Project, was unveiled at The Hold on 16th June by the new Mayor of Ipswich, Councillor John Cook. 'Our Place in Time' is a three year arts, heritage and media project that we have designed with The Hold and local schools. We will teach printmaking to 200 secondary school students so they can create images that reflect their concerns from 2021 to 2023 on a wallhanging which will be donated to the town as a permanent record of their thoughts and ideas. This year the students involved also talked about their ideas for the wallhanging on BBC Radio Suffolk and took part in a video of it being printed which you can see if you click on the Our Place in Time logo.

Funding for the Our Place in Time project in year one has come from Oyster Community Press CIC, the Birketts Fund through the Suffolk Community Foundation and the National Heritage Lottery Fund.

Printweek 2022 ends on a roll!

We've just come to the end of the 2nd annual Ipswich Printweek and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to making it a successful event.

The finale, which took place Saturday 28th May, was the conclusion of the Our Place in Time Project, when we printed a montage of linocuts using a two tonne road roller. This large print will be turned into a wall hanging which will record the year 2021 through the eyes of over 60 teenagers in Ipswich.

ROAD to RECOVERY March 2022

We have just started a pilot Printmaking on Prescription Course for people with symptoms of Long Covid.

This six-week Road to Recovery course has been designed to teach introductory printmaking techniques to improve peoples focus and concentration. They have been funded by the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, who are referring people to us through Long Covid Clinics at Ipswich and Colchester Hospitals.

NEW PRESS AHEAD COURSES

We are currently running three Press Ahead courses for unemployed people, to help them back to work, which started last year. Funding for these is through the National Skills Agency and the European Social Fund, so they are free for participants. During difficult times, our students have managed to create artwork for an exhibition of printmaking called WORK IN PROGRESS which will go up in The Whistler Gallery in DanceEast in March 2022, with a private view for local business leaders and colleges.

Want to Exhibit?

Following the success of Ipswich Printweek 2021, we are in the process of planning Ipswich Printweek 2022 as a week-long event celebrating all things printmaking.

Along with an exhibition of printmaking, again at the Whistler Gallery at Dance East, there will be Open Studios in and around Ipswich and we will be setting up a POP-UP Studio in Central Ipswich for the week, where local printmakers can demonstrate their craft to the public.

There will also be a Printmakers Question and Answer Event at The Hold, Ipswich, opportunities to have a go at printmaking and a sprinkling of informal gatherings in Cafes about town to discuss printmaking and debate related issues over a cuppa.

On the final day, we will be printing (using a road roller) The Big Print, which will be made up of many smaller linocuts produced by students at local schools, based around the theme of Our Place in Time. It will feature the year 2021 and the linocuts will visually reflect on that momentous year from the perspective of the teenagers.

The print will be turned into a large wall hanging which we will display in The Hold throughout June, before it is archived there, as a permanent record of Our Place in Time.

Ipswich Printweek is for all of us who enjoy printmaking and is an opportunity for us to inspire the next generation of printmakers.

If you have any suggestions for other printmaking events that could be included, would like to open your studio to the public during Ipswich Printweek 2022, use our POP-UP studio for one day during the week, or would like to volunteer at any events, please get in touch with us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Breakthrough Exhibition 2021

This exhibition was at The Whistler Gallery in the Jerwood Dance House in Ipswich until the 27th July. It represented a Breakthrough for the artists who created it, as all of them learnt to express themselves through the medium of printmaking, in just 12 weeks, on our Press Ahead courses. All of them are also seeking a breakthrough in their efforts to find work and feel that learning a new skill and being able to put together an exhibition of such a high standard, will be the first step towards realising this goal.

It was scheduled to take place in March but due to coronavirus restrictions it is only possible for us to display the work now. We are delighted to say that since creating the exhibition, some of the artists have since found a job or are applying for further education courses.

1st ANNUAL EXHIBITION

The inaugural exhibition of printmaking for Ipswich Printweek 2021 ended on Friday 28th May. The exhibition was well received by exhibitors and visitors alike. The comments in our visitors’ book have convinced us that making Ipswich Print Week an annual event is a worthwhile and very welcome project. The fact that the artists work was not subject to commission not only helped the artists, but we believe also helped sales, which were exceptionally good.

The work sold was wide-ranging in subject matter, technique and price and proved to us that original art can be made available to suit all budgets.

Planning has already started for next years event in anticipation of a return to normality and will include lots of interesting printmaking events where printmakers can show off their creative skills and the general public can have a go at printmaking. There will be talks by well-known printmakers and debates on how printmaking can be developed for the next generation of printmakers.

Whether you area local printmaker or a visitor to the exhibition, thank you for being part of Ipswich Printweek and we look forward to sharing printmaking with you next year.

FREE PLACES FOR FAMILY CARERS May ,2020

We have 25 free places available for unpaid family carers to learn printmaking with us, to improve their health and wellbeing. Please share this opportunity with any carers you know. The pandemic has been hard for everyone, but the Suffolk Carers Fund and Ipswich Borough Council have funded these courses for carers, as they know it has been particularly difficult for carers to manage, during lockdown. They are due to start in July and will run for 9 weeks with a break in August for the summer holidays. Carers come in to our studio one half day a week, either am or pm to suit them and will get a unique chance learn new skills and a creative artform.

Email oysterpress.cic@gmail.com to book a place now. Classes are small and covid-secure.

NEW PRESS AHEAD COURSES start 12th APRIL, 2020

We are running three new Press Ahead courses for unemployed people, to help them back to work, from 12th April. Funding for these is through the National Skills Agency and the European Social Fund, so they are free for participants. Students will be creating work for an exhibition due to go up in DanceEast in July 2021 and we will help them find employment now that Lockdown has begun to ease.

THANK-YOU NATIONAL LOTTERY PLAYERS - MAY 2020

A Massive thanks to all of you out there who play the National Lottery because by doing so, you are supporting the arts in the UK.

As we currently have no income during lockdown and our projects are all on hold, we applied for an emergency grant to Arts Council England in April and thankfully we have been successful. Our award has been made possible because The National Lottery are funding the emergency arts scheme and we want everyone to know that we are incredibly grateful for this support. We will use the funds to keep our business going over the next six months and to help us prepare for days like this again, when people will be able to come back to our studio. We are also looking at the equipment we will need to do more digital work and to create more videos for our new youtube channel, so we can keep connected with our friends and followers in this difficult period.

Students getting their work ready for the Press Ahead Printmaking Exhibition scheduled for March, but postponed until December due to ... you know what!

Equipment you'll need

Relief printing ink
Paper and/or card (uncoated works best)
Ink Roller
Cereal Box or recycled card
Non-porous tray or fridge shelf
Scissors or craft Knife
Cutting surface (mat)
Masking Tape
Imagination
If you are not confident to draw you can trace images from magazines or other references

FREE LOCKDOWN PRINTMAKING PACKS - MAY 2020

Because our studio is closed and the PRESS AHEAD project has been put on hold, we wanted to do something to make the lockdown less stressful for our students, so we’ve come up with a Free Lockdown Printmaking Pack to send to them so they can make greetings cards at home. As this is Creativity and Wellbeing week, it seems timely that they were posted this morning.

As monoprinting was the very first thing we did on the project, we’ve put a short video on YouTube just to remind them of the technique. You can watch the video by going to the home page and clicking on the link and perhaps you'll fancy having a go yourself! If you do, send us a pic of your work and we'll display it here on the website. And if you enjoy the video, please share the link to your friends.

We’d like to thank Lawrence Art Supplies and EssDee for contributing towards our costs by giving us discounts and Cranfield Inks for their donation. All the equipment needed for monoprinting can be supplied by the above, your local craft shop or from us at the Tower Street Print Project...Enjoy!

NEW PROJECT GOES LIVE - JAN 2020

We have been awarded European Social Funding to deliver three of our unique PRESS AHEAD Programmes to help unemployed people get closer to the workplace. Fifteen students who started the courses at the beginning of January will learn various printmaking techniques to enable them to exhibit their art at an exhibition about work, at the Whistler Gallery in Ipswich.

The Mayor of Ipswich, Councillor Jan Parry will open the exhibition for us at a private view on the 26th of March, to which local business leaders and employers will be invited.

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