WYPW (West Yorkshire Print Workshop) had their annual 'Print Day in May' event on the 5th May this year. This is a international event that any printmaker or print workshop can get involved in. All you need to do is print something on the day. Print Day in May began in 2007 at the Monterey Peninsula College (MPC), Monterey, CA. The MPC Fine Art Print Club (now the MPC Printmakers) created it to encourage printmakers everywhere to create prints on the same day. They even have their own blog so you can post what you have created and show it to the rest of the world. You can find out more in the link below-
To celebrate Print Day in May, WYPW ran a open day event at their workshop. The whole building was buzzing with different print activities and a pop-up cafe with cake in the gallery. As a member, I got involved by running a drop-in lino printing workshop with ready made etched lino blocks. Family's could put a pinny on, ink up some blocks and have a go at using the big imperial press to create their own prints.
WYPW is a registered charity, gaining funding from Art Council England and by running printmaking courses. Open day events help raise donation to improve their facilities and keep the workshop open. From all the activities people got involved in throughout the day, WYPW managed to raise £200!
Thanks to the 'Catalyst: Evolve scheme' funding awarded to them by Art Council England, this has allowed them to double the publics donations to £400! See below to find out more about 'Catalyst: Evolve scheme' and the 'Future Proof' campaign behind the funding-
http://www.wypw.org/blog/future-proof/
This was the first time I ran a drop-in workshop relating to my own work and I couldn't have asked for a better day. Perfect weather, lots of lovely people to meet and of course the cake.
