Hello Print Studio comes to Margate

March 7, 2013

I’ve been busy setting up a new printmaking studio in Margate called Hello Print Studio. Together with Emrys Plant I will be running workshops, hosting artist residencies and offering facilities to local artists who work in print. We now have an etching press, vacuum printing table, washout sink, uv exposure unit, drying rack, etching sink and hotplate.

Hello Print Studio is part of Resort Studios, a new venture set up by a group of like-minded artists and designers. Resort Studios aims to create a community within a space that encourages its members to share ideas and resources. Hello will be central to that process, providing equipment and expertise for projects which use print.

Margate is enjoying a renaissance following years of neglect. The development of the Old Town and the recently opened Turner Contemporary have encouraged creative businesses and artists to move here, taking advantage of the cheap rent to set up studios and galleries. Hello Print Studio and Resort are located on the first floor of the Pettmans Depository, an ornate Victorian brick building which once housed Margate’s bathing huts during the winter season.

The Pettmans building is located in Cliftonville, formerly the jewel in Margate’s crown and the destination of choice for the discerning holidaymaker with its grand hotels and promenades. It is now a far cry from its glory days but is on the up once more with The Dalby Square Project attracting millions in regeneration funds and huge crumbling terraced houses being bought up and lovingly restored.

In the longer term Resort will play host to talks and workshops and a street-facing cafe/gallery space. A photographic and sculpture studio are planned alongside the printmaking facilities and members will be able to take advantage of wifi, comfy sofas and desk space.

We hope to start running workshops in screenprinting, linocut, etching and other processes this summer. If you are on twitter you can follow us @hellomargate