Lower East Side Printshop

Lower East Side Printshop, founded in 1968, is a not-for-profit studio in New York City that helps contemporary artists create new artwork and advance their careers. Through the Printshop’s workspace residency programs, artists receive space and time to work, stipends, technical assistance, career development, and public exposure.  With its exhibitions, open studios, education, and other public programs, the Printshop serves as a junction for artists, collectors, museums, galleries, and educational institutions to access and engage in contemporary art. With over 160 artists served each year, the Printshop is the largest print workspace in the U.S.

Says Kiki Smith: “For me as an artist, I’m not interested in having a studio.  I don’t want a studio; I think the idea of individual people owning lots of equipment for making sculpture is really anachronistic.  I much prefer the models of the print world or the glass world: collective shops where you own equipment together or somebody owns it all and you can rent.  For myself, I would like short-term rental of the studio.”

Background

The Printshop was founded by artist and educator Eleanor Magid in 1968 as an open access art and community center. It soon became part of the alternative space movement of the 1970s, and it continues to be a major resource for artists, with its groundbreaking 24-hour studio use, open access policy, and other services. 

In spring 2005, the Printshop moved from the East Village to a five times larger facility in Midtown Manhattan.  It also expanded its programming to offer more opportunities to artists and superb services.  It is now the largest openly accessible printmaking facility in New York City, and a major contemporary art center, serving a diverse local, national, and international audience.

In 2006, the Printshop was awarded the Primary Organization status by the NY State Council on the Arts.  This status is reserved for organizations that are, by the quality of their services and their stature, particularly vital to the cultural life of the state.

​Educational Programs

Exhibitions, classes, workshops, lectures, and artist talks offer opportunities to study and explore printmaking and contemporary art in depth, and hands-on.  Students, artists, collectors, and the general public engage in printmaking, many of them for the first time, through the Printshop’s opportunities.  Other educational opportunities include internships for young professionals and career development opportunities for artists.

Community

The Printshop is an active participant in the field of contemporary art, taking part in major fairs, conferences, and exhibitions.  As one of the founding members of the New York State Artist Workspace Consortium—a group of ten leading workspace organizations in all disciplines in the state of New York—the Printshop is working to improve the field and better the services for artists.