Edinburgh Printmakers at Castle Mill Works

Edinburgh Printmakers at Castle Mill Works

Permanent Commissions Programme

Artist Brief2017 – Entrance Gates and Window Grills

Introduction and Background

Established in 1967 as the first open access studio in Britain, Edinburgh Printmakers is an organisation dedicated to the practice of fine art printmaking. We are committed to providing high quality, low cost printmaking facilities for artists.

Edinburgh Printmakers’ mission is to support artistic excellence in the medium of print through inspiration, education, innovation and facilitation. We work at the cutting edge of contemporary visual art, producing, commissioning, and presenting critically acclaimed and engaging artwork that is key to the cultural life of Scotland. For 50 years Edinburgh Printmakers has supported artists to expand the practice of fine art interdisciplinary printmaking.

At the heart of our business is the provision of a printmaking studio, a place where artists share knowledge, expertise and creativity, researching and developing excitingly fresh artwork in print. Our artist users produce wonderfully original, engaging visual arts experiences that travel to hundreds of venues throughout the UK and abroad every year benefiting the lives of thousands of gallery visitors.

Artists and customers choose Edinburgh Printmakers because we have established a reputation for excellence and innovation in printmaking and are world leaders in this field.

Edinburgh Printmakers is the home of one of the UK’s leading contemporary art spaces with year round exhibitions and associated events that showcase the very best artwork from the world of contemporary art in print.

Our Future Home

An exciting future lies ahead for Edinburgh Printmakers as it createsa new world-class centre for printmaking and creative industries at Castle Mill Works.

Opening to the public in 2019, this £12.3million project will restore a much-loved heritage building, transforming itinto a vibrantinternational hub of creativity, situated in the heart of Scotland's capital city.

Housing a year-round public programme of exhibitions, events and learning, designed to nurture talent and enrich lives, Castle Mill Works will inspire people to connect with their own creativity.

The development of Castle Mill Works will allow Edinburgh Printmakers to extend its work as a leading artscharity, bringing together artists and visitors to offer everyone a direct experience of art.

Inside Castle Mill Works visitors will be welcomed to a world-class cultural facility housing galleries, learning spaces, a printmaking workshop, creative studios and much more.

Award-winning Scottish architects, Page/Park have been appointed to bring the Grade C listed Castle Mill Works into public use for the first time in its 160-year history.

Complementing the architectural design and retaining links the history of the building, a series of permanent artwork commissions will be sited throughout the building.

The Vision for Edinburgh Printmakers at Castle Mill Works

Work on our new home is underway. Multi award-winning Page/Park Architectshave designed an inspiringmulti-purpose building that is fully accessible and environmentally sound.

Architects’ Statement:

“In the context of history, printmaking sits balanced between the industrial production process of its making and the refinement of its product and viewing audience. Edinburgh Printmakers will, on one hand, acknowledge the historical working legacy and on the other contribute to the new community of residential and commercial activity. The transformation of Castle Mill Works as a new centre of artproduction, thinking and presentation has the opportunity to anchor the overall redevelopment in a spirited and exciting way. The restored brick shell will reflect its origins in the life of the city with gritty pragmatism, but opened up in new ways to create a shop window and lens into the activities within.
A new passage through an arcade onto Dundee Street, passing the gallery frontage, shop and reception, and up half a level within the building circulation tower towards a southfacing deli/wine bar conservatory looking over the garden will be a new shortcut through the existing fabric. Hanging off this tower, will be the education space, printmakers studio, shared meeting space and window into the working spaces of the building. The result, we hope, will be a piece of restored history, energised by new contemporary activity in a welcome mix of art in production to be seen and appreciated by all of us, whether as we linger or simply pass through.”— Page/Park Architects

Page/Park have been part of a movement to assimilate, nurture and reinvigorate heritage in recent projects such as the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Clydebank Townhall and Rosslyn Chapel but also historically in previous work at the Centre for Contemporary Arts and the Lighthouse in Glasgow. Most recently, they have been appointed as architects to the Glasgow School of Art restoration project.

Capital Development Project Overview

Castle Mill Works site is the former HQ of the North British Rubber Company in Fountainbridge, a 2000m2 ‘at risk’ building of significant industrial heritage value.
The ambition to save Castle Mill Works, a building of huge industrial heritage significance in Edinburgh stemmed from Edinburgh Printmakers’ search for the ideal home in which to build a world class contemporary arts centre specialising in printmaking, a vision that is now well on the way to becoming a reality.

The building dates back to 1856 and is all that remains of a once vast industrial complex, which stood at the forefront of innovation in production of goods, made from Indian rubber. Many everyday items such as rubber boots, hot water bottles and the car tyre were first developed and then manufactured here in Edinburgh for worldwide distribution.
Colin McLean, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund said: “Castle Mills was once at the heart of a thriving community but now stands empty and neglected and whilst much-loved, its restoration presents huge financial challenges. We are delighted to be able to help unlock its potential so that it can once again be a centre for new ideas and productivity and a catalyst in the regeneration of Fountainbridge.”
The project has attracted widespread community support and endorsement, with local community groups keen to save the building for future use as a cultural venue. This project will create an opportunity for Edinburgh Printmakers to extend its creative programming and develop over the coming years an artistic programme of exhibitions, public art projects and community based arts projects that will raise peoples’ awareness of the incredible history of the Castle Mill Works factory and the impact the North British Rubber Company manufacturing plant had on the social and economic development of Edinburgh.
The investment from Heritage Lottery Enterprise secures Edinburgh Printmakers’ future at the forefront of printmaking internationally. This award in addition to £1.7m from Creative Scotland and £1.9m from Scottish Government Regeneration Capital Grant Fund will enable the provision of facilities for artists to produce exciting and innovative artwork in print. The projects’ success at attracting investment is a strong sign of support for grass roots artistic production, directly benefitting the hundreds of artists who use the facilities, promoting access to skills development and artistic participation. The new centre aims to attract thousands of visitors each year to enjoy exhibitions, artist talks, demonstrations and workshops opening up the world of contemporary art in print.

The high quality arts facility planned will be a fantastic visitor attraction with an exemplar gallery space and smaller project space gallery, an attractive café bar with terrace, and retail area specialising in contemporary prints, artist multiples, contemporary crafts and locally produced designer home wares.
Cllr Richard Lewis, Culture & Sport Convener at The City of Edinburgh Council, said: "Great news for Edinburgh Printmakers and for artist led projects in Edinburgh. With its canal side location, unique history and plans to host a world-class art gallery, this funding will develop Edinburgh Printmakers into the engaging visitor attraction it deserves to be. I’m delighted the venue will be given a new lease of life and look forward to welcoming another creative arts hub to the capital."
Edinburgh Printmakers’ Board of Directors’ Chair, Alastair Snow"Edinburgh Printmakers capital development programme continues to be a dynamic and rewarding planning period for us with an especially high level of community engagement and endorsement."
With in-kind support from City of Edinburgh Council towards the project and with over £10m of funding secured towards the project, construction has now begun on the first phase to transform Castle Mill Works into a world-class centre for printmaking. Fundraising to deliver all aspects of our project continues. Edinburgh Printmakers plans to open Castle Mill Works to the public in Spring 2019.

We have gained wide community and political support to lead the development of this ‘at risk’ building from creative organisations and conservation agencies who recognise the opportunity to combine architectural heritage with imaginative contemporary re-use.

The Castle Mills development is seen as part of a City of Edinburgh Council Master Plan for economic regeneration of an industrial brown field site and it is expected that the proposed development will have a positive impact on the wider economic development of the area. Despite being close to the West End of the City Centre, the area is generally regarded as ‘undesirable’ due to the abandoned and derelict buildings, the wasteland of the demolished former brewery and a stagnant local economy. The restoration of the North British Rubber Company building will improve the physical appearance of the area whilst also providing opportunities for new businesses to become established and develop.

Why is the project needed?

There are a number of major issues with our current premises that make this project particularly pressing and deserving of support. At our current site, Union Street, Edinburgh, potential visitors with mobility issues are unable to access our outstanding programme of exhibitions, events and educational workshops. There is no lift access to the first floor gallery and very poor external access due to a steep cobbled street and a stepped entrance. At the moment we have over 1000 education participants a year across the organisation and we would like to cater for growing demand.At present we are operating at maximum capacity in our printmaking studio and to cater for forecast increase in demand we need to provide greater capacity. The new building would allow us to expand provision of printmaking facilities, educational services and courses and deliver our ambition to be the first arts facility in Scotland to offer accredited higher and further education courses.

We plan to build on our already world-class exhibition programme by improving the quality of our exhibition space, we will be able to meet public expectations and reflect the quality of the artists we exhibit by providing a high quality exhibition space. With additional exhibition space we can diversify our programming and engage emerging artists, providing opportunities for career development in visual arts. There is increasing demand for Edinburgh Printmakers to both modernise and diversify services to meet our artists’ needs.Furthermore, producing artwork that is of an international standard of quality and innovation requires production equipment and studio conditions that are not currently always available or met.The restricted capacity of our cramped premises means that there is competition for space and conflicting needs. Without more space the organisation is constrained, unable to cater for innovation in printmaking and related disciplines our project will enable us to embrace new technologies and new materials in artistic production and work on larger scale and interdisciplinary artistic projects. The current situation threatens large scale printing contracts and renders EP less competitive and innovative in the International market place.

Our archive, developed over the last four decades, is unseen by the public as we currently do not have the space or safe location to offer this as an educational service. These artworks are ‘at risk’ of deterioration as the climate in the damp and unsuitable basement is not conducive to keeping them in optimum condition. To date we have done what we can to protect these works, but with our expanding collection of published works, contract print editions, print folios and educational archive of prints and plates, we are fast running out of space and facilities to do so. Our plans for the new building not only incorporate safe storage for our print archive in appropriate conditions, they also include the facility for the public to view and use our print archive as an educational resource and source of artistic reference.

Edinburgh Printmakers aspires to provide a visible, accessible, world-class production facility. Flexible and open production spaces at our new Centre would allow us to have oneof the broadest ranges of printing techniques available with shared facilities that allow rich cross-pollination between disciplines to enrich creativity. The capital project will greatly improve the quality and scale of exhibition spaces and create an infrastructure of visitor services that enhance audience engagement and their access and participation.

We play a vital role in bringing the artists’ work to market, through exhibitions and representation in our highly specialist galleries and shop, we need a facility for professional representation that meets the expectations of the art world consumer. In turn the retail facility generates income vital to the sustainability of Edinburgh Printmakers business model and the maintenance of artist production facilities.

The new building designed by Page/Park will be fit for purpose and have access and visibility at its core.

Capital Project Aims

• To provide opportunities, facilities, resources and services to develop artistic talent within the medium of print.
• To develop artistic production by creating high quality new commissions in print.
• To promote education initiatives, catering for all levels of ability, through formal and informal, structured and non-structured learning.

• To develop audiences for contemporary printmaking more widely by supporting wider community engagement, access and participation.
• To increase international working and visibility and international development.
• To integrate equalities planning into the development, delivery and monitoring of all programmes of work.
• To develop business productivity and market in order to offer better public value, to develop artist career opportunities, building resilience in the sector to be a major contributor to the cultural economy of Scotland.
• To invest in Large scale capital development programme to deliver a world class centre that exceeds ‘fit for purpose’ as an iconic building, unique and distinguishable internationally in both function and form, developing area regeneration investing in ‘sense of place’.
• To provide a creatively stimulating environment by building creative industry spaces that cluster with arts spaces, promoting innovation, creativity in design, profile development and cross sector working.
• To break down perceived barriers to participation with interpretation zones and pods in the building.
• To further encourage participation with attractive cafe and bar facilities.
• To support artists and creative practitioners careers with effective retail representation in high quality designed retail area.
• To develop a mix of income generating and subsidised activities that will ensure long term sustainability of Edinburgh Printmakers at increased scale of operations.

How will the capital project be delivered?

Edinburgh Printmakers’ Board has established a sub-group with the specific remit of progressing our Capital Project. The main role of this group has been to focus on the furtherance of the Capital development project. The steering group is a team with professional backgrounds in senior management, financial management, architecture, property law, higher education. Members of the sub-group are also tasked with supporting the Chief Executive and Edinburgh Printmakers’ Senior Management team on an ongoing basis as we carry through the project. Working to a Project Development Plan, Edinburgh Printmakers Chief Executive Officer alongside Project Support staff manage the day to day running of the Project and the team of freelance consultant staff to allow for more capacity during ‘step change’ of our charity. The organisation has undergone slight restructuring to allow for key senior staff to feed into the Capital Project adequately and efficiently. Capacity to deliver has been included in the full costing for the project with some new staff, some backfilling of senior posts for increased activity and a range of contract staff.

Edinburgh Printmakers have undertaken procurement of a Project Manager, Martin Sinclair of Gardiner & Theobald, who possesses a wealth of experience carrying out Arts and Heritage construction projects. Martin Sinclair handles the project management and communication on the Construction side, whilst EP’s CEO and Project Support staff manages the internal project management of fundraising, communications, business plan development and the Artistic Strategy. We hold monthly project meetings between key staff of Edinburgh Printmakers, Gardiner and Theobald, PAGE/PARK, Doig & Smith, Will Rudd Davidson and Harley Haddow. In addition to this, we hold monthly Capital Development Working Group (CDWG) meetings where progress and key information is reported to the CDWG.

Benefits to the Artistic and Creative Community

• An estimated 600 artists per year will be better supported to produce and present bodies of work in our enhanced production and exhibition facilities at Castle Mill Works.
• Leading artists with international appeal will be encouraged to work internationally to expand the reach of their work to impact Scottish and international audiences – presenting global perspectives and broadening awareness of cultural differences. Provision of a subsidised flat for 10 Artist in Residence annually, education users and exchange participants will facilitate international working.
• Print studios and print publishers around the world will be able to develop collaborative projects, developing printmaking as a medium, making links for artist exchange, and exhibiting examples of excellence in the field. We plan to deliver 60 new print artworks per year with 22 artists.
• Pioneering and innovative artists who take creative risks and push the boundaries of printmaking will be able to pursue opportunities to link with academic visual arts staff, supporting research work and creative learning in print and dissemination, through production and exhibitions.
• Visibility of member artists’ practice will be increased nationally and internationally through exchanges and off-site and touring exhibitions. In addition to opportunities for representation in a high quality retail space and chance to exhibit in new gallery project space.
• New curatorial and artistic partnerships within the creative arts, culture, and heritage sectors will be developed and supported by fostering unique links and partnerships, generating innovative artwork and working methods.
• Local, national, international artists and creative practitioners will connect to new audiences in an environment conducivetocollaborative working and innovation.
• Affordable spaces that are designed with the needs of industry practitioners in mind will provide workspaces for creative makers and designers. A ‘hub’ of production resources to service the needs of fine art and creative industries designers, a facility for cultural and economic development.

“Since my graduation, Edinburgh Printmakers has had a huge impact on my artistic development and ambition. Over the last 5 years they have supported me in the production of print work, film and publication, as well as offering several opportunities to exhibit and develop public events in response to these commissions. Each of these opportunities has in different ways enabled me to expand my practice, allowing me to explore new mediums, engage with different audiences and push my work in directions that would have otherwise been inaccessible. I am greatly indebted to them for this support, encouragement and enthusiasm.”- Rachel Maclean, Artist, December 2014