A mobile printmaking studio housing authentic 19th century printing presses and typography archives will once again see the craft of letterpress printing return to the regions of Australia. From within a custom built 40’ shipping container the SPAM (Specialty Printing Activation Module) Project offers community outreach visual arts workshops to regional and remote Queensland.
The project was initiated in late 2021 with a successful kickstarter and crowd sourcing campaign that secured the 40”shipping container. The container fabrication of the container has been recently completed with the mobile mobile design and printmaking space intending to be fully functional by mid of 2022. The project has gained momentum with the support of Clint Harvey and the Bacon Factory who has gifted original letterpress equipment and a number of authentic FT Wimble items that will allow the project to facilitate workshops and printmaking activities while traveling to regional and remote locations.
It’s all about taking letterpress to the people the SPAM project will allow letterpress equipment and world class letterpress practitioners to travel to any location in Australia that can be accessed by a truck and shipping container.
For many residents in regional and remote areas of Australia, this will be the first time that they’ve will have access to a letterpress studio offering community classes and and visual arts workshops.
The mobile printmaking studio will offer community demonstrations and workshops on the history of printing, the art of letterpress and its relevance to graphic design in a digital world.
The SPAM project will expose community to printmaking and will work with them to share their community’s stories via the printed word. The project will bring the art and history of letterpress printing to educational centres, public libraries, schools and cultural events, street fairs, and festivals ― where lovers of graphic design, books, arts & crafts, and the written word, can enjoy this old and venerable printmaking technique in a new and modern way.
SPAM will offer the community an understanding of traditional printmaking basics that will change the way the public will look at books & printed material forever. Demonstrations and workshops will be modified to suit groups of any size or age; from a 30 minute in-classroom event for 1st graders with short attention spans to an all-day or week long workshops designed specifically for serious artists and printmakers. For those who wish to extend their art practices combining letterpress, photography and bookmaking further, the mobile workshop will offer membership access to the studio as it resides in rural and remote locations for a number of months before moving onto the next exciting location.
