Printshop Project 2026
Bath Printshop Project
Bath Printshop was part of a number of community enterprises under the auspices of Bath Arts Workshop. Initially at what became Riverside Community Centre, which opened in May 1976, it was set up by Louise Ingham (then a student at Bath Academy of Art) and Nigel Leach.
Nigel says: “The Printshop moved into a two-room basement below the Women’s Aid Shop. We started off with basic equipment but soon expanded, acquiring a Litho press, process camera and a duplicator. We moved again in late 1978 to the ground floor of Longacre Hall, where there was far more light and space. By then we were screen printing a community newspaper – Bath Spark – and printing a wide range of materials from artist’s posters to self-published books, pamphlets and magazines for groups as far away as Brighton, Exeter and Gloucester. We also did print jobs for local businesses, although our main focus was on supporting community initiatives. For a while we were self-supporting and by early ’79 we were paying wages to two staff members. Two others were there on government employment schemes as well as many volunteers. It lasted until 1983, when we sadly had to close it down”.
– Extract from ‘Bath Arts Workshop – Counterculture in the 1970’s’ (Tangent Books 2021). www.bathartsworkshop.org/
The Fringe got interested in the Printshop when we learned there was a box full of its posters in the Bath City Archive – this came on the heels of Nigel’s death, although Louise and other workers from back in the day are still very much with us. There are even three posters in the collection of the V&A in London!
The work has inspired forthcoming exhibitions, at The Museum of Bath at Work, at Bath Spa University Locksbrook Road – including new work responses to the posters from the same great group of Graphic Arts students who are responsible for our annual festival poster – and elsewhere in the city during or shortly after this summer’s Fringe. We will be adding details of these events and links to this page when we know them, it’s early days at the moment.
First off the blocks this year, there are Printshop posters included in an exhibition in the main gallery of Bath’s own grand Victoria Art Gallery: Poster Power runs from 23 January to 10 May 2026.
We’re interested in telling the stories of the artists involved, and the events, groups, and venues they were publicising. We will be posting images on our social media from January 2026 and asking YOU for the stories, memories and experiences they evoke: we will have a special address for this but if you can’t wait, use the Fringe admin EMail. And if you’ve got any Bath Printshop work in a dusty drawer or a clip-frame on your wall, send us a photo of that too!