New festival aims to celebrate printmakers work across West Midlands

A new festival is set to celebrate and showcase the work of printers and the work they produce in the heart of Wolverhampton.

Print Fest Wolverhampton is the launch of a new Printmaking Festival which will showcase the work of printmakers throughout the region and beyond.

The festival, which is being held at the Wolverhampton Arts Centre, aims to celebrate printmaking in all its forms, from traditional to contemporary.

It starts at 6pm today (Friday, November 6) and will run across the weekend, with handmade original prints from both professional and hobbyist printmakers on display.

It will also include music, Meet the Artist and Printmaking demonstrations and will provide an opportunity for visitors to buy affordable, original art from local artists.

Jacky Fellows, who is part of the organising committee, will be displaying work from a workshop she did with the Good Shepherd and spoke about the positive benefits of printmaking for the group.

She said: “I worked with members of the Good Shepherd for five weeks and they’d never done any type of printmaking before, but they did all sorts, right from collagraph right through to drive point and mono point and they produced some amazing pieces.

“One of the group was John and he produced an amazing piece which, when he pulled the print off the press, you could see him getting really quite emotional because there’s nothing like it when you pull a print off the press and it’s been successful.

“It’s the best feeling in the world and I was chuffed as a teacher, so I hope people can come and enjoy this festival and see the work.”