Edinburgh Printmakers secure £959,000 funding from SIS to boost their impact

Edinburgh Printmakers have secured almost £1 million in funding from finance provider Social Investment Scotland (SIS) to support its growth ambitions.

Established in 1967 as the first open access studio in the UK, Edinburgh Printmakers is an arts charity specialising in printmaking.

The Printmakers only recently moved to their new £11 million home at Castle Mills in Fountainbridge which is one of the largest printmaking facilities created for artists in Europe.

It is home to a variety of services from an open access print studio to traditional and digital processes amongst others.

The loan from SIS will support Edinburgh Printmakers to increase its social and cultural impact, expanding the variety and scale of services it offers to communities, both locally and across Scotland.

Some of the services currently provided by the organisation include offering space and facilities for artists at heavily subsidised rates, engaging with schools and community groups to encourage participation in the arts as well as many other services.

Shân Edwards, chief executive at Edinburgh Printmakers, said: “After an uncertain year we are delighted to have secured this investment from SIS to help us reopen, rebuild and reimagine our programmes. As we look to the future, we’re focused on how we can support artists, who have seen their income and opportunities limited by the pandemic, along with the communities and audiences that have also been badly impacted. An expansion of our education programmes along with subsidised facilities and new residencies for artists are just some of the projects that we will be embarking upon over the next 18-months and we are grateful for SIS support.”

Chris Jamieson, head of investments at SIS, said: “Edinburgh Printmakers has achieved a huge amount in its history and the recent move to Castle Mills creates an opportunity to significantly increase its cultural impact. I’m pleased that SIS has been able to support a team who are clearly passionate about increasing their positive impact on the surrounding community and arts sector.

Edinburgh Printmakers by Page Park. Copyright Jim Stephenson 2019

“We believe that organisations like Edinburgh Printmakers have a crucial role to play in rebuilding a more inclusive economy, where positive impacts for people and the planet come first. That’s why we’ll continue to help these organisations weather the storms of the pandemic and help them look towards sustainable growth as the rebuilding process takes hold.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.