WELCOME TO BIRMINGHAM'S PRINTMAKING STUDIO!
We offer Etching, Intaglio, Lithography, Relief & Digital facilities. We are committed to non-toxic printmaking in a community workspace with membership and monthly workshops available.
Visit Us
2717 Seventh Ave South, Suite 203
Birmingham, AL 35233
Hours
We are open to the public
Saturdays 12pm–4pm, and by appointment
About Us
PaperWorkers Local is a non-profit artists' co-operative established the summer of 2013 in Birmingham, Alabama. We are a group of artists actively working to promote the understanding and appreciation of art, as well as to create opportunities for artists in Birmingham, and beyond. We do that by building community among Birmingham's printmakers, providing professional-quality studio and exhibition space, and by providing workshops at all levels. Since 2013 we have operated a co-operative work space where we also offer workshops and host public art exhibitions and artist’s talks. We are generously funded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and have been grateful to receive support from other sponsors including the Alabama Visual Arts Network and the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation.
MISSION
The mission of PaperWorkers Local is to enable and nurture the making, exhibition, and appreciation of original fine art prints and other works of art on paper.
PaperWorkers Local is a resource dedicated to enriching the Birmingham Arts Community through exhibitions, workshops, and classes. We also provide affordable studio space, access to process-oriented equipment, and professional development opportunities for artist members.
VISION
We believe that:
Art-making must be sustained as an integral aspect of a thriving community.
The practice of printmaking, and art-making generally, can create a community that cultivates collaboration, innovation and the exchange of ideas.
All artists in our region need access to an affordable, inclusive, professional printmaking facilities.
Education and advocacy through art-making can foster new relationships and partnerships between artists and the community that can improve the quality of life for everyone.
HISTORY
A group of artists of mixed background and education founded PaperWorkers Local in the summer of 2013. As artists who have chosen to make their homes and base their careers in Birmingham, these artists share a strong desire to have a meaningful local presence. To that end they have built their co-operative around Birmingham’s first and only publicly accessible printmaking facility.
PaperWorkers Local was established as an open, collaborative workspace in order to give artist printmakers affordable access to professional quality facilities and equipment. The founding artists worked to purchase and recondition presses, tools, and additional equipment in order to provide a functioning studio. This is a space where the public can experience works of art and interact with artists in the same studio space where those works have been made. The very broad variety of artmaking processes makes the studio accessible to all sorts of people as well as very conducive to collaborations and beneficial dialogues among artists, viewers and patrons.
Since its founding PaperWorkers Local has offered dozens of workshops teaching hundreds of students a variety of printmaking and related art-making techniques. The co-operative organizes about eight art exhibitions every year, both on-site and at other locations, featuring the work of local and nationally recognized artists at all stages of their careers.