A Movable Print Studio: How can larger cohorts of illustration Foundation students have access to printmaking in the absence of a permanent print studio at Lime Grove?
During this academic year, building works have impacted the access to technical resources, leading to the print studio being either closed or with limited capacity. The increase in student numbers has also impacted the way we can access technical resources and deliver curriculum. This project aims to test if we can still use printmaking in the absence of a studio, and if we can rethink how we teach in larger cohorts by bringing print workshops into teaching areas.
By working closely with print technicians, I am hoping to remove barriers that stop students engaging with printmaking, the most present one being the lack of accessibility into the area due to closures and student numbers.
I am not looking to develop a love of print in students, but to expose them to technical tools so they can make informed decisions about the mediums in their work.
My positionality: I am a lecturer in illustration at UAL Foundation course and an illustrator with a freelance design practice. Through both of these roles I understand academic settings and client based professional environments, where they overlap, differ and feed into each other. The better understanding students have of production methods such as print, the better prepared they are to navigate professional settings. I am CSM alumni and was an international student learning how the UK’s education system worked and what barriers I faced when accessing technical areas.