Visiting artists, graphic designers, printers, typographers and enthusiasts are invited to join with local residents to take part in a new celebration of printing and printmaking at the New England Regional Art Museum on 30th April as part of the inaugural Wimble’s Wayzgoose event.
The Wimble’s Wayzgoose weekend of activities will kick off at 1.30pm with a free half day seminar at NERAM on the past, present and future of printing with a range of leading guest speakers including historians, librarians and cutting edge designers. All weekend there are also workshops and masterclasses for all ranges of skills with leading artists in wood engraving, screenprinting posters and bookbinding and on Sunday there will be a big public event – The Printer’s Picnic at NERAM.
“Traditionally a wayzgoose was a special event for printers and their families who took a dinner and an excursion in the country to mark the beginning of the season when they had to work by candlelight” said Robert Heather, Art Museum Director. “More recently it has become a community celebration around a printing press or workshop where artists, craftspeople, designers, technicians and printers get together with their friends and families.”
“We are celebrating the first Wimble’s Wayzgoose here at NERAM from the 28th to 30th April in honour of the collection of F.T. Wimble which is held in the Museum of Printing and includes a unique range of printing equipment as well rare wood and metal type,” he said. “We have been working with letterpress artist, collector and design Clint Harvey as well as members of local artist group the Black Gully Printmakers to assemble a number of activities which will help introduce people to the artform.”
“NERAM is holding a range of fun activities for the wider community to come and discover the treasures we have in the Museum of Printing as well as learn more about printing history, techniques and processes. These will be accompanied by a series of masterclasses, workshops and talks which have attracted leading artists, designers and collectors to Armidale to take part in a weekend of printing mayhem.
“We are also inviting the people from across northern NSW and further afield to come along on Sunday 30th April for a Printer’s Picnic at NERAM which will include a Mini-Print-Maker’s Market, a barbeque with local craft beers and wines, live music and kids activities as well as artist talks, demonstrations, pop-up exhibitions and an outdoor printing event based upon the story of the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt,” he said.
NERAM is also currently hosting New Impressions, a major exhibition of letterpress printing by artists from around the world which is on loan from the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two River’s Wisconsin (USA) as part of NERAM’s Print Room series of exhibitions.
The weekend will also include a number of presentations in association with the launch of the book Keep the Presses Running (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2017) by Armidale based print historian and researcher Dr Benjamin Thorn, which has been supported by the New England Regional Art Museum and the Royal Historical Society.
Words, Text and Images seminar program
Wimble’s Wayzgoose program 28-30 April 2017
Further information at NERAM website
The inaugural Wimble’s Wayzgoose event is being supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation and is assisted by the Bacon Factory, Hamilton Wood Type Museum, Black Gully Printmakers, ADFAS Armidale and is part of the Print Room series of exhibitions at New England Regional Art Museum.
