WHO and WHAT is Scrap Iron Press?
Scrap Iron Press: Letterpress & Book Arts Studio is a community-based art studio offering letterpress workshops and access to antique printing equipment for professional and novice artists/designers, writers and other creative 'types.' The studio is located in the beautiful Black Hills (HeSapa) of South Dakota in downtown Rapid City. We're part of the creative community at Racing Magpie (racingmagpie.com), housed in the historic Aby's Feed & Seed Grain Elevator.
What exactly is letterpress printing?
Invented by the German printer Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th Century, the moveable type printing press is a technique of relief printing. Printers compose and lock individual letters (wood and lead) onto the bed of a press, ink them, and press paper against the type to transfer the ink from the letters which create an impression on the paper—a process we are still using at Scrap Iron Press over 500 years later!
The invention of movable type began a communication revolution because printers could reuse the type. It could be arranged to spell a particular message, and then rearranged in order to print another document. The printing press and moveable type made the mass production of printed materials possible, and lead to much wider dissemination of knowledge and literacy throughout the socioeconomic classes.
Now letterpress printing and hand-made books are again part of a cultural revolution—a revolt against the notion that faster is always better. Letterpress printing follows a "slow philosophy" and the time and equipment required lend to the establishment of a collaborative workspace in which people create individual or group projects in a community atmosphere. Because FAST isn't always FIRST!
Tell me more...
Scrap Iron Press is where art, community and communication are promoted and encouraged through community engagement, collaboration and creativity. This collaborative space was created to support the art and craft of letterpress printing and book making. Artists, writers, and community members who want to build their skills have the opportunity to work along-side professional printmakers, writers, and letterpress operators using the 500-year-old tradition of letterpress printing as a creative medium.
Scrap Iron Press provides workshops, open studio sessions, equipment and material for the professional and novice who want to learn the art of communication through book arts and fine art printing. The studio offers an opportunity to those interested in producing one-of-a-kind documents ( including books, posters, broadsides, and cards) through the use of traditional letterpress, beautiful typography, and fine art bookbinding.
Join us in an environment that fosters collaborative thinking and production, while working to preserve a significant historical aspect of communication production - letterpress printing.
Scrap Iron Press: Letterpress & Book Arts Studio is a community-based art studio offering letterpress workshops and access to antique printing equipment for professional and novice artists/designers, writers and other creative 'types.' The studio is located in the beautiful Black Hills (HeSapa) of South Dakota in downtown Rapid City. We're part of the creative community at Racing Magpie (racingmagpie.com), housed in the historic Aby's Feed & Seed Grain Elevator.
What exactly is letterpress printing?
Invented by the German printer Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th Century, the moveable type printing press is a technique of relief printing. Printers compose and lock individual letters (wood and lead) onto the bed of a press, ink them, and press paper against the type to transfer the ink from the letters which create an impression on the paper—a process we are still using at Scrap Iron Press over 500 years later!
The invention of movable type began a communication revolution because printers could reuse the type. It could be arranged to spell a particular message, and then rearranged in order to print another document. The printing press and moveable type made the mass production of printed materials possible, and lead to much wider dissemination of knowledge and literacy throughout the socioeconomic classes.
Now letterpress printing and hand-made books are again part of a cultural revolution—a revolt against the notion that faster is always better. Letterpress printing follows a "slow philosophy" and the time and equipment required lend to the establishment of a collaborative workspace in which people create individual or group projects in a community atmosphere. Because FAST isn't always FIRST!
Tell me more...
Scrap Iron Press is where art, community and communication are promoted and encouraged through community engagement, collaboration and creativity. This collaborative space was created to support the art and craft of letterpress printing and book making. Artists, writers, and community members who want to build their skills have the opportunity to work along-side professional printmakers, writers, and letterpress operators using the 500-year-old tradition of letterpress printing as a creative medium.
Scrap Iron Press provides workshops, open studio sessions, equipment and material for the professional and novice who want to learn the art of communication through book arts and fine art printing. The studio offers an opportunity to those interested in producing one-of-a-kind documents ( including books, posters, broadsides, and cards) through the use of traditional letterpress, beautiful typography, and fine art bookbinding.
Join us in an environment that fosters collaborative thinking and production, while working to preserve a significant historical aspect of communication production - letterpress printing.