Hamilton Ink Spot opens June 14, 2014, concurrent with Metro Transit’s Green Line opening and Northern Spark’s all-night arts festival. The new Ink Spot storefront is located steps from the Green Line at 375 N. Wabasha Street in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Hamilton Ink Spot features Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum’s merchandise for sale, as well as a co-op space for Twin Cities artists to create and exhibit their original posters, cards, clothing and other printed work. On July 3, the public is invited to return for a grand opening celebration with the co-op members for free music, gallery show and other activities.

Operated by Hamilton’s artistic director, Bill Moran, the 2,200-square-foot studio offers gallery space, a retail shop, working letterpress and screen printing studio, a classroom venue for individualized study and group workshops, and professionally guided internships. An internationally respected artist and designer, Moran has worked since 1986 in Saint Paul and since 2011 from the Wabasha Street location. He has been involved with the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum since 2001.

Hamilton Ink Spot is the first venture to which Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum lends its name. Based in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, Hamilton is the only museum dedicated to the preservation, study, production and printing of wood type. With 1.5 million pieces of wood type and more than 1,000 styles and sizes of patterns, Hamilton’s collection is one of the premier wood type collections in the world.

Moran radiates with enthusiasm for the new venture saying, “Hamilton Ink Spot is a chance to share a treasure of American printing with Twin Cities’ design and letterpress lovers. Having a store in a major metropolitan area is something our fans and friends have been asking us to do for a few years and we’re excited to make it happen.”

The City of Saint Paul’s Joe Spencer shares Moran’s excitement and adds, “Ink Spot is the perfect gathering place to both showcase the amazing talent of this national design mecca we call home. Ink Spot is a wonderful place to bring great artists and designers together along with their adoring audiences.”

At its opening, Hamilton Ink Spot will feature the work of its co-op members, including the following artists:
* Lunalux’s Jenni Undis
* Designer and printer Taylor Snyder
* Illustrator and designer, Bill Ference
* Designer Sam Anderson
* Sister Black Press’ Monica Edwards Larson
* Jeff Johnson and Replace
* Designer Jesse Lindhorst
* Designer Andy Nelson
* McNally Smith College of Music

“Like the Ink Spots of old, another voice in Saint Paul adds harmony. What a marvelous way to extend the collection and opportunity for printers,” concludes Hamilton’s museum director, Jim Moran.

To learn more about Hamilton Ink Spot’s co-op memberships, workshops, internships, merchandise and exhibition gallery, please email bill@woodtype.org or visit http://woodtype.org/visit/hamiltoninkspot

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