Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum is excited to announce a $10,000 Sustainability Grant from Hoefler & Frere-Jones (H&FJ) of New York. H&FJ, known for creating original typefaces with deep historical roots, recognizes Hamilton for their “unique role in both safeguarding and celebrating wood type, a vital part of our visual culture, and our national heritage.”

“We’re delighted to help Hamilton secure the future of their new home,” says H&FJ’s president, Jonathan Hoefler. “Their curatorial mission, combined with an ongoing commitment to relevant and exciting programming, makes Hamilton a vibrant institution to both their community and ours. I hope others in the design community will join us in supporting their important work.”

Located just 10 blocks from the former museum, the new museum offers more than twice the space of their previous home. “The new space will be amazing, but we need to buy it, heat it and do structural improvements so we can reopen this August. “ says Hamilton Wood Type’s museum director Jim Moran. “It’s an aggressive timeline, but we’ve lost over six months of revenue due to being closed. This grant and others like it will go a long way toward making sure we keep the museum’s legacy moving forward.”

The museum successfully raised $240,000 since November 2012, which helped defray the costs of sorting, packing and shipping 21 semitrailers of printing history to their new location on the shores of Lake Michigan. Previously owned by the FormRite Company of Two Rivers, Wis., the building offers 85,000 square feet of space and will allow the museum to expand their pressroom and teaching capabilities.

“The classes we’ve offered in the past were limited by space,” says Hamilton Wood Type’s assistant director, Stephanie Carpenter. “In the new museum we’ll have a larger pressroom, additional classroom space, dedicated residency studios and a library.”

“We’re so grateful to Hoefler & Frere-Jones for their generosity,” says Hamilton Wood Type’s artistic director, Bill Moran. “The creative community has been incredibly generous with gifts large and small. And the Sustainability Grant hopefully will help us raise an additional $200,000 to help pay for the building and anticipated upkeep. We couldn’t do it without our friends.”

Contributions of time and money to support the museum’s move may be made online at http://www.woodtype.org/support.

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