Please support our Indiegogo Campaign!
Our Indiegogo campaign is LIVE with a goal of reaching $70,000 to fully renovate the basement of our historic train depot building! With this initiative we'll be able to move over a dozen presses and hundreds of drawers of type into the building and start getting set up to open the doors! We have the presses and the place! Click the button to make it new!
OUR MISSION
Long before text messaging, email or even typewriters, letterpress printing was the most common way share your thoughts and ideas through text dating all the way back to the fifteenth century. Our mission is to give hands-on access to traditional letterpress equipment to allow the community to continue to preserve, reimagine and redefine this beautiful art form for future generations.
The future Depot beautifully rendered by board member Kim Morski!
The Letterpress Depot is located in Englewood, Colorado just south of downtown Denver and has an active presence at community events all over Colorado. We are a 501c 3 non-profit with passionate volunteers and an active board of dedicated artists, printers, designers, professionals, writers, librarians, archivists, historians, dabblers, tinkerers, thinkers and makers. What we all have in common is that we have all fallen madly in love with the magic of letterpress. Sure, it may sound quaint, but we know there is something special about the smell of the ink, the feel of the paper, the weight of the type in your hands, the clanking and clinking of an old press and the joy of holding something you made with your own hands.
Many artists and printers have dreamed of one day having a press and a space of their own and that is what we want to give to you by establishing the Letterpress Depot’s permanent homebase. Through this campaign we are raising funds to renovate our historic 1915 train depot into a unique home for our large collection of nineteenth and twentieth century presses and type. Our historic building was moved in 1994 to save it from demolition and after the relocation, the foundation was never completed — until now. To take on this big project, we need the support of our community of passionate printers, artists, neighbors, history buffs, railroad aficionados and makers in Colorado and around the world.
Our Executive Director, Tom Parson is the visionary behind our working museum. Tom’s philosophy is that to really know, appreciate and understand letterpress printing means getting your hands dirty learning how to use the type and presses – and to actually use them! You won’t find anything behind glass here. Everything including our most rare and antique type and equipment is here for you to look at AND touch!
WE HAVE
Literally tons of equipment – dozens of presses and thousands of fonts of metal and wood type acquired through our executive director Tom Parson and other generous donors.
Lots of experience providing workshops, classes and demonstrations to people at all levels and of all ages.
A dedicated, passionate and knowledgeable board, enthusiastic volunteers and a supportive network of friends in the community. We even have a CPA!
An extensive library of books, some rare, on printmaking and design.
A beautiful, historic building ready to be reborn.
FOR THE COMMUNITY
Once the basement pressroom is complete, visitors and community members will be able to learn from master printers and book artists – many of which are on our board – through a full rooster of workshops and classes. The Letterpress Depot will also provide access to equipment, studio space and its extensive library to local and visiting artists, printers, historians and scholars. Check our perks to see some of the amazing printers and artists who will be among our first visitors to work and offer classes at the depot. The Letterpress Depot will offer a full range of educational programming for all ages and skill levels — there will be something for everyone from beginners to master printers.
Your contribution to this campaign will go to build a space where students, artists, designers, printers and the community can come for inspiration, hands-on experience and, most importantly, the fun of printing! We love the history of our building and all of its quirks and we are so excited to open it up to the community – even if you are not a printmaker you can appreciate the charm of our building and its story.
