Hot Bed Press was established in 1994 by a small group of graduates/artists looking for somewhere to print.

The group established a ‘not for profit’ company operating on charitable principles with the aims of supporting artists, promoting printmaking and educating a wider audience in printmaking and related arts.

After occupying various locations in Manchester and Salford, in 2006 Hot Bed Press moved into the Casket Works in Salford. This Victorian warehouse provides spacious industrial surroundings befitting creative printmaking and offers the opportunity for expansion as we introduce more people to this exciting art form.

We have an ambitious programme of development and pride ourselves in leading the way amongst our peers to establish Hot Bed Press as one of the major arts providers in Salford and Greater Manchester. In the past 8 years we have continued to expand in terms of our membership, the space we occupy, the facilities we offer and the courses we run. Membership has continually risen from 35 members in 2006 to over 240 members currently and we have grown from offering 12 courses each year to the current level of 50 per year, almost all of which are oversubscribed.

Hot Bed Press is entirely self-financing and we have become a leading example to other arts organisations and print workshops in how to run a successful resilient arts business and to implement innovative approaches to income generation.

We have strong links with the University of Salford, Manchester Metropolitan University and provide an annual set of workshops/curriculum cover for The University of Huddersfield. We also collaborate with other local arts and culture partners and liaise with national and international organisations, offering bursaries, placements, residencies and research fellowships.

Whilst committed to bringing in new developments in printmaking we embrace the heritage of traditional skills and techniques, incorporating new methods into tried and tested print processes with the intention of bringing in a hybrid approach that gives the best of both worlds.

The studio has incorporated recent innovations into routine practice and continues to improve and innovate on health and safety and environmental issues. Our screenprinting is waterbased, we use vegetable oil for cleaning and new, safer degreasants and mordants