South Street Seaport Museum And Bowne & Co. to Launch Free Fresh Prints Open House
See how the designers at Bowne lock up limited edition designs.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Mar. 01, 2024
South Street Seaport Museum's 19th century-style letterpress printers, Bowne & Co. is offers a monthly opportunity for you to learn about letterpress printing and get hands-on with the Museum's working printing history and graphic arts collection--the Fresh Prints open house--at 211 Water Street in the South Street Seaport Historic District.
Resident printers at Bowne & Co. create bespoke designs produced using the Seaport Museum's extensive working collection of historic printing presses, moveable type, illustrations, and additional equipment. Bowne & Co. is a prime example of how the Seaport Museum is dedicated to preserving New York's history as well as the skills and expertise it took to run a turn-of-the-century business like this. bowne.co.
Fresh Prints Open House | First Thursday of Every Month | 6-7:30pm | 211 Water Street | Free
Come to Bowne & Co. for a one-of-a-kind New York experience! These monthly open houses will feature a breadth of printing equipment that you will be invited to use. You'll get to see how the designers at Bowne lock up limited edition designs that showcase some of the more eccentric parts from the Seaport Museum's printing and graphic arts collection.
Advanced registration is encouraged for these workshops but walkups will be accommodated as possible. Anyone ages 12 and up is welcome. All participants get to take home the items they print during the afternoon. Can't stay the full 90-minutes? No problem! Leaving a bit early is fine, but you might miss out on taking home something special. seaportmuseum.org/fresh-prints
Upcoming 2024 Open Houses:
Thursday, March 7, 6pm
Thursday, April 4, 6pm
Thursday, May 2, 6pm
Thursday, June 6, 6pm
Thursday, July 4, 6pm
Thursday, August 1, 6pm
Thursday, September 5, 6pm
Thursday, October 3, 6pm
Open houses will continue through Fall 2024.
About Bowne & Co.
The original Bowne & Co. was established by Robert Bowne in 1775 and is one of New York's oldest printing firms. In 1975, the 19th-century-style print shop that you can visit today was created to honor the Bicentennial of Bowne & Co., Inc., in partnership with the South Street Seaport Museum and the Bowne Foundation. Today, it weaves together New York's maritime and printing heritage through the Bowne & Co. Printing Office--a workspace that continues the age-old tradition of job (or small batch) printing using historic presses from South Street Seaport Museum's working collection--and Bowne & Co. Stationers, a 19th century-style gift emporium selling a carefully-curated selection of unique wares including books, stationery, and oddities, as well as house-designed and -printed paper goods. seaportmuseum.org/bowne-co-stationers
About the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of "Where New York Begins." seaportmuseum.org.
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