Description

Serving the community for the better part of a century (1906-1988), the Malvern Fire Station is now home to Melbourne's only 24-hour community print studio.

The building is located in what is now a heritage precinct. When facing demolition in 1989, supporters rallied the then-Malvern City Council to save it and the building was repurposed into an arts facility. It rapidly became a centre for printmaking and since 2001 has been known as the Firestation Print Studio. It comprises an exhibition gallery, a workshop with three etching presses and another workshop with several letterpress and relief printers, along with several artists’ studios upstairs. It is a unique facility supporting the creative life of Stonnington and beyond.

What's On

Visitors will have open access to explore our gallery with its current exhibition; the main studio, where there will be demonstrations of printmaking techniques such as etching, linocut collagraph and monoprint; and the backroom, where visitors will have the chance to participate in letterpress, gel plate printing and other hand printing techniques.

Resident artists’ studios will be open for a peak behind the creative scenes. Our printmakers will be happy to share their artistic development, from the inception and execution of artwork to its presentation and display in our gallery. There will also be daily raffles with a wonderful array of prizes.

Children's Activities

Children will be able to take part in simple printmaking techniques, such as gelli plate and letterpress printing, creating unique pieces of artwork to take home. They will also be able to see how traditional / modern printmaking produces stunning results in the hands of our team of volunteer printmakers