About Us
Greenwich Printmakers Gallery was established in 1979 by founding members Elaine Marshall, Jean Barham, Elizabeth Morris, Maureen Black and Susan Sands in the heart of Greenwich Market. It houses a wide range of original prints made with various techniques by 35 of our London and South East based artists. The gallery prizes itself on the high skill of its members and the high quality of the displayed work; each print is editioned and carefully made by hand by the artists with a wealth of experience in their chose medium.
The gallery prioritises its artists and is run collectively - all our members give their time and various skills to ensure the successful and continuous operations of the association, including manning the gallery in person (you can find out which artist is in the gallery on any given day by going to the 'calendar' page on our website).
Below you will be able to read more about us and find out about some of the key events in the gallery's history:
• December 1978: Founder members Elaine Marshall, Jean Barham, Elizabeth Morris, Maureen Black and Susan Sands borrow Joan Pickard’s shop at 7 Turnpin Lane for a weekend’s exhibition.
• January 1979: The founder members get around 20 people together to form a co-operative gallery. They meet at Elizabeth Morris’s house and decide to call the group Greenwich Printmakers Association (GPA). Greenwich Printmakers opens in 7 Turnpin Lane as a permanent gallery, with Joan Pickard as its landlady.
• 1981: Exhibitions in Palmerston, New Zealand, and Springfield, Illinois, USA (exchange exhibition).
• 1982: Exhibition in Melbourne, Australia.
• 1984: Exhibition in Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada (exchange exhibition).
• 1985: An arts and crafts market opens at Greenwich Market. A fruit, veg, meat and fish market had traded on the site since the 19th century, but it had declined. Founder member Elaine Marshall says that when Greenwich Printmakers opened, the market wasn’t there, there wasn’t much going on at the site, and the units around the edge were used for storage.
• 1986: Greenwich Printmakers moves from 7 Turnpin Lane to 1a Greenwich Market. The new unit is an empty shell, and members work together to turn it into a gallery.
• 1989: Greenwich Printmakers celebrates its tenth birthday by holding a special exhibition at Smith’s Galleries in London, opened by the artist Maggi Hambling.
• 1990: Exhibition in Reinickendorf, Berlin, Germany. An exchange exhibition for Russian artists is held at Woodlands Art Gallery.
• 1992: Exhibitions at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Barbican Arts Centre and the Royal Pavilion, Brighton.
• 1994: Exhibition at Artists Central Exhibition Halls, Moscow, Russia. A 15th birthday exhibition is held at St John’s Smith Square, London.
• 1997: Greenwich Printmakers is awarded a grant by the Arts Council of England to produce a series of boxed prints to mark the turn of the millennium.
• 1999: A series of four different box sets of prints on the theme of time is produced. The 96 handmade, linen boxes are filled with 12 prints each, with a total of 48 prints across all the sets. Some of the boxes are donated to museums and other institutions. Greenwich Printmakers celebrates its 20th birthday.
• 2009: Greenwich Printmakers celebrates its 30th birthday with exhibitions at the National Theatre and the gallery at the Oxo Tower, London. Plans are proposed to redevelop Greenwich Market and build a boutique hotel on the site. Greenwich Printmakers is offered compensation or relocation. The redevelopment is given the green light in 2011, following an appeal.
• 2014: Architects Barr Gazetas design improvements to Greenwich Market after the boutique hotel redevelopment is scrapped. The plan includes a new market roof, relaying cobbles, and installing a curved, stainless steel pavilion. Greenwich Printmakers is able to stay at 1a Greenwich Market. In 2016, the enhancements to Greenwich Market are completed.
• 2019: Greenwich Printmakers celebrates its 40th anniversary. Exhibitions take place at the Salvation Army International Headquarters, the Watts Contemporary Gallery near Guildford, the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington, the Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, and the Barbican Library, Level 2, Barbican in London.

Turning 1a Greenwich Market into a gallery in 1986. Greenwich Printmakers is still in this location today
