Cultural Buildings

Backwater Studios & Cork Printmakers

Contact Details

The Backwater Studios and Cork Printmakers are located on Wandesford Quay set back from the road and accessed through the courtyard.  It is a significant warehouse building on one of Cork’s primary quaysides, which has been sympathetically converted and extended by Jack Coughlan architects. 

Interesting architectural features include limestone and sandstone walls to main and rear blocks, a hoist canopy to front elevation with camber-headed loading doors to each floor on front elevation.  This three-bay, four-storey warehouse was originally built circa 1840. Its first use was as a grain store probably for the nearby distillery. It was then used as a timber yard and went on to become Coleman’s Printers.  It is currently in use as an art gallery, artist studios and a fine art print workshop. 

The Backwater Artists Group is an artist-led organisation with charitable status.  It is one of the largest artist-led studio groups in Ireland with 27 studios and over 30 artists working from the complex.  The Backwater Artists Group celebrates 20 years in existence this year.  An exhibition of Artist Gerry Clancy's work will be available to view on the first floor.

Cork Printmakers is an open access, fine art, print workshop for professional artists, offering facilities in etching, photo intaglio, screen printing, lithography and relief printing. The workshop also run printmaking courses for adults and facilitates education programmes for schools and special events.  Visitors are welcome to visit the 2nd floor print display room.

The building retains much of its original fabric, as well as a sense of its original scale and form. It is important for its location, its successful conservation and re-use, and as one of a group of surviving industrial buildings in Cork City.

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