A group of artists is desperately pleading for clarity about the future of Norwich's Wensum Lodge amid talks about its closure.
Norwich Printmaking Hub set up base at the King Street property in 2021, relocating from Anglia Square after 10 years there as Print to the People.
The not-for-profit business is promoting protest petitions set up by both Labour and the Greens after the Tory-controlled county council announced plans last month to cease adult learning services at the city site.
However, the controversial decision to close and sell off part of the complex has been held up after Labour councillors 'called in' the decision, so that it will go before the council's scrutiny committee.
Wensum Lodge has been used for adult learning since the 1960s but the county council say these services are increasingly moving online.
That has left those using Norwich Printmaking Hub fuming and concerned about their future.
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The studio aims to promote and provide access to traditional printmaking processes, offering bespoke courses with specialist tutors and experienced technical support in their open-access sessions.
Laura Buckland, manager of the print studio, said: “It is blatant that funding has been stripped, especially for the arts, and that their aim has been to cash in on selling the site for some time.”
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The hub did have to use online sessions during Covid restrictions but Laura insists: “Face-to-face learning is absolutely in demand, especially post-pandemic.”
They are supporting both the Labour and Green petitions, the latter of which already has more than 5,300 online supporters.
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“We are determined to do our bit, not just for ourselves but for other creative businesses too,” Laura said.
“We should be given the chance to revive what has been undermined and undervalued for so long.”
For more about the hub's work and its efforts to save Wensum Lodge, head to their Instagram page or norwichprintmakinghub.com.
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