Bay View Printing Company has been making letterpress prints for over a century. In 2015, the company was purchased by Ashley Town, a former professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. She creates letterpress prints and custom cards in this historic Bay View shop that houses 14 antique letterpresses and a collection of more than 400 wood and lead typefaces.
Visitors can tour the shop, purchase hand-crafted locally made goods or participate in a Drink&Ink workshop. What’s a Drink&Ink workshop? It’s where you and your friends head to the shop with beer or wine in hand, and then learn about wood and lead typefaces and how they work with antique presses. The workshop is also totally hands-on: In addition to learning how letter-pressing works, you’ll get to create a letter-pressed masterpiece to take home. Come prepared with a favorite phrase or type-based design and prepare to bring it to life on the page through selecting the typeface, arranging it on the paper, slathering the block type with ink, and eventually, using a press to create the imprint on your poster.
In late 2017, 10 local artists worked together to paint a stunning mural on the side of the Bay View Printing Co. building. The uplifting mural is a must-see on its own!