A national centre for fine art printmaking is scrambling to respond to a sudden loss of state government funding, that it has relied on since its founding 45 years ago.
The Australian Print Workshop is an internationally-recognised institution in Melbourne that received four-year Creative Victoria funding of $168,630 annually until the end of 2025.
It had been preparing a year-long program to mark its 45th anniversary, but chief executive and artistic director Anne Virgo was told just before Christmas the funding, which expired at the start of January, would not be renewed.
"It's set the cat amongst the pigeons, I've got to divert extra energy and time to what is now an emergency situation for us. We don't have an answer as to what our future holds," Virgo said.
The not-for-profit runs a gallery and workshop where expert printmakers collaborate with artists and the public to produce original fine art prints.
Art from the workshop is held in the collections of major institutions in Australia and worldwide, such as London's Victoria and Albert Museum, while its prints have been exhibited in dozens of countries including Russia, Germany, China and the United States.
Some of Australia's greatest artists, such as Jeffrey Smart, John Brack and Arthur Boyd, have made prints at the workshop, as have leading contemporary artists such as Patricia Piccinini and Shaun Gladwell.
It has long collaborated with Aboriginal artists from remote communities, first working with Gooniyandi artist Mervyn Street and his contemporaries at Fitzroy Crossing more than three decades ago: one of Street's prints is currently part of a nightly animation projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House.
"To think that all of that expertise, energy, government support over 44 years to build this knowledge and expertise could just stop, it's just soul destroying," Virgo said.
The effects of the defunding are already being felt: the workshop can't afford to replace its general manager, and while Creative Victoria has offered six months of interim funding, it has yet to access any of that money.
Victorian artist Lisa Waup has been visiting the workshop's gallery since she was a student in the 1980s, and in 2024 undertook a residency with its expert printmakers.
"I just have great admiration for the Australian Print Workshop, and the thought of it not continuing in its full capacity is quite shattering to hear," she said.
NSW artist Danie Mellor has sat on the visual arts boards of state and federal funding bodies, and collaborated with the workshop to make a series of photo-based prints in 2025.
He predicts the workshop will need to rethink its operations and programming.
"It's always something of a financial shock when there's multi-year funding that doesn't go ahead... the management of that can sometimes be a very hard call," he said.
It all comes during a resurgence of interest from the public in fine art printmaking, as crowds at the second edition of the Melbourne Art Print Fair showed on the weekend.
The workshop also receives $100,000 annually from federal funding body Creative Australia as well as philanthropic support.
Unlike many other arts organisations, it owns the Fitzroy building where it has been based for decades, and has build up cash reserves.
Virgo predicts this money will be gone before the end of the year, but says without it, the workshop would be facing imminent closure.
The print workshop is one of several smaller organisations to miss out on Creative Victoria funding, said David Latham from Save our Arts.
"(It's) an absolute pittance to the government, but a wrecking ball through small but important arts incubators and organisations," he said.
"Not only will these cuts to arts organisations not fix the debt issue, it will leave a cultural deficit, so you have to ask what the point is."
Creative Victoria has been contacted for comment.
