Highland Print Studio turns 40 in 2026 and is celebrating with an exhibition at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery that looks back over the last 40 years. The Studio was founded in 1986 by a group of local artists, who all had the ambition to create a shared space that could be a focal point for creativity.
The exhibition tracks how the organisation has grown over the years and it’s work with artists, schools and community groups. It does this through a combination of storyboards, artworks, print, photography and artefacts from the various projects from its archive. These include a 1996 exhibition that toured around Scotland in a Hillman Imp; a collaboration with the shinty community and a project that saw the studio tour the Gulf Region with an exhibition of contemporary printmaking and a portable print studio.
Alison McMenemy, Director of Highland Print Studio, said, “It has been a real treat to look back through the archive and bring the spotlight back onto some exciting and sometimes challenging times. Two highlights of pulling this exhibition together have been, firstly, the opportunity to reconnect with people who played a major part founding and sustaining the studio over the 40 years. Secondly, trawling back through our photo archive to see the individuals and groups that we have worked with. That’s been a joy and a reminder of why we do what we do.”
A busy launch event saw around 100 people from every generation of the Highland Print studios history in attendance, with the exhibition open to the public until Saturday 6 June. To mark the HPS @ 40 exhibition, Inverness Museum & Art Gallery are also hosting two special evening talks to celebrate the reach and impact of Highland Print Studio. On Wednesday 22 April the focus will be on the iconic ImpPotent project – revisiting the celebrated Hillman Imp touring artwork and the documentary Linwood No More.
This is followed by From Alba to Arabia, on Wednesday 6 May, which charts the Studio’s international collaborations across the Gulf Region. Both talks are free to attend (donations welcomed), with limited capacity and advance booking encouraged via High Life Highland’s Ticket Tailer.