OUR MISSION
The Port Townsend Community Printshop + Darkroom is a collectively run community art space specializing in screen printing, relief printing, intaglio, aquatint, letterpress printing, and darkroom photography in Jefferson County, WA.
We provide a variety of ways to access the space including drop-in hours, memberships, and reduced-rated volunteer memberships. All members having 24-hour access to the space.
Drop-in open studio hours are available starting January 2026 on Tuesday nights from 5PM to 8PM, where community members can access space, equipment, materials, and education for a nominal fee. We anticipate growing in new and unexpected ways as we get more community input.
Affordable community art spaces are hard to come by, and they inherently create opportunities for individuals who would otherwise not have access to this kind of education and equipment. We desire more community spaces that foster connection, education, and cross-pollination! We are so excited to work together to make this community space come alive.
WHO WE ARE
Heidi Tucker is an artist and wallpaper hanger with a background in early childhood education, event organizing and working in cooperatively run spaces, including helping start an art collective and community-oriented cafe’s in Pittsburgh. She grew up in Port Townsend and returned 5 years ago with an arsenal of experience from living, learning, educating, working and making art in Portland and Pittsburgh for the last 20 years.
Erika Ensminger is a darkroom photographer specializing in the black-and-white silver gelatin process and cyanotype. She has a background in fundraising and working in collective spaces. Growing up in a family of artists helped shape her creativity and instilled the importance and beauty of art. Born in Durham, NC, she started working in the darkroom in elementary school. Throughout middle and high school, she spent much of her free time in the darkroom. Having this experience as a youth inspired her desire to offer that opportunity to kids and people from all backgrounds. She attended UNCA, working towards a BFA in photography, but chose to travel, which provided more appealing visual content. In Asheville, NC, she was a part of the community darkroom and volunteered for Book Works, a letterpress and print shop.
Claire Ragland is a printmaker, tattooer and mixed media artist who grew up in the NW and moved to Port Townsend after a decade in New Orleans, where she was a volunteer at The New Orleans Community Printshop, eventually leading her to pursue her MFA in Printmaking at University of New Orleans. Her favorite print mediums are Aquatint etching and screen printing.
