Graphic Arts Workshop
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The Graphic Arts Workshop (GAW) has been a hotbed of fine art printmaking in San Francisco since 1954, when it began as part of the Art Department of the California Labor School. The school was closed in 1957 due to political persecution during the McCarthy era, but the workshop survived as an independent entity. Many well known Bay Area artists have belonged to GAW over the past decades. Today, GAW is a working artists' cooperative, with members sharing expenses and the work of maintaining a large studio.In contrast to today's world of technology, many of the techniques used at GAW are centuries-old, although most have modern (and less toxic) refinements. They include etching, woodcut, linocut, letterpress, monotype and monoprint, lithograph, screenprint, and endless combinations and variations. Each artist works in his or her own style, but all produce original fine art prints, not reproductions.