A recently formed art group in Macclesfield is hoping to boost the local community.

Inspired by the Print Mill, a pre-pandemic creative space at The Old Sunday School Heritage Centre, The Print Block came together around six months ago.

Lucie Fitzpatrick, one of the founding members, said: “We think there should be more art in Macclesfield.

“We’re really passionate about print making, working with young people and wellbeing.”

Lucie has worked with several arts organisations and charities, volunteering with Art Space and doing marketing for the Silk Museum.

In March 2025, the group visited gallery and print studio owners to get inspired, such as the West Yorkshire Print Workshop in Huddersfield.

The Print Block were also inspired by how pottery painting studios, like Periwinkle & Clay, have ‘flipped the model’ in Macclesfield and become more accessible on the high street.

“There’s a lot of empty shops in Macclesfield since the pandemic and we just thought maybe there’s an opportunity there,” Lucie explained, highlighting the lack of ‘contemporary gallery spaces.’

The ‘Beneath the Surface’ exhibition, held by the Mill Artists Collective in October 2025 in the town’s Marketplace, showed that local people want galleries and exhibitions to be put on in the town.

The State of the Nation Report 2005 named Macclesfield the ‘least-cultured place’ in Britain, a claim which the Cheshire town has been combatting since then.

The town now holds many cultural events, such as Lantern Festivals and the annual 1261 Festival and Parade, which will celebrate its third year running this June.

The Print Block draws on Macclesfield’s rich ‘print and pattern heritage’ to advocate for arts and wellbeing.

“I think the residents of Macclesfield really want creative things and things for children [to do],” Lucie said.

“We want galleries to be for everyone, because art is for everyone.”

She explained that print is ‘really accessible,’ and you don’t have to be trained in painting and drawing to take part.

The group is looking to become a charity organisation and using art to ‘bring people together.’

Looking ahead, The Print Block would like to hold a series of workshops and have a pop-up display at the 1261 Festival to ‘give people a chance to try print.’

The group also aspires to have open a print studio in the town centre for people to make art and socialise with other art enthusiasts.

You can learn more about The Print Block via their Facebook page.

Featured image credit: Simon Ross