Help Tori Launch SuperMutt Press in Pittsburgh

Help me get SuperMutt Press up and running!

My name is Tori Baggot and I live in Swissvale, PA. I have just started the letterpress printing business that I have been working on for over a year, and I need an additional financial boost to get going. I recently acquired a printing press (a Heidelberg Windmill 10x15 blackball for the print nerds), and I am raising money to keep it running, and cover all the many start-up costs.

Because of some very generous early donors, I'm now moved into my space, electrified and finally able to print, but I still have a bit of figuring out how this whole business thing works to do. My goal is to make letterpress printed goods that bring delight and joy to people, and to make them really well. With all the pain and sadness happening right now, this feels especially important to me, and I intend to use a portion of profits to contribute to caring for our communities. Beyond giving financially, I also hope to be a resource for others to use print for their causes supporting justice for oppressed people, human rights, and access to healthcare.

Your support means the world to me, because I can not do this alone, nor do I want to!

A bit more about how this got started:

My love of letterpress solidified instantly in 2011 after my first class in college (shout out to Mary Mashburn, Bob Cicero, Allison Fisher and the whole Globe type collection). After college, I was given the opportunity to start my printing career in 2013 at Gilah Press in Baltimore and to continue it four years later in Pittsburgh at Sapling Press (shout out Kat Gallagher and Lisa Krowinski). These opportunities and connections to the world of letterpress have deepened my love for the craft.

Last winter, I was connected to Alisa Dix of Third Termite Press who needed to find a new home for her collection of machines and type she built up over decades. By helping her with this bittersweet task, I met even more letterpress friends and was able to acquire well-loved type and ephemera, and very importantly, the Heidelberg Windmill press that I need your help to keep running! The press left its garage home in Oakland (that’s in Pittsburgh) in July and over-wintered in a very gracious friend’s garage here in Swissvale. This past March, it moved to yet another (final) garage where I now get to do the thing I love most once again.

How your contribution helps:

I am so very grateful to everyone reading this for all the support I’ve already received and for any that can be given. The last big push before production can really pick up involves:

-Moving the press - $4,000 DONE!

-Electrifying the press - $1,500 DONE!

-Workshop setup including insulation to keep me warm and cool - $2,000

-All the other start-up costs like materials, marketing, a website, etc - $1000

Any amount you can give is significant. If you would like to receive updates via email or snail mail, send me your address!

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about SuperMutt Press, and I look forward to sharing my prints with you!

-Tori

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.