Pick the Right Printmaking Session at The Studio at SAM

Choose self-guided stamping for a flexible museum visit, a Saturday Print Shop session for an artist-designed print, or a second-Saturday Partners in Print activation for letterpress. The Studio at SAM is not a conventional class with a separate workshop booking: it is a temporary fourth-floor space at the Seattle Art Museum, and regular activities are drop-in, first-come, first-served and included with museum admission.

Pick what you want to make and when you can visit; the tool identifies the closest match.

The Studio Is a Drop-In Space, Not a Conventional Class

The Studio at SAM combines a print shop, lounge and reading nook on the Seattle Art Museum’s fourth floor. Its scheduled run is October 1, 2026–January 10, 2027, with programming concentrated on Thursdays and Saturdays, according to SAM’s Studio program page.

That format changes what visitors need to reserve. There is no separate registration for the regular Print Shop activities described here, and there is no additional activity charge beyond any museum admission that applies. Instead, visitors choose a date from the Studio calendar, enter the museum and participate on a first-come, first-served basis.

The word “printmaking” covers three substantially different experiences in this program. Self-guided visitors compose on paper with prepared stamps, ink and markers. Scheduled Print Shop participants make a print using an original design connected to the featured artist. Partners in Print sessions use wood type and ink for letterpress. Choosing among them matters more than choosing between nominally similar museum dates.

The self-guided setup is the least schedule-dependent, but it still does not mean that visitors can expect the Studio on every day or during every hour the museum is open. SAM describes self-guided printmaking as always available in the print shop, meaning during listed Studio access rather than throughout all general museum hours. Check the live Studio calendar before building a visit around it.

Match the Format to What You Want to Make

Best Fit	What You Do	Date to Choose
Flexible museum visit	Use stamps, ink and markers in response to a letterpress prompt	A listed Studio date
Artist-connected print	Make a print from an original featured-artist design	A listed Print Shop session, generally Saturday
Letterpress words	Arrange wood type and print with ink	A second-Saturday Partners in Print activation

Self-Guided Stamping Works Around a Gallery Visit

The self-guided option uses artist-designed stamps, ink and markers. Visitors respond to a letterpress prompt, then keep the result or add it to the collective print wall. It is closer to stamping and composing on paper than to taking a full printmaking workshop.

Choose this format if the Studio is one part of a broader museum visit, if your arrival time is uncertain or if you do not want to plan around a fixed artist-led window. It also fits a Thursday evening better than the scheduled formats, provided that the date is a public Studio date rather than a Member Night.

Self-guided access does not establish that every material or prompt will remain the same through January. Featured artists change monthly, and the live calendar is the reliable place to confirm what is operating on a particular date.

Print Shop Sessions Offer the More Substantial Process

The scheduled Print Shop format is the closer match for visitors who want to use printing equipment and work with an artist or teaching artist. Participants learn about the featured work and make a print from an original artist design. These sessions are generally scheduled on Saturdays.

The opening Print Shop program is Saturday, October 3, from 10 am to 3 pm. Teaching artist Nikki Jabbora-Barber leads woodblock printing using a design by Fulgencio Lazo. Visitors can also watch Lazo and his team create a Día de los Muertos tapete. Activities are drop-in and do not require registration, but participation is first-come, first-served. SAM’s October 3 schedule also lists family tours and bilingual storytime; visitors are asked to arrive 5–15 minutes early for those programs to secure a place.

A drop-in label should not be read as a guarantee of immediate access to the printing activity. If making a print is the primary reason for the museum visit, arrive near the beginning of the listed session rather than treating the ending time as the arrival deadline. The published information does not provide a capacity figure or an estimated wait, so neither can be promised in advance.

Partners in Print Is the Letterpress Choice

Partners in Print is the distinct option for visitors who want to arrange and print words rather than reproduce an artist-designed image. The October activation uses wood type and ink to create a community-focused poster.

The October session is October 10 from 11 am to 3 pm, as listed in the Partners in Print event details. Because this format is tied to the second-Saturday activation, a general Thursday visit is not an equivalent substitute. Visitors primarily interested in letterpress should plan around the listed Partners in Print date.

October Dates Show How the Schedule Changes

October’s calendar illustrates why “The Studio at SAM” is not a single repeated class. The month moves between self-guided access, teaching-artist sessions, work with the featured artist and letterpress.

Date	Time	Main Format
October 1	4–8 pm	Self-guided printmaking
October 3	10 am–3 pm	Woodblock printing and tapete work
October 10	11 am–3 pm	Partners in Print letterpress
October 17	11 am–3 pm	Woodblock printing with Fulgencio Lazo
October 24	11 am–3 pm	Printmaking with Nikki Jabbora-Barber
October 31	11 am–3 pm	Woodblock printing with Fulgencio Lazo

The October 17 and 31 sessions feature woodblock printing with Fulgencio Lazo. SAM’s October 17 listing provides the event-specific details. On October 24, teaching artist Nikki Jabbora-Barber leads printmaking using Lazo’s design; the October 24 event page confirms the 11 am–3 pm window.

The repeated Saturday hours do not mean the activity is interchangeable from week to week. October 10 is the wood-type letterpress date, October 17 and 31 put the featured artist in the print shop, and October 24 uses the featured artist’s design with a teaching artist. October 3 starts earlier and includes additional programs.

Featured artists change monthly, so October’s artist, design and exact sequence should not be projected onto November, December or January. Use the live Studio calendar for later dates rather than assuming that a particular October activity continues throughout the complete October 1, 2026–January 10, 2027 run.

Admission Depends on the Date, Not the Activity

Regular Print Shop events are included with museum admission. They do not carry a separate activity fee and do not require registration. This guide does not quote a general-admission price because the supplied program information does not provide a current price figure; check SAM’s ticket information before purchasing.

Admission is free to everyone on the first Thursday of each month. For the Studio’s October 1 opening, self-guided printmaking runs from 4 to 8 pm, and a jazz performance is scheduled from 6 to 7:30 pm. Free-day tickets are available online or onsite, according to SAM’s October 1 Free First Thursday listing.

Free First Thursday is therefore the clearest fit for someone who wants self-guided printmaking without regular museum admission, but it is not the October date for the artist-led woodblock or letterpress sessions. Those are scheduled on later Saturdays.

SAM also offers discounts and free-admission programs with eligibility requirements. Because those requirements can differ by program, verify them on SAM’s current discount list before buying a ticket. A discount available to one category of visitor does not establish free or reduced admission for everyone.

Second Thursdays Are Reserved for Members

Do not choose the second Thursday of the month for an ordinary public Studio visit. Those evenings are Member Nights, when members have the Studio to themselves.

The October Member Night falls on October 8. It is free with a member RSVP, and members may purchase discounted guest tickets, according to SAM’s Member Night details. That access rule applies to the designated Member Night; it should not be confused with Free First Thursday or a public Saturday Print Shop session.

For a nonmember choosing between October Thursdays, October 1 is the public free-admission opening and October 8 is not an ordinary public Studio evening. Later months should be checked individually because the exact calendar date of the first and second Thursday changes.

Build a Wet Downtown Day Around the Session Time

The Seattle Art Museum is at 1300 First Avenue, with the entrance at First Avenue and Union Street. It is one block from Pike Place Market, making the Studio practical as the fixed indoor portion of a downtown day.

Regular museum hours are Wednesday 10 am–5 pm, Thursday 10 am–8 pm, and Friday through Sunday 10 am–5 pm. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday. Holiday hours differ, so confirm the date on SAM’s visitor page.

General museum hours are only the first check. A Saturday closing time of 5 pm does not extend an 11 am–3 pm Print Shop session, and regular Thursday opening does not override a members-only Studio evening. Confirm both the museum hours and the event-specific window.

For a Saturday artist-led session, use the printing window as the day’s anchor. Visit Pike Place Market first, enter SAM before the session begins and go to the fourth-floor Studio with enough time to handle first-come access. The galleries can fill the time before or after participation without depending on dry weather outdoors.

For October 3, account for the earlier 10 am Print Shop start. For the later October Saturday sessions, the activity begins at 11 am. If family tours or bilingual storytime are part of the October 3 plan, follow SAM’s request to arrive 5–15 minutes early for those specific programs.

A self-guided Thursday visit allows more flexibility because the museum remains open until 8 pm during regular Thursday hours. On October 1, however, the published Studio window begins at 4 pm rather than at museum opening. Someone arriving earlier can visit the galleries first, but should not assume the self-guided activity starts at 10 am.

The compact downtown location also makes it possible to pair the museum with nearby indoor stops without moving a fixed print session. For route options arranged around weather and neighborhood proximity, use the rainy-day neighborhood planning guide.

Check Three Details Before Going

First, identify the exact outcome you want: a casual stamped composition, an artist-design print or wood-type letterpress. The Studio’s event names alone do not make those differences obvious.

Second, verify the date on the live calendar. Thursdays and Saturdays are the main programming days, but the first Thursday can be a public free day, the second Thursday is reserved for members, and Saturday formats change during the month.

Third, use the event’s start time as the practical arrival target when making a print is the priority. Registration is not required for the regular drop-in programs, but first-come access means a late arrival can reduce the opportunity to participate. No published wait-time or capacity figure is available in the supplied information, so arriving near the start is the only concrete planning advantage stated by the program.