Contact Us
Gary Walton - Founder & Director
Gary.Walton@CincinnatiTypePrintMuseum.org
Gary Walton fell in love with printing in 1968 after one semester of printing basic at Schwab Middle School. Originally an offset press instructor, he has trained himself in the art of color separation, pre-press, advance color printing, digital color printing, and is now sought for his print media expertise. In addition to training over 3,400 graphic communications students at Cincinnati State, he has consulted and trained printers in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and other parts of the country.
Gary is devoted to the printing craft and continuously promotes the industry. He founded the Cincinnati Type & Print Museum to continue to advocate for the printing industry and to share its history.
History of the Cincinnati Type & Print Museum
2011 – Gary Walton began talking with community leaders about the possibility of building a letterpress print shop in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Lower Price Hill.
2012 – Gary teamed up with BLOC Ministries to develop the idea of a job-training center using historic printing equipment. This idea eventually became the Cincinnati Type & Print Museum (CT&PM).
2013 – BLOC Ministries purchased the building at 2307 West 8th Street.
2014 to 2015 – Gary began acquiring antique presses and other specialized equipment from local printing companies and collectors to form the core of the museum’s permanent collection.
2015 – BLOC Ministries was granted funds from the City of Cincinnati to renovate 2307 West 8th Street to house the museum.
November 22, 2016 – The Grand Opening of the Cincinnati Type & Print Museum was a huge success. More than 75 people attended, including Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley.
2017 – Cincinnati City Council allotted funds to build a second building next to the existing building. This second building’s concrete base can hold the weight of heavier presses and facilitate an expanded job training program.
August 3, 2018 – More than 60 people attended the Second Grand Opening. The day’s events were covered by reporter Brad Underwood on the Local 12 Evening News.
June 2, 2019 – The CT&PM helped the Cincinnati Reds celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the 1919 World Series. Museum staff and volunteers took a 7x11 Chandler & Price printing press to Great American Ball Park, and handed out close to 25,000 replica 1919 World Series tickets. The museum was featured on the “big screen” during the game, and on a 30-second spotlight on Fox Sports. After the event, the Cincinnati Business Courier sent the story to over 500,000 Reds fans.
2020 – COVID-19 reduced our ability to do off-site events and training, but we continued to have increased visitation over previous years. We also remained in the “black” financially.
November 22, 2021 – The CT&PM celebrated its 5th birthday with an Open House that attracted 49 people.
2022 - We wrapped up the year with a total of 168 tours to 642 guests in all, our best year yet!