Lasting Impressions exhibition, The King’s Manor, Exhibition Square, York, June 22 and 23

Usual opening hours for the Common Room shows are 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, but more than 600 graduates from across the world will be gathering in York over the weekend to mark the university’s 1963 opening, prompting the decision to add this extra chance to see the printmaking exhibition.

“This show of original artists’ prints has been described by university staff as ‘the best ever’ in that venue, and by one York artist as ‘a national standard exhibition’,” says Kentmere House owner Ann Petherick.

On display are 50 prints by more than 30 artists that capture the diversity of printing techniques available: etchings, linocuts, woodcuts, monoprints and screenprints. “The purpose isn’t only to illustrate the range of printmaking processes but also to convey the amount of skill and painstaking dedication that go into the making of an artist’s print, as opposed to a mass-produced reproduction,” says Ann.

During the weekend, artists David and Margaret Morris, from Harrogate, and Val Mager, from Beverley, will be on hand to talk to visitors and demonstrate tools and techniques they use.

Since the exhibition opened, both David and Val have heard that their work is to be included in the 2013 Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition in London.

Ann Petherick sees artists’ prints as a means of encouraging more people to take the plunge to buy original art. “According to the Arts Council, at least six million people would like to buy an original piece of art but have never done so,” she says. “An artist’s print is original work, albeit produced as a multiple, and can act as a stepping stone towards buying original paintings.”

Prices start at under £100 and some prints are also available unframed. The Own Art staggered payment scheme, spread over ten months with no interest and no deposit, is in operation too for a show that will run until October 4.