Greenhouse Print Space was born out of the need for a professional full spectrum open access print space in the Kansas City area. When Thayer graduated in 2009 there was no reliable full-spectrum print shop in the city. When he wanted to make prints, he drove from KC to the KU campus, to use the printshop after-hours to make his work. In 2010 he was able to continue to pursue his print work and develop his skills at The Lawrence Lithography Workshop, a fine art printer publisher shop, where he worked for close to a decade. When Thayer left TLLW, he was again without access to a print. This is where the idea that would eventually become GPS was born. Having robust experience with the day to day operations of a print shop, Thayer enrolled in the Bloch MBA Program at UMKC, where he learned about business, finally enrolling in the EScholars program, an entrepreneurial Accelerator course in which he built out the business of GSP.

His experience in his MBA program led him to recognize the poor (nonexistent) business education he received in his BFA. Every artist is an entrepreneur and small business owner, however no such education was offered in his degree. He found that this was not unusual; many artists were unsatisfied with their lack of business training. Thayer’s goal with GPS is to not just build a community of printmakers in Kansas City, and not to only promote the growth of skills in print artists, but also to grow these artists as entrepreneurs and provide them the skills they need to build robust livable careers. Greenhouse Print Space is where a printmaker can plant their roots in a foundation of technical skills and grow their career, to branch out in the world.