List of book arts centers

This is a list of book arts centers worldwide. These are university based programs, community programs, galleries, and museum collections, which focus on books arts, including bookbinding, book design, and the artistic medium known as artists books, all as distinct from the writing or publishing of books.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

United States

Alabama

In 1985, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama began to offer a master's degree in the book arts^[1] in the School of Library and Informational Studies. It emphasizes making books by hand.

Edith Frohock taught book arts at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Frohock specialized in painting, printmaking and artist's books and was the first instructor to teach books as art in the South. Mary Ann Sampson credits Frohock for steering her in the direction of book arts.^[2]

Space One Eleven in Birmingham, Alabama is a not-for-profit under the direction of Anne Arrasmith and Peter Prinz. The organization has exhibited books as art on numerous occasions including the work of Larry Gens Anderson, Pinky Bass, Jon Coffelt, Edith Frohock, Anne Howard, Joni Mabe, Mary Ann Sampson, David Sandlin, Joel Seah and Marie Weaver among many others who have worked in book arts.

Agnes 1992–2001 was the first commercial gallery to show book arts in the South and one of only a handful in the country. During its eight years, the gallery, owned by Shawn Boley, Jon Coffelt and Janet Hughes exhibited the work of many noteworthy book artists including Sara Garden Armstrong, Pinky Bass, Mare Blocker, Elisa Bryan, Denise Carbone, Al Edwards, Susan Hensel, Jenny Holzer, Davi Det Hompson, Lee Isaacs, Sally Johnson, Susan E. King, Jim Koss, Ruth Laxson, Miranda Maher, Emily Martin, Vicki Ragan, Tut Altman Riddick, Anita Ronderos, Jessica Rosner, Ed Ruscha, David Sandlin, Claire Jeanine Satin and Joel Seah.

OEO Press founded by Mary Ann Sampson. After studying bookmaking at UAB with Edith Frohock, Sampson says she was steering into a career in artist's books. Her press is located in Ragland, Alabama and continues to produce limited edition fine art books.

California

"Twenty-Six Gasoline Stations"

The Los Angeles art scene (see: Art in the Greater Los Angeles Area) is considered one of the founding homes of the artist's book. "Twenty-Six Gasoline Stations", created by Ed Ruscha in 1964 is one of the first artist's books. The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla has a large collection of artists' books, focusing on conceptual artists' books, and those created by California artists and presses. The library holds the complete collection of Ruscha's conceptual artist's books created during the 1960s and 70s.

The Women's Graphic Center, at the Woman's Building, was founded in 1973, for women artists to create artist's books. Exhibitions were held there. The center closed in 1991. The Lab Press was founded in the 1970s by Woman's Building co-founder Sheila Levrant de Bretteville to teach printing and the making of books.

The Otis College of Art and Design began collecting and exhibiting artists' books in the 1960s.

The San Francisco Center for the Book began in 1996. It was based on The Center for Book Arts in New York and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis (both below).

Mills College in Oakland offers undergraduate as well as graduate degrees in Book Arts. Mills College offers a unique MFA in Book Art and Creative Writing Program, the first such program in the country, which is designed to help develop the student as both a writer and a visual artist, to enhance the understanding of contemporary writing and its visual forms, and to encourage a deep exploration of the book as both a literary artifact and a material object that exists in space and time.

Florida

Florida Atlantic University's Wimberly Library is home to the Jaffe Center for Book Arts which revolves around a collection of books as aesthetic objects focused on artists' books and limited editions. In 1998, Arthur and Mata Jaffe donated their collection of 2,800 books to FAU and the Jaffe Collection opened in 2000. Since then, the collection has grown to over 6,000 cataloged materials, as well as thousands more yet to be cataloged. In 2007, an expanded Jaffe Center for Book Arts opened; it included a letterpress studio, book bindery and paper making lab. In 2011, poet and artist Helen M. Salzberg established JCBA's Artist in Residence (AIR) program which funds two residencies each academic year. The AIRs produce creative works utilizing JCBA facilities. They also teach workshops and provide mentoring opportunities to FAU students and staff. JCBA is based at a university, but the center's programming is community-based: JCBA offers workshops and presents educational book arts programming (as well as intimate concerts, films and other book art related events) for the students and faculty of FAU as well as the broader community.

Georgia

Nexus Press, in Atlanta, was a major publisher of artists books. Founded in 1978 by Michael Goodman and Gary Lee Super, Nexus Press encouraged artists to make books as original works of art. Nexus Press was one of the few artists book publishing centers that provided artists with access to offset lithography as a creative process. Though the press also had letterpress equipment, it never was a center for fine print production. It was a center for experimental book production and produced more than 150 titles, including I Want to Take Picture, by Bill Burke. The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center suspended all Nexus Press operations in 2003.

Illinois

The Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, founded in 1994, offers a wide range of classes in papermaking, bookbinding, and printing, in addition to an active exhibition program, artists' residencies, and a lecture series. The Center is also home to the Interdisciplinary Arts MFA in Book and Paper, a graduate program focused on using the book arts in the production of contemporary art.

The Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection, which is housed within the John M. Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is a large collection of artists' books. Click here to access the collection online. International in scope, the collection is strongest in works by American and European artists with work dating from the early 1960s to the present. In addition to over 4,000 artists' books, periodicals and multiples, the collection also houses reference materials to support the study of artists' books, various archives related to the field, and an extensive array of exhibition catalogs as works of art, pamphlets, and other ephemera. Anyone is welcome to visit the artists' book collection; all items may be viewed in the study room only. Hours of access vary slightly by semester.

Iowa

The University of Iowa Center for the Book is a research program dedicated to the past, present, and future of the book. Located in the University of Iowa Graduate College, the Center integrates practice in the art of the book with study of the book in society. The Center offers curricula in the arts of printing, binding, papermaking, and calligraphy, in the history and culture of books as a field of study, and in the expressive power of the book form. The Center hosts visiting lectures and workshops with book scholars and artists, including the annual Brownell Lecture on the History of the Book and Mitchell Lecture on the Arts of the Book.^[3]

The Center offers a Master of Fine Arts in the Book Arts, as well as a Graduate Certificate, which can be pursued alongside a master’s or doctoral degree in another department. The UICB also offers a joint degree with the School of Library and Information Sciences and affiliates with book scholars in UI departments and programs such as History, English, Journalism and Communication Studies, Religious Studies, the Writers’ Workshop, and American Studies.^[4]

In 2015, the Center entered a joint publishing project with the University of Iowa Press called Impressions: Studies in the Art, Culture, and Future of Books, edited by Matthew P. Brown.^[5] The series invites works that attend to the changing meanings of authorship, publication, and reading and that explain the shifting valences of print, image, speech, script, and screen.^[6]

Minnesota

Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis is the nation's largest and most comprehensive book arts center, offering extensive programs in papermaking, binding, printing, and other book-related art forms. The center has a large gallery space and sponsors a number of artist programs, including residencies, fellowships, and lecture series. In addition, educational opportunities are offered to both youth and adult learners through classes, tours, workshops and onsite visits.

Susan Hensel Gallery is the home of A Reader's Art, a long running survey show of artists books. Minneapolis, Minnesota. The mission for Susan Hensel Gallery is art, story and activism, bringing together artists working in all media in the service of story.

Mississippi

Mississippi Art Colony The colony, established in 1948 is one of the oldest continuing artists colonies in the United States. Notable instructors are Edith Frohock who taught book arts as well as, Larry Gens Anderson, Frances de LaRosa, Moe Brooker, Howard Goodson, Fred Mitchell (artist), Shirley Romer, Alvin Sella, Barbara Gallagher, Auseklis Ozols, Johnnie Winona Ross and Hugh Williams.

New Jersey

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey has several significant programs that support artists' books. The Brodsky Center (formerly, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper), in New Brunswick, New Jersey founded by Judith K. Brodsky teaches classes in book-making with an emphasis on both traditional and non-traditional (artists') books. The Rutgers University Libraries support an annual event in the fall on its Newark, New Jersey campus, it calls The New Jersey Book Arts Symposium. Founded in 1994 by Michael Joseph and Susan G. Swartzburg,^[7] the NJBAS consistently showcases artists' books by artists who reside, work, or were born or educated in the state, although its inclusive focus falls on every facet of the book arts. As well as featuring presentations by New Jersey artists, the NJBAS includes extended considerations of topics deemed of moment to students and practitioners of the book arts. The NJBAS goes beyond state borders and invites presenters from all parts of the world to speak when their expertise dovetails with that year's topic. The Symposium has posted numerous web pages including a photographic essay on a recent symposium on the relation of artists and collectors of artists' books.

New York

The Center for Book Arts was founded in 1974 by Richard Minsky, and was the first center dedicated to all aspects of book arts. It has mounted over 140 exhibitions of artists’ books. Exhibited artists include Warja Honegger-Lavater.

Franklin Furnace Archive and Printed Matter, Inc were both founded in 1976, originally as one organization which quickly splintered into two projects: the Franklin Furnace as a major collection of artists' books; Printed Matter as a publisher and distributor. The Franklin Furnace Collection is now held at the Library of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Printed Matter continues to publish and distribute artists' books, but also mounts exhibitions of artists' books, hosts book launches, and acts as an advisory service to both artists and collecting institutions. Printed Matter, Inc also hosts the annual NY Art Book Fair.

Brooklyn, New York is a center for book arts and is the home of book artist Judy Hoffman.

2007–2008 SDCA (Seaport District Cultural Association) under its founding directors, Richard Sack, Jim Wintner and Florence Wack, opened SPACE gallery on Front street in the downtown seaport area of Manhattan. Jon Coffelt was the curator/director of SPACE upstairs book arts venue. Anne Bean exhibited a tie-in exhibition with Franklin Furnace here in the Summer of 2007. SPACE' inaugural exhibition was "Cuerpos Santos" by Pinky Bass followed with an organic book installation by Judy Hoffman. SPACE venue represented artists books as an out-of-the-vernacular experience pushing the boundaries of what is considered a book.

Central Booking was founded in 2009 by Maddy Rosenberg collaborating with Jon Coffelt and Frank de Falco in DUMBO, Brooklyn gallery district. In 2010, it began publishing CENTRAL BOOKING Magazine. In early 2012 the gallery left its Dumbo space.

Booklyn Artist Alliance is an artist non-profit that helps document and distribute artist publications and also curates exhibitions. It is located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Ohio

Cincinnati has an active book arts community that formed The Cincinnati Book Arts Society approximately 9 years ago. Small but active, the society offers study groups, opportunities to exhibit, workshops and a friendly community of artists ranging from fine bookbinders, librarians, visual artists and novices. Visit the website for more information. The Cincinnati Book Arts Society in conjunction with the Cincinnati Public Library has for the past eight years sponsored an annual "BookWorks" exhibit at the downtown main library. Typically held in the spring, the exhibit features a wide range of books from small edition to one of a kind books.

Texas

College of the Mainland in Texas City, Texas just hosted a critical overview of the field of book arts called "The Book "ever after"". Co-curators Janet Hassinger and Jon Coffelt selected 38 artists for this exhibition, an overview starting from the beginning of the book arts movement with works by Ed Ruscha, John Cage, Yoko Ono and Dieter Roth to contemporary works by Pinky Bass, Coffelt, and Mary Ann Sampson.^[8] The Printing Museum in Houston has a large collection of printing equipment, mounts exhibits, and holds classes in various aspects of book arts. http://printingmuseum.org/ The Austin Book Arts Center in Austin, Texas will begin holding classes in fall 2015. ABAC is located in the Flatbed Studio building. http://atxbookarts.org/

Virginia

Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia has a large and notable collection of rare and original book art in its Special Collections Department housed in the main university library, James Branch Cabell Library. Included in the collection are books by Lothar Meggendorfer, Davi Det Hompson (aka David E. Thompson), Lucy Lippard, Louise Odes Neaderland, International Society of Copier Artists, Ed Ruscha, Dieter Roth, Barbara Kruger, Richmond Artists Association, and many others. VCU's Cabell Library is also a repository for the Women's Studio Workshop, one of the most noted large publishers in the United States of hand printed and hand bound artists' books.^[9]

Wisconsin

Activity in the book arts in Wisconsin is centered around the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For many years, Walter Hamady taught in Madison, and countless notable book artists studied with him. His Perishable Press, Ltd. is located nearby in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.^[10] Today, a considerable community of book artists live and work in and around Madison. Madison is also home to the Wisconsin Center for Book & Paper Arts and the Silver Buckle Press. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee also has an extensive Book Arts Collection. The collection’s main focus is on examples of artists' books from the late nineteenth century to the present, and it features work from 31 artists.

Canada

Also As Well Too is an artist book library based in Winnipeg. Its primary purpose is to make artist books available for the public to experience.

Art Metropole was founded by the three artists of General Idea in 1974 for the collection, distribution, publishing and promotion of artists' books. It continues today as one of the primary institutions for artists' books, with a regular exhibition programme, in addition to its publishing and distribution activities. The Art Metropole Collection, comprising some 13,000 items, is now held by the Library of the National Gallery of Canada as a special collection.

Germany

Mainzer Minipressen-Messe, also known as the biennial International Book Fair for Small Publishers and Private Presses, in Mainz. Up to 360 exhibitors from more than 16 countries and 10,000 visitors form the largest marketplace for books by small publishers.^[11]

Austria

Salon für Kunstbuch, in Vienna, is an art space, where artist books are collected, exhibited and discussed. Founded in 2007 by the Austrian artist Bernhard Cella, it hostst discussions, performances and symposiums about artist books. In 2012 the curatorial initiative Bureau for Open Culture gave a lecture at the Salon für Kunstbuch. Since 2012 the Salon für Kunstbuch is also housed in the 21er Haus which is a branch of the belvedere, Vienna.^[12] It publishes an annual list of all artist books published in Austria.^[13]

United Kingdom

Annual artists' book fairs in the UK include: 1. London Artists Book Fair ("LAB"), run by Marcus Campbell Art Books. 2. Small Publishers' Fair (London) 3. Dean Clough (Halifax) 4. Oxford Brookes University (Oxford) 5. Manchester Artist's Book Fair (Manchester) since 2006, run by Hot Bed Press Printmakers' Studio from 2010. 6. COVERED! The Artist's Book Fair (London - 31 January – 3 February 2008)

London

Three of the earliest and most extensive collections of artists books worldwide are those of the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Library of Chelsea College of Art and Design, and the Hyman Kreitman Research Centre at Tate Britain. The Tate's collection numbers about 4,000 items, includes books dating from the 1960s onwards and is international in scope with an emphasis on British artists.

Since the mid-1990s, Camberwell College of Arts (a constituent College of University of the Arts London) has run a one-year postgraduate degree programme in MA Visual Arts (Book Arts), graduating 10-15 students annually.

London College of Communication (also part of University of the Arts London) runs a three-year undergraduate degree programme in BA (Hons) Book Arts and Design. This course is earmarked for closure in 2015.

The bookartbookshop is a non-profit organisation founded in 2002 by Tanya Peixoto (co-founder of the Artist's Book Yearbook) and sells publications of artist presses and publishers of artists’ books.

The London Centre for Book Arts offers open-access studio facilities and classes in book arts, bookbinding, printing and papermaking.

Surrey

Originally founded by Meg Green as 'Atelier Soleil' in Montréal in 1996, Some Odd Pages moved to the UK in 2003 and offers workshops in flexible studio book arts, artist editions, historical bindings and unique volumes.

Bristol

The University of the West of England in Bristol publishes the bi-annual Artist's Book Yearbook, as well as a free downloadable monthly newsletter on artists' books. It began a new MA degree programme in artists' books in 2006.

Lithuania

Circle "Bokartas", Vilnius, Lithuania is an organizer of International Artists’ Books Triennials in Europe.^[14]

The 1st International Artist's Book Triennial was in 1997, in Gallery "Kaire Desine", in Vilnius, Lithuania. The theme of it was "Diary: Eight Days". 65 artists from 13 countries took part in the Triennial.

The 2nd International Artist's Book Triennial was in 2000, in Gallery "Arka" in Vilnius and in "Galerie 5020" in Salzburg, Austria. The theme of it was "Apocalypse". 138 artists from 29 countries took part in the Triennial.

The 3rd International Artist's Book Triennial was in 2003, in the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius. The theme of it was "23 Sins". 118 artists from 37 countries took part in the Triennial. The Triennial was shown in 2004 in Frankfurt Art Fair in Germany; in 2004 in Thomas Mannas’ House in Nida, Lithuania; in 2004 in Gallery "Le Carre" in Lille, France;

The 4th International Artist's Book Triennial was in 2006, in the Gallery "Arka" in Vilnius. The theme of it was "Rabbit and House". 130 artists from 29 countries took part in the Triennial. After the exhibition in Vilnius the Triennial was shown in 2007 in Leipzig Book Fair in Leipzig, Germany; in 2007 in Seoul International Book Arts Fair in Seoul, South Korea.

5th International Artist's Book Triennial Vilnius was in 2009. The theme - "Text". The Triennial was shown in 2009 in Leipzig Book Fair, Germany; In the Gallery "Arka" Vilnius, Lithuania; In the Art Centre Silkeborg Bad, Silkeborg, Denmark; In 2010 in the Gallery "Hübner Bokform, Halmstad, Sweden; In the "Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia", Venice, Italy. 330 artists from 56 different countries sent their books for the 5th International Artist's Book Triennial Vilnius 2009. The jury selected 131 artists for the exhibition.^[15]

6th International Artist's Book Triennial Vilnius was in 2012. Theme "Love".^[16] The international jury selected 94 artists from 33 countries for the exhibition. The 6th International Artist’s Book Triennial Vilnius 2012 was shown in “Scuola Internazionale di Grafica”, Venice, Italy; in Leipzig Book Fair, Germany; in Gallery “Titanikas”, Vilnius, Lithuania; in Kloster Bentlage, Rheine, Germany.

The 7th International Artist’s Book Triennial Vilnius 2015.

Australia

Australian Capital Territory

The E+ABS at the Australian National University School of Art was an active centre of production for artists’ books in Australia between 1996 and 2004.^[17] It is now called the Printmedia & Drawing Book Studio.

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) holds 1049 Australian artists' books (July 2007), the largest institutional collection of Australian artists’ books. The NGA is also one of the most active centres for discussion on artists’ books via their triannual Australian Print Symposium

The National Library of Australia (NLA) holds one of the most notable and accessible collections of Australian artists’ books in the ACT, with the collection numbering over 300. The NLA has also held regular exhibitions promoting the collection and further study on the collections, e.g. Beyond the Picket Fence: Australian women's art in the National Library's collections.

New South Wales

Southern Cross University has established an artists book collection housed in the University library.

Queensland

The State Library of Queensland holds one of the most notable collections of Australian and overseas artists’ books in Australia, with approximately 800 (as of 2007).^[18]

The Center for the Artist's Book , part of grahame galleries + editions, which opened in 1987. It houses over 500 Australian and international artists’ books^[19]

Victoria

The State Library of Victoria holds a collection of artists’ books. Exhibitions held include "Lost & Found - Peter Lyssiotis and John Wolseley: the adventures of two artists".^[20]

References

1. University of Alabama book arts program
2. scholarship
3. http://book.grad.uiowa.edu/content/center-for-the-book
4. http://book.grad.uiowa.edu/content/center-for-the-book
5. http://uiowapress.org/search/browse-series/browse-ISACFB.htm
6. http://uiowapress.org/search/browse-series/browse-ISACFB.htm
7. "Introduction to New Jersey Book Arts Symposium". libraries.rutgers.edu. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
8. "The Book" College of the Mainland Fine Arts Gallery, Texas City, Texas 2007
9. "VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives". James Branch Cabell Library. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
10. Hamady, Walter (1984) Two decades of Hamady and the Perishable Press Limited : an anecdotally annotated check list for an exhibition at Gallery 210, University of Missouri/St. Louis - 3 October 1984 to 4 November 1984 entitled: Hamady's Perishable Press, a 20th anniversary sampling of hand crafted books, Mt. Horeb, Wis. : Perishable Press.
11. "minipresse.de - Mainzer Minipressen-Messe". En.minipresse.de. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
12. "Salon für Kunstbuch". 21erhaus.at. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
13. "Salon für Kunstbuch". salon-fuer-kunstbuch.at. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
14. "Bokartas". Bokartas.lt. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
15. "Art Portal For Lithuania. Artists, Art Gallery'S, Arts Events And Art Projects". Arts.lt. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
16. "Community | artist's book creators". Artistsbook.lt. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
17. "Book Studio - School of Art - ANU". Soa.anu.edu.au. 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
18. "Home (State Library of Queensland)". Artistsbooks.slq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
19. Centre for the Artist’s Book. "Centre for the Artist’s Book". Grahamegalleries.com. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
20. Archived September 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.