welcome to the center’s 2015 annual...

Annual Report 2015 The Center for Book Arts

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WELCOME TO THE CENTER’S 2015 ANNUAL REPORT

The Center for Book Arts changes people’s lives through book arts. We are committed to exploring and

cultivating contemporary aesthetic interpretations of the book as an art object while preserving traditional

artistic practices of the art of the book. Founded in 1974 and still located in Manhattan, we were the first

not-for-profit organization of our kind in the nation, as well as a model for others worldwide. The Center

offers exhibitions, classes, public programming, literary presentations, opportunities for artists and writers,

publications, and collecting.

The first half of 2015 extended our year-long 40th

Anniversary celebration, which began in the fall of 2014.

Our celebration this year included four exhibitions drawing on our history: Redux: Selected Featured Artist

Projects Renewed organized by Maddy Rosenberg, Then & Now: Ten Years of Residencies at The Center

for Book Arts organized by me (which traveled to the Castle Gallery at the College of New Rochelle), and

Embraced: The International Community, organized by Richard Minsky. Also notable were the members’

show /mit ðə detə/: Source Materials Visualized organized by Heidi Neilson and me, and the fall

exhibition, Archive Bound, organized by Karen Jones. Our Featured Artist Projects included artists ranging

from Collette Fu and Jacob Jacobsmeyer, Elena Berriolo, and our residents. The fall also saw the exhibition

of works by our Master Faculty Fellow, Buzz Spector.

In addition, Buzz Spector taught a master faculty fellow as part of our workshops. A number of other

outstanding classes were offered in 2015 including Springback Binding, Pop-up Bugs, and Mobile

Papermill as well as core courses such as Letterpress I and Bookbinding I.

Program highlights in 2015 included standing room-only crowds for our Spring-time March History of Arts

Series on the archive moderated by Marvin J. Taylor, and another packed audience for a November artist

talk with the Guerilla Girls at The New School, held in conjunction with the exhibition Archive Bound.

The first half of 2015 concluded our collaborative poetry reading series, which resulted in a special

publication, 7 Nights: 28 Poets. We are very proud of this book, which represents the best sort of

collaboration between visual and literary artists.

It was an eventful year, and we are so proud of the many people who joined us!

Alexander Campos

Executive Director & Curator


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDUCATION

1) Classes

2) Community Outreach

EXHIBITIONS

3) Main Exhibitions

4) Featured Artist Projects

ARTISTS’ OPPORTUNITIES

5) Artists-in-Residence Workspace

6) Scholarships for the Advanced Study

7) Master Faculty Fellow

8) Fine Press Publishing Seminars for Emerging Writers

LITERARY PROGRAMS

9) Broadside Reading Series

10) Poetry Chapbook Program

11) Celebration of the Chapbook

12) TEXT/FORM Poetry Reading

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

13) Talks, Discussions and Panels

14) History of Art Series

SPECIAL EVENTS

15) Spring Benefit and Art Auction

16) Art Book Celebration

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS

17) Capital Improvements

18) Permanent Collections

19) Interns & Work-Study

20) Staff

21) Board Members

22) Funding Credits

23) Government and Foundation Supporters

24) Financial Reports (available under separate cover)


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EDUCATION

1) CLASSES

The Center continues to offer high-caliber classes in the book arts, taught by artists and experts in the

field. Courses in bookbinding, letterpress printing, printmaking, paper treatments, calligraphy, and artist

books were held throughout the year. In 2015, the Center offered approximately 150 classes over four

quarters. Classes were taught by a roster of over 50 instructors from around the country, and served a

range of students, from beginner to advanced skill levels. The Center’s educational program features a

series of core courses, designed to train students in basic through advanced book arts techniques. The

foundational classes offered through core courses are: Letterpress I & II, Bookbinding I, II, & III, and

Independent Projects: Printing & Binding. These courses teach students a strong set of skills and

ultimately allow them to explore independent artistic practice.

In addition to the core courses, the Center offers specialized courses throughout the year. Courses may

be tailored to professional artists looking to expand their practice, to advanced bookbinding students

wishing to learn a specific historical binding style, or to newcomers interested in learning basic book

arts techniques. Many professionals travel to New York City to take professional development classes at

the Center. The breadth of the Center’s course offerings ensures that all levels of students can find

suitable educational opportunities. Among the 2015 class highlights were workshops led by Béatrice

Coron, Yukari Hayashida, Helen Hiebert, Nancy Loeber, Barbara Mauriello, and Shawn Sheehy.

Classes in 2015 included:

In the Bindery:

Bookbinding I(Core), Bookbinding II(Core), Bookbinding III(Core), Experimental Writing at the Press;

Three Formats for Artists; The Puzzle Box; Introduction to Hot-Stamping and Foil; Carousel Books;

Monument in Mind: Sculptural/Architectural Artist Books; Collapsible Books; Artists’ Books: Density

with Intensity; Longstitch Variations; Bookbinding for Artists; Softcover Leather Bound Books; 19th

Century Springback Account Binding; All About the Accordion; Introduction to Hot Stamping; Formats

for Artists; The Book Under (De-)Construction; Pop-Ups and Movables; and Tunnel Books.

Bookbinding II with Susan Mills Tunnel Books with Maria Pisano


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In the Printshop:

Letterpress I(Core), Letterpress II(Core), Weekend with Emily; Wood Engraving; The Organic

Vandercook; Modular Pattern Letterpress; April Fool!; The Platen Press; Letterpress Lab: Independent

Projects; Letterpress Express; Japanese Woodcuts; Visual Poetry; Rubber Stamp: Carving and Printing;

Wood, Metal and Polymer; and the Color Reduction Woodcut.

Letterpress I with Amber McMillan Color Reduction Woodcuts with Nancy Loeber

Works on Paper:

The Mobile Mill: Intro to Hand Papermaking, Bonded: Paper Lamination for Artists, Paper Cutting,

Suminagashi, Paper Marbling, and In-Depth Illumination.

In-Depth Illumination with Karen Gorst


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2) COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Student groups regularly visit the Center for hands-on instruction, tours and discussion. During 2015

over 450 college students visited on tours and workshops from colleges including Columbia, NYU, New

School, Pratt, Long Island University, Cornell, SUNY Purchase and Stony Brook, and the School of

Visual Arts. Visiting students are afforded the opportunity to meet a staff member, look at our

exhibitions, and examine materials in the Center’s collections of equipment and of fine arts materials.

Teachers may search the Center’s permanent collection online catalogue to request particular books for

display. The Center’s Permanent Collection has proven to be

an incentive for visiting school groups.

The Center also offers short hands-on workshops in

typesetting, letterpress printing, and hand-binding to visiting

groups, which have included Columbia University, and the

Grolier Club, as well as the graphic design departments of

Hofstra, Pratt, School of Visual Arts (SVA), Parsons,

Fordham, and NYU. Design students gain insight into the

history of their craft, the foundations of hand composition,

and learn how to present their work in a unique format.

Neighborhood Book Arts Project. In December 2015, the

Center was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Shelley and

Donald Rubin Foundation’s art and social justice initiative to

provide instruction in book arts to underserved teens in New

York City’s five boroughs. Arts education and creative expression are stinted by educational reform,

thereby leaving entire communities creatively and politically "mute." The initial program in 2016 will

offer workshops outside of school by experienced instructors. Each child will receive his/her own kit of

tools and materials to take home-which they will own-enabling them to practice and extend their new

creative skills.

Book arts, with its related literary and visual components, is a gateway to further self-expression.

Students will be able to create more book art at home on their own which they can use for visual, literary

or other creative self-expression, thereby creating opportunities for traditionally marginalized

perspectives to be heard. These workshops will empower youth in New York City to create art and

instill self-confidence by learning transferable skills. By giving voice to underserved teens and youth,

these workshops can stimulate artistic activism in New York's local communities. Students will

themselves be able to explore and cultivate aesthetic interpretations of the book. Art is transformative

and these workshops bring that transformative power into daily lives.

EXHIBITIONS

3) MAIN EXHIBITIONS

Each year the Center offers four group exhibitions, centered on a coherent theme or topic, and frequently

presented by a guest curator. Exhibitions are an essential component of our programming, and one of the

primary means by which we fulfill our mission to cultivate contemporary interpretations of the art of the

“My students particularly

enjoyed seeing and holding

the metal type and feeling the

letterpress impressions on the

page. It's crucial for them to

experience these 'old' techno-

logies physically, and not just

to reflect on them and read

about them abstractly.”

– An NYU Professor


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book. Exhibition proposals, solicited throughout the year, are selected through a formal process by the

Exhibitions Committee, which includes professionals from local and national institutions. In 2015, the

Center presented four main exhibitions.

Redux: Selected Featured Artist Projects Renewed

January 23-April 4, 2015

Organized by Maddy Rosenberg, Independent Curator and Founder of

CENTRAL BOOKING.

Redux, the second of four exhibitions celebrating the Center’s 40th

anniversary, examined one of the Center’s core exhibition programs, the

Featured Artist Project which showcases a recent body of work by an

individual artist or collective around a cohesive theme. Over the Center

‘s 40-year history, this program has evolved from informal members-

only shows to its current format in our Studio and Foyer Galleries. For

this exhibition, curator Maddy Rosenberg selected nearly 30 artists who

have had a Featured Artist Project at the Center, including works that

continue the dialogue of each artist’s past presentation with an insight

into the progression of his or her work.

Curator Rosenberg notes, “I was seeking those taking the book as a

jumping off point in as many directions as possible: encompassing,

bottled, sitting atop, sometimes even skirting the fact. All of these artists engage the book as object,

whether it be a stack of printed paper, the remolding of its elements, or a visual linking of discrete

elements to form a whole. Of course this is not a comprehensive survey–it is impossible to exhibit all the

deserving artists over a 40-year period–but merely a sampling of highlights of this wonderful

opportunity the Center for Book Arts affords artists who work with the book as art.”

Artists included Tomie Arai, Lynne Avadenka, Julie Chen, Steven Daiber, Johanna Drucker, Timothy C.

Ely, Anne Gilman, Kumi Korf, Karen Kunc, Hedi Kyle, Guy Laramée, Jacqueline Rush Lee, Nora

Ligorano & Marshall Reese, Richard Minsky, Leah Oates, Tom Phillips, Sarah Plimpton, Benjamin D.

Rinehart, Susan Rotolo, Diane Samuels, Rocco Scary, Mara Adamitz Scrupe, Susan Joy Share, SP

Weather Station, Barbara Tetenbaum, Cynthia Thompson, Harvey Tulcensky, and Claire van Vliet.

Then + Now: Ten Years of Residencies at The Center for Book Arts

April 17-June 27, 2015

Organized by Alexander Campos, Executive Director & Curator, The Center for Book Arts

Then + Now, the third of four exhibitions celebrating the Center’s 40th anniversary, examined two of the

Center’s core programs: the Artist-in-Residence Workspace program and the Scholarship for Advanced

Study in Book Arts. The exhibition presented selected work by 60 artists who had participated in these

programs over the last decade.

For each participating artist, work completed during his/her past residency was presented along with

new work. Artists included were: Manuel Acevedo, Tomie Arai, Katie Baldwin, Stephanie Beck, Emily


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Blair, Terry Boddie, Amy Chan, Cecile Chong, Ana Cordeiro, Cesar Cornejo, Donald Daedalus, Aurora

De Armendi, Prudence Dudan, Dahlia Elsayed, Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Frances Gallardo, Chitra

Ganesh, Hadassa Goldvicht. Tal Halpern, Josh Harris, Pablo Helguera, Wayne Hodge, Kyle Holland,

Wennie Huang, Yoko Inoue, Katarina Jerinic, Jennie C. Jones, Rajkamal Kahlon, Gautam Kansara,

Swati Khurana, Jessica Lagunas, Catarina Leitão, Liz Linden, Celine Lombardi, Jason Lujan, Lee

Marchalonis, Kimberly McClure, Sarah McDermott, Colin McMullen, Ivan Monforte, Carlos Motta,

Shervone Neckles, Heidi Neilson, Asuka Ohsawa, Sara Parkel, Shani Peters, Kameelah Rasheed,

Benjamin Reynaert, Julie Schumacher, Zoë Sheehan Saldaña, Karina Skvirsky, Natalie Stopka, Tattfoo

Tan, Amanda Thackray, Juana Valdes, Elysa Voshell, Angie Waller, James Walsh, Jenifer Wightman,

and Liz Zanis.

The Then + Now: Ten Years of Residencies at The Center for Book Arts exhibition traveled with all

materials presented at the Center, to Castle Gallery at the College of New Rochelle (29 Castle Place,

New Rochelle, NY). The exhibition was on view September 8 – November 8, 2015. An opening

reception was held Sunday, September 27, 2015. Executive Director & Curator Alexander Campos

spoke at the college on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.

Embraced: The International Community

July 8-Sept 19, 2015

Organized by Richard Minsky, Founder, The Center for Book Arts

This exhibition examined the influence the Center has had on the

international book arts scene as well as the international artists who

have come to the Center to study, exhibit, or teach. This was the fourth

and final exhibition of the Center’s 40th anniversary year-long

celebration, each of which featured and documented a particular

program.

Artists included were: Biruta Auna, Robert Bringhurst, Inge

Bruggeman, Ken Campbell, Ulises Carrión, Ana Cordeiro, Béatrice


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Coron, Steven Daiber, Helen Douglas & Telfer Stokes, Gavin Dovey, Colette Fu, Michael Gibbs, Takuji

Hamanaka, Barbara Henry, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., Kumi Korf, Hedi Kyle, Catarina Leitão,

Ligorano/Reese with Daniel Kelm, Margarita Lypiridou, Mikhail Magaril with Ivan Lebedev, Franco

Marinai, Russell Maret, Barbara Mauriello, Clifton Meador, Bernard Middleton, Susan Mills, Jánis

Nedéla, Asuka Ohsawa, Zahra Partovi, Werner Pfeiffer, Tom Phillips, Lise Poirier, Melissa Potter, John

Randle, John Ross, Miriam Schaer, Gaylord Schanilec, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Alexandra Soteriou,

Sylvia de Swaan, and Sam Winston.

/mit ðə detə/: Source Materials Visualized

July 8-September 19, 2015

Organized by Alexander Campos, Executive

Director & Curator, The Center for Book Arts, and

Heidi Neilson, artist and Co-founder of SP Weather

Station.

/mit ðə detə/: Source Materials Visualized presented

artists’ books, book-related artworks, and text-based

new media that are visual interpretations,

extrapolations, and recontextualizations of

researched source materials such as data analysis,

surveying, mapping, plotting, data mining, statistics,

analytics, observations, and schemes. In keeping

with the theme, the exhibition title included the phrase “Meet the data” rendered phonetically. The

exhibition featured artist members of the Center as well as invited artists to further the discourse of the

exhibition’s theme.

Artists included were: Karen Baldner, Jen Bervin, Matthew Birchall, AJ Bocchino, Sara Bouchard,

Sarah Bryant, Eve Faulkes, Neil Freeman, Barbara Henry, Candace Hicks, Peter Jellitsch, Jessica

Lagunas, Woody Leslie, Emily McVarish, Toby Millman, Barbara Milman, John Risseeuw, Maria

Veronica San Martin, Libby Scarlett, Tim Schwartz, Ellen Sheffield, Ward Shelley, Joshua Singer,

Edyth Skinner, Jeff Thompson, Carolyn Thompson, Angie Waller, Thomas Parker Williams, and Sam

Winston.

Archive Bound

October 2-December 12, 2015

Organized by Karen E. Jones, Independent Curator

Archive Bound examined methodologies within the

presentation, documentation, historiography, and exhibition

display of non-object based and site-specific artworks.

Additionally, the exhibition included books, photographs,

and ephemera associated with Conceptual, Performance,

and Site-Specific Art practices. Several first generation

avant-garde figures lay the groundwork for a discourse on

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the contemporary utilization of these crucial genres.

Artists included were: Laylah Ali, Justin Amrhein, Cory Arcangel, Aurora De Armendi, Sophie Calle,

Paul Chan, Jacqueline de Jong, Rainer Ganahl, Jacqueline Goss & Jenny Perlin, Guerrilla Girls, Paula

Hayes, Thomas Hirschhorn, Sasha Huber, Liz Magic Laser, Ana Mendieta, Dean Moss, Karyn Olivier,

James Romberger, Martha Rosler, Marion Scemama, Seth Siegelaub & Robert Projansky, Situationist

International, Marguerite Van Cook, Martha Wilson, and David Wojnarowicz.

Karen E. Jones is an art historian and curator of modern and contemporary art. She has curated

exhibitions at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Whitney Museum,

among other venues. She has written numerous articles and reviews for publications such as Art and

Text, Tema Celeste, and Time Out New York. She currently teaches art history at the City University of

New York.

The Center is grateful to the following galleries and organizations for lending works for this exhibition:

Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art, Dia Art Foundation, Galerie Lelong, Kai Matsumiya, Mast Books,

Paul Kasmin Gallery, Paula Cooper Gallery, and PPOW Gallery.

4) FEATURED ARTIST PROJECTS

Colette Fu: We are Tiger Dragon People

January 23, 2015 - April 4, 2015

Organized by Alexander Campos, Executive Director &

Curator, The Center for Book Arts

For the past seven years, Colette Fu has been making one-

of-a-kind artist books that combine photography with paper

engineering. Pop-up and flap books originally illustrated

sociological ideas and scientific principles; Fu constructs

her own books on how our selves relate to society today.

Limitations, experience and experimentation with the

media lend a strong problem-solving component to Fu’s

process.

In 2008, Fu was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to create a

photographic pop-up book of the 25 ethnic minorities

residing in Yunnan Province, China, from where the artist’s family descends. 25 of the 55 minority

tribes of China reside in the Yunnan and comprise less than 9% of the nation’s population, with the Han

representing the majority. Fu uses her artistic skills to spread knowledge and provide a brief portrait of

their existence.



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John Jacobsmeyer: More Than Human

January 23, 2015 - April 4, 2015



Presented in its entirety, John Jacobsmeyer’s poem without

words, More Than Human, brings together the cultures and

communities of contemporary literature, American Sign

Language, artist books, printmaking and popular mythology.

More Than Human was a sequence of over eighty wood

engravings all cut from cross-sections of the same forty-year-

old maple tree from a New Hampshire forest. The blocks were

engraved by John Jacobsmeyer from 2002-2009. The image sequence represents an American Sign

Language (ASL) interpretation of the soliloquy in James Dickey’s poem Sheep Child. In it, the half-

human/half-sheep wonders at existence as he described his conception, birth, brief life and ecstatic

death. Each image conveys one or more ASL signs personified by a menagerie of characters, some

human but mostly hybrids, monsters, and androids.

The wood engravings are based on the ASL interpretation of Sheep Child by Janice Nierstedt and Robert

Keegan whose video was on display. The printing took place at Jacob-Jingle-Heimer-Schmidt Press

(JJHS Press) in Brooklyn by master printer Aaron Drew. Since 2002 portions of Jacobsmeyer’s More

Than Human have been exhibited in venues as disparate as Shanghai’s Gallery 99 and Brooklyn’s Jack

The Pelican Presents. This was the first time it was exhibited in its entirety, in sequence, and with the

original woodblocks.

Damali Abrams, Emmy Catedral, Heidi Lau, Eto Otitigbe, and Seldon Yuan

April 17, 2015 - June 27, 2015


Director & Curator, The Center for Book Arts

Each year, as part of the Center’s Artist-in-Resi-

dence program, up to five New York-based

emerging artists are offered space, time and support

to explore the production and exhibition of artists’

books and related work in year-long residencies. The

purpose of this program is to promote experiment-

ation in making book art by artists representing

a diversity of fields and backgrounds.

In 2014, Damali Abrams, Emmy Catedral, Heidi

Lau, Eto Otitigbe, and Seldon Yuan were selected as




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artists-in-residence. This group show featured the work completed by these artists during their residency

year at the Center.

Damali Abrams’ work is a commentary on, and a contribution to, contemporary culture. Abrams uses

personal narrative as a point of departure for addressing larger sociopolitical concerns. Using herself as a

medium, Abrams documented the moment through blogging, webcam, video diaries, and journaling.

Emmy Catedral’s collection of objects represented an examination of human cosmologies: personal

attempts and failures at measuring space and explaining the universe from the point of view of a

terrestrial being. For example, a scattered walkable floor puzzle on slate tiles is also a log of drawings:

sky observations using a smartphone app to view the stars existing underfoot, on the other side of the

Earth.

Heidi Lau created an alternate world by excavating fragmented narratives from personal and collective

memories, highlighting the archaic and invisible, and recreating what has been lost to natural and human

causes. Lau grew up in a colony of Portugal during its transition into a Chinese province, and much of

her work is inspired by memories of colonial houses and monuments left to decay, succumbing to

strange and wild plants.

Eto Otitigbe is a polymedia artist whose practice investigates issues of race, technology, politics, and

shared experiences. His projects can be experienced as a creative protest, a cultural artifact, or sculptural

intervention. Otitigbe uses his creative practice to construct knowledge constellations that chart his

identity and experiences: Nigerian-American-Artist-Engineer-DJ, to name a few.

Seldon Yuan’s work is based on a personal history, under the influence of poetry, extending across a

spectrum of optical effects, absurdity, poetry, surrealism, ideas about language, and familiar objects and

spaces. His work typically creates a filter between a common object or environment/scene and the

viewer, thereby inventing a lens to view and reinterpret the everyday metaphorically.

Eto Otitigbe, Corners Emmy Catedral, Terra Nullius

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Damali Abrams, Around the Way Girl, Vol.I Heidi Lau, Untitled (Scholar’s Garden).

Linda Carreiro: Inside Out of Words

April 17, 2015 - June 27, 2015



Calling attention to both reading and the material form of

a book, Linda Carreiro’s work provoked questions of what

constitutes a book. Employing Jacques Derrida’s concept

on “the inside out of language,” Carreiro underscores that

text is a construct, a material that can be formed and re-

formed; when removed from the pages of a book, the

words can be viewed as unfixed, malleable material. If one

tries to firmly position a text in one position, the “inside”

(or center) always changes its orientation. Derrida’s term

was given resonance within the Center for Book Arts gallery, where language was playfully enacted

upon and physicalized.

Buzz Spector: The Book Under (De-) Construction

October 2, 2015 - December 12, 2015

Organized by Alexander Campos, Executive Director

& Curator, The Center for Book Arts

Each year the Center invites a notable artist to teach a

master class with an exhibition as part of our “Master

Faculty Fellow” series. In 2015 Buzz Spector was our

Master Faculty Fellow, whose work was also

displayed in a Featured Artist Project, The Book

Under (De-)Construction.

Buzz Spector is an internationally-known artist whose

work makes frequent use of the book, both as subject



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and object, and is concerned with relationships

between public history, individual memory,

and perception. His work with altered found

books dates back to 1981, and his collages

incorporating dust jacket elements date from

1987.

Elena Berriolo: Why Didn’t They?



Director & Curator, The Center for Book Arts

Why Didn’t They? highlighted Elena Berriolo’s

work of the last three years, encompassing books,

performance and photomontage. Continuing her

investigation into the possibilities of the line traced

by the sewing machine, Berriolo presented 12

unique 16-page books made with thread, watercolor,

and ink on paper that addressed a variety of themes,

including a speculative rewriting of art history from

a feminist point of view, the interweaving of poetry

and visual art, and a direct engagement with nature. Each book was displayed on a music stand and was

available to be handled by visitors. Also on view were photomontages that took a humorous and critical

look at art history.

I tear pages. I stack books. … I assert that I am an

excellent tearer of pages or stacker of books, but

what then constitutes my virtuosity? Look at one of

my altered books and you can see the torn edges of

every sewn or perfect-bound sheet that formerly

comprised its text block. My systematic excising of

pages leaves a form whose organization in itself

challenges the suggestion of random harm within

the word, “tear,” commonly used to describe what

I’ve done. As for my stacking, it’s the ordinary work

of aggregation, whose oddness arises from what it is

I’m building up with. Books in a row could be on

anybody’s shelf, but books in a stack raise some

interesting questions. – Buzz Spector, “I Stack

Things. I Tear Stuff Up”

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Three separate series of unique books were included in the exhibition. In Transcriptions from Canonical

Male Artists (including Lucio Fontana, Henri Matisse, Ellsworth Kelly), Berriolo asked the question:

Why didn’t they (these male artists) think of using the sewing machine? Berriolo points out that, in

contrast to conventional art tools such as the pencil or paintbrush, the sewing machine creates a “true

three-dimensional line with a top and a bottom that in a book, by turning the page can be moved through

space.” If innovative artists such as Matisse, Fontana, or Piero Manzoni failed to think of using the

sewing machine, it was because they associated it with woman’s work. Berriolo first raised this issue in

her 2012 Brooklyn Rail article “Why Didn’t Lucio Fontana Use My Sewing Machine?” and explores it

in more depth in her newly published manifesto Why Didn’t They? (Milanville Editions, 2015).

In the series From/With Poetry, Berriolo interweaves her sewn line with lines of poetry (by Catullus,

Apollinaire and Emily Dickinson), liberating word and image in a kind of visual dance. On December 4,

2015, Berriolo presented Feed Me the Line, a performance with sewing machine and poetry in

collaboration with the poet Steve Dalachinsky.

In the series From/With Nature, the artist incorporated different natural elements into her process. For

the book My Grass Brush, she drew with a brush made from fresh grass, and acknowledged that the

cotton of her sewing machine thread is also made out of grass. In I am a Beetle, she imprinted with

leaves that have been attacked by Japanese beetles, connecting the perforations made by the insects with

the holes made by her sewing machine needle.

Elena Berriolo is a New York-based artist who has exhibited internationally. Since 2009, she has made a

commitment of working exclusively in the book format and performing while producing books. Her

work is in a number of public collections, including the Rare Book Collection of the Bibliothèque

Nationale de France, Smith College, University of Delaware, and Museum Angewandte Kunst in

Frankfurt, Germany

2014-2015 Scholars for Advanced Studies in Book Arts


Organized by Alexander Campos, Executive Director & Curator, The Center for Book Arts

The purpose of the Scholars for Advanced Studies in Book Arts program is

to provide opportunities to emerging artists committed to developing

careers in the book arts field, and to further the growth of this artistic

profession. Each year’s recipients receive a cash stipend plus a materials

budget, a tuition waiver for courses, and 24-hour access to the Center’s

printing and binding facilities for a full year.

Aron Louis Cohen, Alaska McFadden, and Tammy Nguyen each received a

year-long scholarship to work at the Center in recognition of their

commitment to the artistic endeavors in the book arts. This exhibition

presented work created by the artists during their residencies at the Center.

Aron Louis Cohen’s work bridges the systems of human industry and the natural world. His work is a

meditation, a spiritual endeavor, and a way of understanding our place within our physical world.

Aron Louis Cohen,

Untitled (Mylar Book)

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Alaska McFadden’s books tend to contain a sculptural or ephemera element, requiring the reader to

interact in the creation or atmosphere of the piece. Her work centers around the mundane objects,

moods, and locations of everyday life.

Tammy Nguyen’s characters and environments are proxies for paradoxical human conditions: the

bicultural tension of having roots in multiple traditions, the fear of dying yet thirst for danger, or the

guilt and pleasure of breaking ethical codes.

Alaska McFadden, Feral Tammy Nguyen, Dana Ng in Danang City

ARTISTS’ OPPORTUNITIES

Each year, the Center for Book Arts offers two residency programs: the Artist-in-Residencies (AIR) to

five New York-based artists who have never worked in book arts, and the Scholars for Advanced

Studies in Book Arts to three MFA post-grads in book arts. Each program offers space, money,

materials, and other resources to explore the production and exhibition of artist books and related work

for 12 months. AIR artists are resident during the calendar year, while Scholars are from summer to

summer. Artists from all disciplinary and cultural backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

5) ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE WORKSPACE

The Artist-in-Residence Workspace promotes experimentation and diversity in book arts. This residency

expands the discourse of contemporary artistic practices and allows artists who are not familiar with

book-making to learn, experiment, and explore ways to incorporate book arts techniques into their

practice. Alumni of the program include Cecile Chong, Pablo Helguera, Jessica Lagunas, and Tattfoo

Tan. At the end of their residency, each artist presents work in a Featured Artist Project. The program

was made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). The artists selected as 2015 Residents were:

Aravind Adyanthaya

Joseph Cuillier

Glen Einbinder

Nontsikeleo Mutiti

Brad Thiele

http://centerforbookarts.org/event/2015-scholars-for-advanced-studies-in-book-arts/image1web/

http://centerforbookarts.org/dana-ng-in-danang-city-2web/


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6) SCHOLARSHIP FOR ADVANCED STUDY IN BOOK ARTS

The Scholars for Advanced Studies in Book Arts allows recent MFA graduated in book arts to spend

ample time developing a body of work to further their career, and helps develop the next generation of

book artists. Scholars complete a project and hold an exhibition in our gallery space with public

presentation the following fall. Recent alumni include Donald Daedalus, Lee Marchalonis, and

Benjamin Reynaert. At the time of their residency, each artist presents work in a Featured Artist Project.

The program was made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts

(NYSCA) and the New York Department of Cultural Affairs.

The 2014-15 Scholars of Advanced Studies in Book Arts were:

Aron Louis Cohen: work bridges the systems of human industry and the natural world. His work is s a

meditation, a spiritual endeavor, and a way of understanding our place within our natural world.

Alaska McFadden: artist whose books tend to contain a sculptural or ephemera element, requiring the

reader to interact in the creation or atmosphere of the piece. Her work centers around the mundane

objects, moods, and locations of everyday life.

Tammy Nguyen: uses characters and environments as proxies for paradoxical human conditions: the

bicultural tension of having roots in multiple

traditions, the fear of dying yet thirst for danger, or

the guilt and pleasure of breaking ethical codes.

The 2015-2016 Scholars for Advanced Studies in

Book Arts are:

Shana Agid

Wayne Kleppe

Beth Sheehan:

7) MASTER FACULTY FELLOW

The Master Faculty Fellow program provides an

artist/instructor from outside of New York the opportunity

to teach a master class and to give a formal lecture in New

York City, in addition to presenting a survey of his/her

work as a Featured Artist Project. The 2015 Faculty Fellow

is Buzz Spector. Spector presented a master class

November 21-22, 2015: The Book Under (De-)

Construction.

Buzz Spector is an artist, writer, curator, and Professor of

Art in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at

Wayne Kleppe, Beth Sheehan and Shana Agid


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Washington University in St. Louis. Spector is an internationally known artist whose work makes

frequent use of the book, both as subject and object, and is concerned with relationships between public

history, individual memory, and perception. His work with altered found books dates back to 1981, and

his collages incorporating dust jacket elements date from 1987. Spector has received much recognition

for his art, including a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Fellowship in 1991, and three NEA individual

artist fellowships. He received the distinguished teaching of art award from the College Art Association

in 2013.

8) FINE PRESS PUBLISHING SEMINARS FOR EMERGING WRITERS

June 1-5, 2015, 10am to 4pm taught by Master Printer Barbara Henry

Guest speakers included: Roni Gross, Z’roah Press

MC Hyland, Doublecross Press

Linda Trimbath, Ugly Duckling Presse

November 11-15, 2015, 10am to 4pm taught by Master Printer Barbara Henry

Guest speakers included: Aravind Adyanthaya, Casa Cruz de la Luna

MC Hyland, Double Cross Press

Linda Trimbath, Ugly Duckling Presse

The Fine Press Publishing Seminar for

Emerging Writers is a five-day workshop

which is offered twice a year to emerging

writers in order to introduce the basics of fine

press publishing. Participants learn the basics

of letterpress printing, both traditional

typesetting and new technology, by

collaboratively printing a small edition of

broadsides. Participants also hear lectures from

various professionals in the field, including

printers, fine press publishers, book artists, and

dealers, to get a practical overview of

letterpress printing and fine press publishing.

Each seminar is offered to a maximum of eight students, and writers from culturally diverse

backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply. The seminar is by application-only, and tuition is free

for participants, and includes the cost of materials.

The program was made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts

(NYSCA) and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

LITERARY PROGRAMS

9) BROADSIDE READING SERIES

In 2015 we continued our Center Broadsides Reading Series, with limited edition, letterpress-printed

broadsides for sale at readings featuring established and emerging poets. All broadsides are available for


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purchase as limited edition sets in handmade portfolios. For the Spring series we continued our special

40th

Anniversary Collaborative Reading Series. One result of this series was a special publication, which

was launched in September at the Book Arts Celebration. In conjunction with the Center’s 40th

Anniversary, past curators of the Broadside Reading Series were asked to collaborate and create a new

piece to read along with their individual works. This innovative series was organized by Sharon Dolin.

2015 Spring- 40th

Anniversary Collaborative Reading

Series:

Friday April 24, 2015, 6:30pm Anselm Berrigan with LaTasha

Diggs; Dean Kostos with Sharon Mesmer

Friday May 15, 2015, 6:30pm Patricia Spears Jones with Ada

Limón; Jen Bervin with Genine Lentine

Friday May 29, 2015, 6:30pm Krystal Languell with John Yau;

Amanda Deutch with Matthew Thorburn

Friday June 12, 2015, 6:30pm Sharon Dolin with Evie

Shockley; Peter Covino with Christopher Stackhouse

The Fall series returned to the traditional Broadsides

Reading Series format, featuring the poetry of New

York-based writers of diverse backgrounds. The 16th

annual series was organized by guest curator

Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, poet, author, and the Poetry

Editor of the literary magazine African Voices.

2015 Fall- Broadsides Reading Series:

Friday, October 30, 2015, 6:30pm, Randall Horton &

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor

Friday, November 6, 2015, 6:30pm, Amber Atiya &

t’ai freedom ford

Friday, November 13, 6:30pm, Aziza Barnes & Jacqueline Johnson

This program is made possible in part with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts

(NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

10) POETRY CHAPBOOK PROGRAM

Each year, the Center invites submissions to its annual Poetry Chapbook Program. The selected

manuscript is published as a letterpress-printed limited-edition chapbook, designed, printed and bound

by artists at The Center for Book Arts. The 2015 Chapbook Honoree was Diana Marie Delgado for her

manuscript Late-Night Talks With Men I Think I Trust. Honorable Mentions were Joy Katz for White:

An Abstract and Pablo Miguel Martínez for Cuent@. They read along with Guest Curator Cornelius

Eady and Program Curator Sharon Dolin. The chapbook reading was given on Friday, October 16,

2015, at 6:30pm and was standing room only.


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As part of its Chapbook Program, the Center

published Delgado’s work as a limited-edition,

letterpress-printed and hand-bound chapbook,

created by artist Ed Rayer of Swamp Press with

linocuts by Barbara Henry. In addition, Delgado

has received an honorarium and was awarded a

one-week stay in the Winter Shakers Program at

The Millay Colony for the Arts. The Center has

also published a limited-edition, letterpress-

printed and hand-bound chapbook of the work of

Guest Curator Cornelius Eady, designed and

printed by artist Amber McMillan. Artists from the Center have printed a letterpress broadside of a

poem from each of the honorable mention manuscripts. Signed chapbooks and broadsides were available

for purchase at the reading.

11) CELEBRATION OF THE CHAPBOOK: CHAPBOOK WORKSHOPS

For the past six years, the Celebration of the Chapbook has celebrated the chapbook as a work of art and

as a vehicle for alternative and emerging writers and publishers. In collaboration with the Center for the

Humanities at the Graduate Center, CUNY, The Center for Book Arts was thrilled to again co-sponsor

the NYC/CUNY Chapbook Festival along with Poets & Writers, Poet’s Society of America, Poets

House and the New York Public Library. The festival celebrates the chapbook as a work of art, and as a

medium for alternative and emerging writers and publishers.

The Center continued to offer both its free Chapbook

Workshops in letterpress printing and binding on

Wednesday April 1, 2015. These popular tuition-free

programs provide introductory instruction in basic

book-binding and letterpress printing to writers (a

nominal materials fee applies to participants). Each

workshop session was offered twice, and were taught

by artists Barbara Henry and Celine Lombardi.

12) TEXT/FORM POETRY READING

Organized and hosted by Barbara Henry, the TEXT/FORM Series featured readings and performances

by writers whose methods of production, presentation, and distribution are a vital component of their

work. Poets selected were alumni from The Fine Press Seminars. The poets who read their work on

August 5, 2015 at 6:30pm included Anne Lai, Elsbeth Pancrazi, Noelle de la Paz, Diane Schenker, and

Elizabeth Clark Wessel.


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PUBLIC PROGRAMS

13) TALKS, DISCUSSIONS AND PANELS

The Center presents a series of lectures, talks, and panel discussions with artists and curators in

conjunction with exhibitions and relevant current themes in the field. In addition, some featured artists

offered workshops with their talks. The Center also holds Broadside Reading Series and Poetry

Chapbook Readings, which are noted in the Literary Programs section of this report. In 2015 the

following programs were presented at the Center, unless otherwise noted:

A) Group Artist Panels in Conjunction with Main Exhibitions

Friday, February 27, 2015, 6:30pm, Redux: Selected Featured Artist Projects Renewed;

curated by Maddy Rosenberg, artists included: Tomie Arai, Nora Ligorano, Sarah

Plimpton, Rocco Scary, and Mara Adamitz Scrupe.

Friday, June 5, 2015, 6:30pm, Then & Now: Ten Years of Residencies at the Center for

Book Arts; artists included Wayne Hodge, Jessica Lagunas, Shervone Neckles, Zoë

Sheehan Saldaña, Tattfoo Tan, and Amanda Thackray.

Friday, June 19, 2015, 6:30pm, Then & Now: Ten Years of Residencies at the Center for

Book Arts; artists include Cecile Chong, Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Juana Valdes, Jenifer

Wightman and Rory Golden (founder of the Artist-in-Residence program).

Friday, August 12, 2015, 6:30pm, Embraced: The International Community; artists

included: Miriam Schaer, Steven Daiber, Takuji Hamanaka, and John Ross.

Friday, August 19, 2015, /mit ðə detə/: Source Materials Visualized; artists included: Neil

Freeman, Toby Millman, Tim Schwartz, and Sam Winston (note: standing room only)

Friday, September 9, 2015, 6:30pm, Embraced: The International Community; artists

included: Barbara Mauriello, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Biruta Auna, and Gavin Dovey.

Friday, September 16, 2015, /mit ðə detə/: Source Materials Visualized; artists included:

Woody Leslie, Libby Scarlett, Angie Waller, and Thomas Parker Williams

Friday, October 23, 2015, 6:30pm, Archive Bound; Curator Karen E. Jones moderated,

artists and scholars included Aurora De Armendi, Rainer Ganahl (represented by Kai

Matsumiya); Sreshta Rit Premnath.

Friday, December 4, 2015, 6:30pm Artist Performance: Feed Me the Line, Artist Elena

Berriolo in collaboration with poet Steve Dalachinsky

In addition, two off-site events were held at The New School

in conjunction with the exhibition Archive Bound:

Saturday, November 21, 2015, 3-4:30pm, Archive

Bound; conversation with ‘Frido Kahlo’ from the Guerrilla

Girls at The New School for standing-room only. (Pictured)

Tuesday, December 3, 2015, 6:30-8pm,


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Archive Bound performance by Jacqueline Goss and Jenny Perlin at The New School

B) Featured Artist Project Talks

Every Featured Artist Project includes an artist talk. Among the highlights in 2015 were Colette Fu’s

standing-room only audience, Elena Berriolo’s talk-and-performance, and Buzz Spector’s lecture and

workshop.

Friday, February 20, 2015, 6:30pm, John Jacobsmeyer: More than Human

Friday, March 6, 2015, 6:30pm, Colette Fu: We Are Dragon People (note: standing room

only)

Friday, May 8, 2015, 6:30pm, Damali Abrams, Emmy Catedral, Heidi Lau, Eto Otitigbe,

Sheldon Yuan (recipients of 2014 Artist-in-Residence Workspace Grant)

Friday, June 26, 2015, 6:30pm Linda Carreiro: Inside Out of Words

Friday, November 20, 2015, 6:30pm Buzz Spector: The Book Under (De-)Construction

Friday, December 4, 2015, 6:30pm, Elena Berriolo: Why Didn’t They?

Friday, December 11, 2015, 6:30pm Aron Louis Cohen, Alaska McFadden, Tammy

Nguyen (2015 Scholars for Advanced Studies in Book Arts)

C) Workshops

Saturday & Sunday , February 21-22, 2015, 10am-4pm Workshop with John

Jacobsmeyer: Wood Engraving

Saturday & Sunday, March 14-15, 2015, 10am-4pm Workshop with Colette Fu: Cut and

Fold: LED Pop-up Books

Saturday & Sunday, November 21-22, 2015, 10am-4pm Master Class: The Book Under

(De-)Construction

14) HISTORY OF ART SERIES: REPOSITIONING THE ARCHIVE

Each winter the Center presents a series of panel

discussions related to themes in the book arts. In

2015, History of Art Series: Repositioning the

Archive, was presented in a three-part

series investigating how the archive is being

repositioned, both as archival collection and as

artistic tool. The series is organized by the Center

for Book Arts and made possible through a

generous grant by New York Council for the

Humanities with co-sponsorship by the

Metropolitan New York Library Council and the

New York Chapter of the American Printing

History Association. The series was sold-out.


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Archives at the Center for Book Arts are closely linked to our history of exhibiting the arts of the book

and of engaging with the contemporary art world. In their work with archival materials, artists and

curators have created new work, including new works of art, exhibitions, or books. This program

explores the changing concept of archive, the new practices of professionals, and the ways artists using

archives have brought these collections to life in entirely new ways.

The Moderator for each panel was Marvin J. Taylor, New York University, Director & Curator, Fales

Library.

March 13, 2015, 6:30pm: Panel 1: “Understanding Archives and Recent Shifts”

The first panel discussion took a historical and theoretical approach to discussing the history, theory and

practice of archives as well as the way in which most people understand archives as material culture in

relation to a lived history.

Panelists:

Jonathan Berger; 80WSE Gallery, Director and Artist

Ann E. Butler; Bard College, Library &Archives, Center for Curatorial Studies, Director

Glenn E. Wharton; New York University, Clinical Associate Professor of Museum Studies.

March 20, 2015, 6:30pm: Panel 2: “Innovative Practices of Presenting Archives to the Public”

The second panel focused on professionals working with

archives, responding to the omissions of materials, users,

and uses of their collections. The panel considered the

ways in which archivists and curators are changing their

presentation of archives as material culture to respond to

new content and new users, including artists and the

general public.

Panelists:

Andrew Blackley; Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Foundation, Archivist, and Artist

Ben Vershbow; New York Public Library,

Director, NYPL Labs

Martha Wilson; Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc, Founding Director.

March 27, 2015, 6:30pm: Panel 3: “Artists Activating the Archive” The third panel examined the ways in which creative writers, visual artists, and performers are using

archives as a catalyst in their own work and re-contextualizing archives as artwork. This panel focused

on the evolving collaboration between archival professionals and artists and how this new work is

changing archives and art.

Panelists:

D. Graham Burnett; Performance artist and writer, New York

Donald Daedalus; Visual artist, New York and past Center for Book Arts Scholar

Emilio Chapela Perez; Visual Artist, Mexico City

Lytle Shaw; Poet and Professor of English, New York University

Matt Wolf; independent filmmaker, New York.


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SPECIAL EVENTS

15) SPRING BENEFIT & ART AUCTION

The 2015 Spring Benefit & Art Auction was held at the Center for

Book Arts on Friday, April 10, 2015, 6-9pm. Roni Gross designed and

produced the event invitation which featured drawings of the Chinese

Scholar Trees by Peter Schell, letterpress printing and hand-coloring.

The event’s theme, “Forty and Still Growing,” embraced the Center’s

year-long anniversary celebration with a “family tree” that listed

instructors who taught at the Center and apprentices who trained here.

The event served as an occasion to celebrate the accomplishments of the

Center, and to pay tribute to individuals who have made lasting

contributions to the practice or interpretation of book arts. The 2015

honorees were:

Béatrice Coron, artist specializing in paper cutting, illustrations and public art

Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of

Congress

Susan Gosin, book and paper artist, and co-founder for Dieu Donné Press and Paper

Over 100 guests attended the event, which featured an art auction overseen by Mindell Dubansky, music

performed by Sara Bouchard & the Salt Parade, Karen Gorst Calligraphy designed and produced the

award certificates, and auction framing provided by Sara Parkel. Money raised from ticket sales, silent

auction, live auction and contributions exceeded $35,000, which went to support the Center’s

operations.

Béatrice Coron Mark Dimunation Susan Gosin


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16) ART BOOK CELEBRATION: BEGINNING OUR 41ST YEAR

To mark the conclusion of its 40th

Anniversary celebrations, the close of summer exhibitions, and the

launch of its 40th Anniversary Publication 7 Nights: 28 Poets, The Center for Book Arts opened its

doors for an Art Book Celebration, on Friday, September 18, 7-9pm. The Center held a hands-on party,

allowing visitors a chance to print t-shirts on our restored Washington Hoe Press, bind small books, and

party! The Center for Book Arts completed its 40th anniversary and began its 41st year.


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The night of festivities and libations coincided with Printed Matter’s 10th

Annual NY Art Book

Fair. Activities included: “make-and-take” printing and binding stations led by artists Rich O’Russa,

Elizabeth Sheehan, and Jennifer Verbit; a raffle; and a last glimpse at the Center’s acclaimed summer

exhibitions Embraced: The International Community, organized by Richard Minsky, Founder, Center

for Book Arts, and /mit ðə detə/: Source Materials Visualized, organized by Alexander Campos,

Executive Director & Curator, The Center for Book Arts, and Heidi Neilson, artist and Co-Founder of

SP Weather Station. The limited-edition publication 7 Nights: 28 Poets is available for purchase.

7 Nights: 28 Poets is a published compilation of

literary broadsides created to accompany the

Collaborative Broadside Curators Reading Series.

Co-founder Sharon Dolin curated its 15th

anniversary

reading series, which coincided with the 40th

Anni-

versary of The Center for Book Arts. Dolin invited

pairs of the past curators of the reading series to

collaborate on new poems. At their readings, each

collaborating duo discussed the collaborative process

and read their new poem, along with their own

poetry.

Fourteen artists from the Center’s community were each invited to produce a limited edition of 150

broadsides for one of the collaborative poems. From this, a 40th Anniversary publication was produced

in a limited edition of 40. Using a format conceived by Ana Cordeiro, the Center’s 2015 Summer Interns

Jennifer Berry, Quincy Dean-Slobod, Emily Gross, Judy Gu, Matilda Ostow, and Ellis Suchmann bound

the publication under the direction of Artist Instructors/Stewards Nancy Loeber and Amber McMillan.

The project was realized under the direction of Alexander Campos, Executive Director & Curator of the

Center for Book Arts.

17) CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

Since 1999, the Center has occupied a 5,000

square foot loft space in Manhattan’s Flatiron

District. The space, which is owned without

debt, has not been substantially modified since

we moved into it. The loft serves as a multi-

purpose space in which we annually offer

classes, exhibitions, public talks and panel

discussions, literary presentations, and tours

and workshops for college students. The

Center also supports emerging artists through

year-long residencies and more than fifty

artists who rent studio time. This active usage

has raised awareness of the limitations of our

space which, while spacious and well-lit, is

not well-suited for frequent, multifunction use.

http://nyartbookfair.com/about/

http://nyartbookfair.com/about/

http://centerforbookarts.org/event/embraced-the-international-community/

http://centerforbookarts.org/event/mit-d%c9%99-det%c9%99-source-materials-visualized/


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Since moving to our loft space, we have tried to gradually upgrade and update our space, following a

Master Facility Plan created in 2009 which set down how to renovate our floor in independent phases, as

funds become available. In 2011 we installed a completely new HVAC system which replaced the

inefficient window air conditioners. In 2014, we built new studio wet areas and an ADA-compliant

bathroom.

At the end of December 2015, the Center was notified that it would be awarded a capital grant from

government sources to renovate the Center’s public areas to create a welcoming space for visitors,

students, and artists by creating an enclosed Exhibition Gallery to protect art work on display, a Study

and Storage Room for the Center’s Fine Art Collection and Reference Library to improve accessibility,

and a new enclosed entrance foyer. We hope to do this work at the end of 2016.

18) PERMANENT COLLECTIONS:

The Permanent Collections, with its accompanying

Online Database, is the newest core program at the

Center. Consisting of the Fine Arts Collection

(approximately 2000 art objects), Reference Library

(over 2200 books), and Archives (100+ linear ft), the

Permanent Collections are now open to scholars,

residents, instructors, students, and visitors for research

and study. The Center's collections are the only one of

its kind in New York City, offering contemporary book

arts objects and reference materials in a gallery and

working studio.

The Center's Permanent Collections Spotlight Exhibition series features a selection of 12-15 permanent

collection art works related to current exhibitions in our Main and Foyer/Studio Galleries in order to

promote awareness of the Collections Program. The Spotlight series lets us present a rotating showcase

of engaging art from our holdings in a way which creates a dialogue with the other exhibitions. The

Spotlight exhibitions also demonstrate the depth and breadth of our collections, engage visitors, and

encourages new uses.

In addition to exhibitions, the Center hosts 50-80 college students

from NYC schools each month in order to show book art objects

not currently on view from the permanent collection storage room

as a way to teach the history of printing and bookbinding. Student

groups include New York University, School of Visual Arts,

Pratt, Parsons, FIT, and Long Island University, among others.

The Center provides free research access to its collections during

regular hours for artists, residents, instructors, college faculty, as

well as graduate students. Materials are consulted by appointment

on-site under supervision. The Online Collections Database is

promoted on our website and through partner arts organizations


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and libraries.

New acquisition highlights in 2015 included book art catalogues from the estate of Tony Zwicker, as

well as art works by Sarah McDermott, Julia Mahan, Sarah Bryant, Sam Winston, and Sara Longworthy.

The large collection of reference books, donated by John Ross and nearly doubling the Reference

Library, was catalogued by our Collections Manager.

The Center gratefully acknowledges support from the Pine Tree Foundation of New York in support of

cataloging and dissemination, and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation in support of archives

inventory.

19) INTERNS & WORK-STUDIES

Our internship program offers hands-on training in arts management and book arts techniques.

Participants receive an overview of not-for-profit operations and are able to take classes and use the

workspace for their own projects. The length of internships varies, depending on the student’s needs as

well as the Center’s scheduled activities.

A limited number of work-study positions are available for students or artists who want to work in

exchange for studio rental or the tuition for workshops. Students take workshops tuition-free by working

a pre-set number of hours in the Center’s office and studios.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS

20) STAFF

Alexander Campos, Executive Director & Curator

John Thorp, Education & Studio Manager

Rafael Baylor, Collections Manager

Sarah Bouchard, Marketing Manager

Jacob Farber, Administration & Finance Manager (from Sept)

Cornelia McPherson, Administration & Finance Manager (to Aug)

Paul Romaine, Development & Membership Manager

Printshop Stewards: Delphi Basilicato, Roni Gross, Barbara Henry,

MC Hyland, Nancy Loeber, Richard O’Russa

21) MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Virginia Bartow (Brooklyn, NY) Librarian, Special Collections, The New York Public Library

Stephen Bury, Co-Chair (New York, NY) Chief Librarian, The Frick Collection

Tom Freudenheim (New York, NY) Museum professional, retired

Richard Grosbard (New York, NY) Retired small business proprietor


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Jeffrey Loop (Jersey City, NJ) Lawyer

David W. Lowden, Secretary (Montclair, NJ) Lawyer, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP

Nancy Macomber, Treasurer (Queens, NY) Librarian, CUNY, retired

Corina Reynolds (New York, NY) Proprietor, Small Editions Bookbindery

Robert J. Ruben, MD (New York, NY) Co-Chair Physician and Academic, Montefiore Medical Center

Mark Samuels Lasner (Washington, DC) Associate Curator, University of Delaware

Asher Schlusselberg (New York, NY) Associate, Plymouth Group, Investment Firm

Robbin Ami Silverberg (Brooklyn, NY) Artist, Papermaker, and Instructor, Pratt Institute

Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum (New York, NY) Librarian, retired

Tony White (Brooklyn, NY) Librarian, Thomas J. Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art

22) FUNDING CREDITS

Major support for The Center for Book Arts has been provided by: The Achelis & Bodman Foundations,

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Charina Foundation,

The Chervenak-Nunallé Foundation, The Dedalus Foundation, The Elbert Lenrow Fund, The

Furthermore Foundation, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The Gladys Krieble Delmas

Foundation, The Hyde & Watson Foundation, The Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Joan

Mitchell Foundation, The J.M. Kaplan Fund, The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, The Max and Victoria

Dreyfus Foundation, The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation,

The New York Community Trust, The New York Council for the Humanities, The Pine Tree

Foundation of New York, Poets & Writers, The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, The Rockefeller

Brothers Fund, The Schoenheimer Foundation, The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, The

Thompson Family Foundation and The Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Foundation,

Government support for the Center for Book Arts has been provided from The National Endowment for

the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Andrew Cuomo and the New

York State Legislature and The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Center for Book Arts gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of its members and patrons.


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23) REVENUE AND EXPENSE

The Center for Book Arts’ fiscal year begins in January and ends in December. Its financial records are

audited annually in the following year. The Center is a Silver-level member of Guidestar and maintains

a profile with Data Arts (formerly the Cultural Data Project), which is the source for these revenue and

expense charts.

Earned income includes tuition from classes, sales, and rentals. Contributed income, of which 27% came

from individual donors and 38% from institutions in 2014, includes donations, memberships, and

fundraising events such as the annual benefit.

Program expenses include costs relating to exhibitions, classes and outreach, collections, and public

events including artist talks and literary readings. G & A includes space (13% of total expense in 2014),

administrative costs, and general supplies.

24) FINANCIAL REPORTS

Available under separate cover by request:

• Audited 2015 financial statement (2015 will be available at end of 2016)

welcome to the center’s 2015 annual...

Documents