Save the Date!

Annual Benefit and Auction
We're in the midst of printing invitations to the Center’s Annual Benefit and Auction: to be held on Wednesday, April 7. Join us for an evening of music, cocktails, a fine art auction, and more, as we celebrate the Center’s continued success!























This year we are proud to honor the following individuals for their achievements and commitment to furthering the field of book arts: Ruth and Marvin Sackner, Collectors; Lesley Dill, Artist; Mary Coxe Schlosser, Master Bookbinder; Dikko Faust, Master Printer and co-proprietor, Purgatory Pie Press; and Ann Kalmbach and Tatana Kellner, Artists and Founders of Women’s Studio Workshop. We’d like to thank the over forty artists who have generously donated their work to the auction, as well as Courtney Booth, Assistant Vice President, Prints, from Sotheby’s, who will captivate us during the Live Auction portion of the evening. . Thanks also to our annual benefit committee, led by Roni Gross, Richard Minsky, and Idee G. Schoenheimer. Proceeds from the annual event benefit the Center’s programs and activities. Be sure to secure your tickets by calling 212-481-0295 or by visiting our website.

Featured Artist Leah Oates Discusses Work

Last night, the Center for Book Arts hosted an engaging discussion with artist Leah Oates. Oates spoke candidly about how her Fine Arts background in printmaking gradually evolved into her own distinctive, artistic style. By utilizing multiple photographic exposures and a keen eye for color her one of a kind books bring to life through the juxtaposition of images a unique portrait and show how a place can become in its own right a representational narrative.

Oates is quick to admit her work is “a response to sites and objects that are ignored such as piles of trash, alleyways, overpasses or abandoned structures. In most instances the locations that I have shot in are not desirable travel destinations, are generally working class and are in industrial areas. This type of space has a personal resonance for me as I grew up in a very similar location in New England. I have a strong emotional connection, knowledge and familiarity with this kind of locality and want to document it in all of its poignant beauty.”

The evening provided a great opportunity to learn from an accomplished photographer and book artist both the finer techniques of her process and to discuss the overall position of the creative process in today’s changing society. I for one enjoyed the opportunity to handle some of these beautiful books, while asking specific questions about them. If you have not had a chance yet to visit this exhibition I strongly suggest you do so.

-Nicholas Crawford, Gallery/Studio Coordinator

Leah Oates: Transitory Spaces, was organized by Alexander Campos, Executive Director of the Center for Book Arts. The exhibition will be on view through April 3, 2010.

For more information about Leah Oates and her work, click here to visit her website

Tonight at the Center

The Print Factory: A Printmaking Workshop
at the Center for Book Arts

This Friday, February 19, 6-9PM

Join The Print Factory's crew in the Center's printshop for an interactive evening of printmaking on its portable printing press. The Print Factory is currently featured in the exhibition The Incidental Person,organized by Antony Hudek at apexart, The exhibition is on view through February 20.

About The Print Factory's Workshop
Producing art on-site while handing it out to the public sparks dialogue about the processes behind printmaking and the historical impact of the multiple in everyday life. Sharing the process and the product of printmaking stimulate community by provoking questions about the utility of printmaking and the nature of art. Click here for more about The Print Factory.

When: This Friday, February 19, 6-9PM

How Much: $10/$5 members (suggested)

Where: The Center for Book Arts,
28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor

The Book In Time

Join us this season for three discussions looking at the past, present and future of the book, featuring local writers, scholars, and conservators.

Up first is Before the Metaphor: The Book as Human Object.
The Center welcomes Jane Siegel, Rare Book Librarian at Columbia University, next Wednesday evening, February 10th at 6:30pm for a curator's tour of how we have created and interacted with the written work-from cuneiform up to, but not including, the e-book.

Jane Rodgers Siegel is the Rare Book Librarian at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University, where she looks after rare books, art, and ephemera, and specializes in the book as a physical object. 2010 is her Silver Jubilee year.

On Wednesday, March 3, 6:30 pm we're proud to present A Force Beyond Function: The Conservation, Technology, and Significance of the Codex: a panel discussion centered on the physical form of the book as an expression of technology. Moderated by Jeff Peachey, famed local book conservator, we're looking forward to a spirited discussion, with guests Sarah Lowengard, Maria Fredericks and John Townsend.

Jeffrey S. Peachey is the owner of a New York City-based studio for the conservation of books, and the inventor of conservation tools and machines. He is a Professional Associate in the American Institute for Conservation and has served as Chair of Conservators In Private Practice. For more than 20 years, he has specialized in the conservation of books and paper artifacts for institutions and individuals. A consultant to major libraries and university collections in the New York City region and nationally, he has been the recipient of numerous grants to support his work. A well-known teacher, Peachey also provides conservation-focused guidance to students in art, archives, and bookbinding programs.

Sarah Lowengard is a historian of technology and science who specializes in the chemistry and physics of early modern Europe. Her research calls on studies of art, material culture and materials science as well as the more typical concerns of social life, economies and intellectualism. She is an Associate Professor at The Cooper Union.

Maria L. Fredericks is the Drue Heinz Book Conservator at the Morgan Library & Museum. Previous she was the Head of Conservation at Columbia University Libraries, where she managed the systemwide book conservation program for more than twenty libraries.Ms. Fredericks has taught and lectured extensively on book conservation.
John Townsend owns and operates Anonymous Bookbinder, a small hand-bookbinding and conservation workshop in upstate New York. Most recently active in information technology, digital information access and related fields, he is also a librarian with a broad background and extensive experience in conservation and preservation, and he has been a bookbinder for over thirty years.

Finally, we're looking ahead towards The Future of Reading: Dan Visel will join us for a discussion of what digital publishing can take from the traditions of print publications, on Wednesday, March 24th at 6:30pm.

Dan Visel works with The Institute for the Future of the Book a small think-and-do tank investigating the evolution of intellectual discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens. In his spare time, he designs Circumference, a journal of poetry in facing-page translation.

Suggested donation for all our public programs is $10/$5 for members, and you can see our complete schedule here: http://www.centerforbookarts.org/events/