Wells Book Arts Center

One of the best places to make an artist book: Wells College Summer Institute! It’s true, the facility is amazing with seven Vandercooks, plenty of lead type cast from the Bixler letterfoundry, an extensive collection of woodtype and cuts. A bindery full of book presses, board shears, and guillotines. The facility is charming, with hardwood floors and windows that look out on to green grass, willow trees, and beautiful lake Cayuga. Whether you have an extensive background in the book arts or you are a newbie, the Summer Institute is the perfect opportunity to work with Robin Price and create your own artist book. Embracing Chance: Letterpress Artists’ Books is being taught by Robin Price June 14 – 20. Surprise yourself by adapting to chance-based, creative pathways as you encounter changing fields of potential and constraint. Work with text and image derived from chance operations while making a letterpress artist’s book. Katie Baldwin interview’s Robin Price to find out more about what’s going on in her studio and what she will be teaching this summer at Wells College.

KB: Looking at your website, I noticed an image of print trials for your book in progress titled: Love in the Time of War by Yusef Komunyakaa. Can you tell me a little bit about what’s going on in your studio practice?

RP: Several months ago a young artist apprenticing at the press, Brittany De Nigris, quietly nudged me toward a transformative development in Love in the Time of War, a 25-poem sonnet sequence by Yusef Komunyakaa, reconstructed as an artist’s book here at the press. I was showing her some press trials I’d done while she was away for a month, all on various thin papers folded at the foredge (the side opposite the spine), plus one on silk fabric. Oh, sure, I said, of course the silk one is amazing, but I can’t afford it and it’s too impractical. I kept talking about the pros and cons, as I saw them, of the other choices, trying to engage her, get her opinion. She didn’t say much, but kept walking back to the edge of the table, fondling the dark-brown stained silk sheet, with a poem printed in silver, and a torn piece of aluminum foil placed within the fold. She held it up to the light, noticed how her hand was slightly visible through the two layers. This, this, her whole being said, until I finally realized she was absolutely right and we had to do it that way, no matter what. The studio became a makeshift chemistry lab and it took a long time to solve some technical problems. The actual process of staining the silk was quite beautiful – and messy!

KB: So, what inspires–now, in the studio?

RP: First, these piercing, wrenching poems that address how can one be at war and experience love at the same time. Komunyakaa began writing these poems ten years ago, when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Here is the beginning of one of the sonnets:

A curtain of fire hangs in the west.

The big gun speaks. Speaks            

as if all the gods are cursing at once.

Another timber kneels in the dirt.

Second: This weekend, while looking again at the simple Hindu tantric paintings in the book Tantra Song (a book I found out about through Brittany), I got an idea for trying to express similar quiet meditative works with collage. Now I’m hungry to see what happens with that, but there’s not much time to play until I can finish Love in the Time of War. That’s a little frustrating, but I try to pacify myself with the reminder that more mulling before anything physical happens will likely make for stronger work.KB: The text for this book is printed on individually painted, hand-dyed silk. It sounds beautiful! I can really appreciate how much an artist book edition requires tests, mockups, and experimentation. I am wondering about your process, how you might arrive at a particular structure or material choice (such as silk pages)?

RP: I try to listen as well as I possibly can to what the book wants to be. I realize that sounds pretty esoteric, but what I’m getting at is the loss of ego: it’s not about what I want the book to be. Yes, just as you say, lots of tests and experimentation. Often there’s research into materials or processes that are new to me. Also, my point of origin generally stems from the interior of the book. Something about what will be on a sample page then points toward a possible structure, a potential design scheme, a certain material. Then there are months or years of juggling all the pieces until they form what seems to be a cohesive whole. I aim to stay open to alternate possibilities until the chorus sings in unison, and there’s no solo performer who’s in it just for the headlines.

KB: Rumor has it that you have taught at the Summer Institute in the past. What are you looking forward to most when you arrive at the Book Arts Center?

RP: Besides swimming in Lake Cayuga? Here’s what: starting every morning and finishing every night with a group of dedicated, passionate, fun people who are there to learn from and help each other, share ideas, and work very hard (which in this context means the same as play very hard). I especially love spying on other classes and the opportunity to learn during the evening presentations.

KB: My first experience with the Summer Institute was in 2012. I was struck by the amazing energy of students and teachers. In only one week, incredible, complex artist books were made by both newbies and experts. How do you approach teaching when students are totally new to artistbooks?

RP: Often the flow of ideas will be broader when there are beginners and more advanced students in the same class, due to the diversity of perspectives. Sometimes beginning students can feel overwhelmed with the abundant technical information, but the more experienced ones seem to naturally step in and offer help, and the stress decreases. There’s also the fun of a beginner determined to make some crazy thing work that my solid fine printing background self would never do, and I have the opportunity, once again, to be reminded of the bold, fearless potential of the untrained.

KB: In your course, Embracing Chance, what will students be focusing on during the Summer Institute? And what will they be taking away with them?

RP: I hope that students are surprised at every turn, both at what is suddenly put before them and at their own reactions, their own creative responses to something new. The something new might feel uncomfortable at first, or it might feel absolutely liberating. I’d like to pass on what I’ve learned about John Cage and his use of chance operations, and why I feel that approach can be invigorating in the practice of making artist’s books (and in creative endeavors generally). Cage proposed the use of chance as a way to free one’s mind from personal likes and dislikes. I think the reason I keep exploring this topic (over ten years now) involves the connection between that relinquishing of personal taste, if you will, and my desire to keep my own ego out of my books as much as I possibly can.

RP: There are many more aspects to bringing in chance and how it can propel you into new territory, such as relinquishing control, working within constraints, and responding creatively and immediately to another’s work. We’ll start with a quick exercise that results in a packet of letterpress postcards (enough for each student to keep a set). Our main focus will be a book project that addresses chance and starts as a group endeavor, then participants individually complete their own folios. Technical points I’ll cover include hand typesetting, press lock-up, letterpress printing, paper handling, pamphlet binding, heat-set collage, paper staining, and various printmaking processes such as pressure printing, monoprinting, gradation & rainbow roll inking. Bringing in other media – hand-cutting, stitching, drawing, painting, etc – will be encouraged. Other than the book and postcard set completed in class, I hope the experience settles as fertile ground from which to generate further explorations with chance in the creative process.

Robin Price is an artist, letterpress printer & publisher of artists’ books for more than 25 years. The work of the press has become a lifelong, interdisciplinary liberal arts education, and her press books are collected & exhibited internationally. “A chameleon among book artists,” she often seeks out contemporary artists, writers, and artisans with whom to collaborate, striving for synergistic books with extensive diversity in content and form. A major wellspring of inspiration is the purposeful use of chance in creative work, especially as defined by John Cage; she has been lecturing and teaching specifically on that subject since 2002, when she co-curated an exhibition at Yale University Sterling Library with Jae Rossman, “By Chance: Serendipity and Randomness in Contemporary Artists’ Books.” B.A., Pomona College.

http://johncage.org/2012/

http://www.robinpricepublisher.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RobinPricePublisher

In July, Tricia Treacy will be teaching at the Summer Institute at the Wells Book Arts Center. The course titled Working with the Iron Press: Experimental Analogue and Digital Typography offers participants the opportunity to work with wood type in a new way. This is Tricia’s first time at Wells College and we are thrilled to have her! Who better than someone who works in an interdisciplinary way to teach students how to use Victor Hammer’s very own iron hand press? Although an iron press conjures up thoughts of the old, this is a contemporary course that blends the analogue with the digital. Workshop participants are encouraged to experiment as well as break all the rules!

In this interview, Katie Baldwin (KB) talks to Tricia Treacy (TT) about her studio practice and the workshop she will be teaching this summer.

(KB) I know you just finished a huge project with Ashley John Pigford called the Vista Sans Wood Type Project. It seems to be very relevant conceptually to the course you are teaching at the Summer Institute. Update me on the status of that project—and what general thoughts do you have about it, now that the portfolio is finished and the book is published.

(TT) The Vista Sans Wood Type Project (VSWTP) book is currently at the printer and due out for release May 15 in conjunction with TYPO Berlin in Germany. The book, which was designed and self-published with Ashley John Pigford, was made possible with crowd-source fundraising via Kickstarter in February. The small run (600-700 copies) designer-series art book contains 130 pages about the creative process of VSWTP, all 21 artists/designers/studios that participated in the collaboration, and contributor essays from professionals in the field. The conceptual idea for the entire project, using the wood type letters that spell “touch” with post-digital technology, also drives the book production which reflects that process using a combination of offset printing, letterpress, and hand-sewing.

The entire two-year project has been a true labor of love. It was a ton of work, but we are both extremely proud of the outcome, particularly how the book will showcase the process of artists working with experimental and contemporary letterpress. We are also SUPER appreciative of how the letterpress, type and design communities supported the project. That was extremely humbling. We launched a website www.vswtp.org at the start of the project, which documents the process and successes of the project. Soon, we will be uploading process images of the book and where people can purchase it.

(KB) Now that Vista Sans is done, how are you spending your time in the studio?

(TT) Well, to be totally honest, I am still working on the VSWTP book during all waking hours. In my studio, we are currently letterpress printing the front and back covers for the book, and next week we will be hand-sewing each edition.

Believe it or not, I am also trying to finish up a few other projects including a recent artist book called falter that was launched in February for Codex 2013. The books are being sewn in the studio, and John DeMerritt Bookbinding in CA will be completing the edition binding for me.

(TT) And I have several other projects currently brewing (mostly collaborative in nature), but they are all in the brainstorming phase, so it’s too early to identify their direction.

(KB) I am really excited that you will be teaching a workshop that uses Victor Hammer’s actual iron hand press. What drew you to creating a course that uses his press?

(TT) I first learned to print on the hand press with Peter Kruty in his Brooklyn studio back in 1999 while I was in graduate school. We never completed the printing, but I sure had a great time on the press with Peter, trying to fine-tune things. I learned a lot about the details involved in traditional printing on the hand press. I am proud to say I learned the traditional method first. Since then, while teaching at Common Press (University of Pennsylvania,) we have a hand press that gets used more so as a proofing and experimental tool. When I first started teaching there in 2009, Matt Neff, fellow faculty member and printmaker, who runs the press, blew my mind when he told me that he printed a T-shirt on the press. Since then, it has been the favorite tool in my classroom to use in an experimental way with fast results. Students get impatient waiting for results with letterpress and I love having them print on the hand press on the first day in an experimental way. It often becomes the press of choice for my students, and they don’t feel as limited as they do on the Vandercook press.

(KB) I am very interested that you will be blending this old technology with new technology. Can you tell me a little bit about what people will be doing in your course: Working with the Iron Press: Experimental Analog and Digital Typography?

(TT) This course is something that I have been mulling over for some time, and I am really excited to get a chance to teach it at Wells. I plan to introduce the hand press to students as a tool to play with a fabulous wood type collection and think about type in new ways, including overprinting, pressure printing, and possibly bringing the computer into the scenario. Students will bring their own interests and skills to the course and I will help guide them to use typography to tell a conceptual story. Students will work both collaboratively and individually, and we will make a book or series of books that can be exchanged.

(KB) What do you hope SI students will take away from your course?

(TT) A love for the hand press and a new perspective on typography. Many students are scared by the hand press, and I want them to realize how accessible it can be for experimental work.

(KB) Pretend I am handing you a crystal ball. As you peer into it, what is the future of printmaking, book arts, and design?

(TT) A world where they all overlap and a new definition of the combination emerges. . .

(KB) This is your first time at the Wells College Book Arts Center—based on all the rumors you’ve heard, what are you looking forward to the most?

(TT) Great conversations and ice cream treats!

(KB) This last question is actually from Sarah Bryant: How would you approach cracking open a safe?

(TT) Very carefully and with my finest bookbinding awl and chisel.

Tricia Treacy is an interdisciplinary artist who has been running her own letterpress design studio, Pointed Press Studio—a nexus for collaboration and creativity in the design/typography/printmaking areas—in Swarthmore, PA, since 2000. Collaboration and experimentation compose a large part of her creative studio practice. She was a co-initiator and collaborator of the recent international, vista sans wood type project. Tricia has taught book arts, digital photography, graphic design, letterpress and typography courses at the Rutgers University, the University of the Arts, the University of Delaware, and University of Pennsylvania School of Design. She exhibits internationally, and her artists’ books are in major collections throughout the country and abroad.

www.triciatreacy.com

www.vswtp.org

In July, Victor Hammer #6–the infamous Sarah Bryant–will return to the Wells Book Arts Center to teach Boxmaking during the Summer Institute. The course titled A Box is an Invitation: Enclosure Design and Production will be an opportunity for students to design and produce beautiful enclosures for personal collections of objects, books, prints, or other mysterious contents.

This course is almost full! Who better to learn the ins and outs of good boxmaking from than Sarah Bryant?! Not only is Sarah an accomplished binder and book artist, but anyone who has studied with her will tell you SHE IS A LOT OF FUN.

Katie Baldwin (VH #7) interviewed Sarah Bryant (VH #6), in order to give us a peek into her studio work and to gain a little insight on what exactly what makes her tick!

KB, VH #7:  Sarah, what are you working on in the studio?

SB, VH #6: These days I am caught between the satisfying allure of binding up older projects, and the strong pull of something new. Today, for example, I’ll be continuing to produce boxes for a special edition of my last book. Making these boxes is fun because each of them will hold a book, a set of prints, and an object. I love making complicated things like this, and every box I finish brings me closer to finishing the entire project, which dominated my life for a solid year.

SB, VH #6: Clipped to a line just over my head is is something unformed that I am working on with a science-side friend of mine. It’s not quite ready to talk about, but it is the beginning of a project that has its origins in population statistics. So ask me at the Summer Institute and by then I’ll be able to I’ll tell you everything. And maybe show you a draft? My last book was very personal, and while I loved making it and trying something new, I am looking forward to moving away from it and delving back into something science-related.

KB, VH #7:  You have participated in the Summer Institute as both a student and instructor, what are you looking forward to most this summer at the Book Arts Center?

SB, VH #6: I love the Summer Institute. I am most looking forward to: seeing old friends, meeting new friends, swimming in the lake, drinking finger lakes beer, and soaking in the general buzz of people working non-stop on book projects. I am thrilled to teach box-making this year; there is some kind of specific satisfaction that comes from making beautiful boxes out of raw materials. Once you learn the basics, a whole complex world opens up to you. Students in my course will start simply, but end with individual projects tailored to things they bring. Also they can look forward to my weird habit of making my bookbinding tools talk in funny voices. I don’t want to do it, I don’t like that I do it, but I always do it nonetheless.

KB, VH #7: Something I really love about your books is the incredible balance you achieve between content and craft. I know as an artist, making things is a process that is not just a progressive or linear path. But I wonder if you could speak to the way in which you achieve balance between content and craft?

SB, VH #6: The relationship between content and craft is is complex. While they are obviously very different things, I do believe they are related in certain ways. A high level of craftsmanship lends authority to the things you make. More people will give your content their attention if it is presented deliberately and cleanly. Certainly there is room for quick and dirty books, or books that seem to have a low level of craft, if that choice is related to the content of the book. But a rough-looking or poorly executed binding will be read as related to the content whether that is your intention or not.

The structure of a book (not exactly ‘craft’ itself but certainly a function of craft) is critical for the content of any book. There are innumerable structures and variations to work with. I develop the content and structure simultaneously, churning out three dimensional book-drafts frequently in all stages of the design of a book. I think the worst crime you can commit is to think of an unusual structure first and then try to manipulate and squeeze some unrelated idea into it.

When I work, I start with an idea. I try it out in a number of rough mockups, and am always willing to abandon a structure if it isn’t not working. I am also ready to make changes to the content, however. Sometimes the structural experiments I do in the mockup stages actually lead to interesting re-considerations of the content, giving me ideas about how to group things together, for example, or helping me to see what portions of the content are not working with the rest. So it goes both ways. I should also say here that I abandon many of my ideas in the early stages if they are clearly not working. Sometimes an idea, even a good idea, is just not big enough for a book. I file these away for later and hope they join up with something else, or mature in the primordial soup.

KB, VH #7: You seem to find that interesting place where content stays accessible, but smart (in the Fond), or smart, but accessible (in the case of Biography). How do you find that place? Do you have a map? Some kind of GPS? Perhaps a gift from God? (You don’t really have to answer this question)…(but you do have to answer the other one’s!)

SB, VH #6: Join my cult and find out. The fees are reasonable and you gain access to the compound, where we mostly talk about the legibility of natural science museum displays and then eat astronaut ice cream until we feel a bit ill.

KB, VH #7: Lastly, What is the Sarah Bryant’s pick for the best ice cream from Cream at the Top (1296 State Route 34B, King Ferry Station, NY)? 

SB VH #6, Small (the small is enormous) soft serve custard twist with chocolate sprinkles. Classic. Simple. AMAZING.

KB, VH #7: Okay, really for lastly, if you were going to make a bet on what is locked up in the Book Arts Center basement safe, what would it be?

SB, VH #6: The remains of Victor Hammer’s printer’s devil. Is that too bleak? Maybe his stamp collection then. Or the Natural History museum displays. Let’s get the tools and find out. For real this time.

Join us this summer, for the 2013 Book Arts Center Summer Institute for box-making, bookbinding, letterpress and more. By day we will be printing and binding like mad, at night: join us in cracking the combination of the basement safe!

Summer Institute at Wells College Book Arts Center is just around the corner…

Lake Cayuga reflects the icy blue sky of winter—while it’s officially spring, winter seems to linger here. Trees are bare, snow dusts the ground, and the thermometer stubbornly hovers at a low 27 degrees. This will be my second winter in upstate New York and I will confess that although the weather can be cold, it has a special kind of beauty.

For me, winter has a distinct tone. Cold afternoons turn quickly to dusk. The perfect meal includes homemade soup, a cup of hot tea, and freshly baked bread. Progress is made on craft projects, while sitting on the couch wrapped in an afghan. And just when the winter starts to feel unbearable, thoughts drift to the possibility of summer.

The details of the Summer Institute have been finalized, making my daydreams of summer seem closer to reality, regardless of the cold weather that persists. The Summer Institute promises two weeks of inspiring courses in binding, calligraphy, and letterpress printing. Anyone who has attended the Summer Institute will tell you that the studios are filled day and night with the energy of people making amazing things. Although long summer days spent in the studio are filled with work, there is plenty of time for play. Days are livened with morning coffee at picnic tables under the shade of trees, afternoon swims in Lake Cayuga, and evening bonfires with roasted marshmallows and stargazing.

Summer Institute 2013 offers the following courses:

Session 1, July 7 – 13
Poets and the Press, Katie Baldwin
One new focus of our Summer Institute has been to develop a letterpress course for writers. The course Poets at the Press is an opportunity for poets to turn a short manuscript into a chap-book.

A Box is an Invitation, Sarah Bryant
If you are interested in learning how to design and build beautiful enclosures, Sarah Bryant (former Victor Hammer Fellow), can teach you all the secrets. Not only is Sarah incredibly knowledgeable—she is so much fun!

Mixed Media Neuland, Nancy Culmone
Nancy will teach calligraphy through both structured and experimental exercises in calligraphy. Students will explore the letterform of Neuland using various papers, ink, paints, and colored pencils.

Working with the Iron Press, Tricia Treacy
We are firing up Victor Hammer’s Iron Hand Press! However, Tricia is going to be mixing the old with the new. Antique wood type, digital methods, experimentation and hand printing will result in a collaborative, conceptual typographic artist’s book.

Session 2, July 14 – 20

Woodblock Printing, Katie Baldwin
In this course, I will be teaching the traditional methods of Japanese woodblock printing. Learn how to print multiple colors with perfect registration using a carved woodblock image!

Love that Leather, Margot Ecke
Come sew text blocks, learn to cut and pare leather, and binding books, showcasing several traditional leather bindings. Students will create one full leather and two quarter leather bound books.

Typecasting and Monotype Composition, Michael Bixler
If you love handset letterpress, then perhaps learning the monotype process from one of the last letterfoundries in North America will interest you! Students will learn keying text to casting type at Bixler’s press and Letterfoundry.

Embracing Chance, Robin Price
Robin will be working with students to create letterpress artist books, through methods of chance. Surprise yourself by embracing new creative pathways in developing text and image in a hand bound book.

Last summer, I attended the Summer Institute at Wells Book Arts Center as both a student and an instructor—and I had a truly fantastic time. I had the opportunity to work alongside many wonderful people and their momentum in the studio was catching: the Summer Institute left me inspired! Today, as the days continue to get longer, I am looking forward to the morning coffee, swimming, bonfires, marshmallows, stargazing and inspiration that 2013 Summer Institute at the Wells Book Arts Center guarantees.

Please contact us at: 315-364-3420. You can find information on the Summer Institute or download a PDF of the brochure at http://www.wellsbookartscenter.org (or visit us on Facebook!).

Katie Baldwin
Victor Hammer Fellow in Book Arts
Wells Book Arts Center

We’re proud to announce the details of our 2013 Summer Institute, which offers a suite of eight week-long intensive courses in letterpress printing, hand bookbinding, artist’s books, letterings arts and font design are taught by some of the foremost book artists in the U.S. and Europe. Find more details through the link below, or too reserve your space, call us at 315-364-3420.

Summer Institute 2013: Brochure

Hello fellow Book Artists and admirers!

Everyone here at the Wells Book Arts Center is settling into a brand new semester, which means exciting new classes, enthusiastic students, and lots of new projects!

Classes being taught this Fall include Introduction to Letterpress with Michael Bixler, Mokuhanga (Japanese Woodblock Printing) and Book Binding with Katie Baldwin, and Introduction to Calligraphy with Barbara Galli. Stay tuned to the Wells Book Arts Center blog for updates on class projects and progress, including photographs of student works.

Q. What is the Cracker Factory / Three Stories?

A. The Cracker Factory is a renovated industrial building in Geneva, NY that houses 3Stories, a non-profit that hosts cultural arts events. The 2nd floor is divided between a 6,000sq. ft. event space and 4,000sq. ft. of artist studios.
3Stories is a non-profit with 501c3 status housed within the Cracker Factory that is responsible for the arts programming at the building. Its mission is to provide artists with below market rate studio and exhibition space. Long term plans include artist-in-residence programs. Residence programs in conjunction with studio and exhibition space will provide artists with a full service experience allowing them to live, produce, and exhibit in a more seamless manner while enriching our community.
Q. What kinds of things happen there?

A. Through out the year the Cracker Factory hosts art shows, poetry readings, concerts and lecture series.

Last year we presented ³OPEN² featuring letter press book artists: Kyle Bravo, Sarah Bryant, Bridget Elmer, Sarah Nicholls & Jen Thomas, and hosted letterpress demonstrations by Sarah Bryant.

For images of the space and of this event please view our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150762902805710.724329.1015013602 8315710&type=3
The gallery space is also available to rent for private parties and wedding receptions.

Q. How can people get involved / be a part / show work, etc.?

A. Events are posted on our facebook page, a link can be found at – thecrackerfactory.org. Artists who would like their work considered for upcoming shows can send an artist statement and images to – brandon@thecrackerfactory.org.

We have several volunteer days through out the year where people can help with the building, most are run in conjunction with Hobart and William Smith’s days of service. If you would like to help support cultural events at the Cracker Factory, please consider making a tax-deductible donation via paypal – www.3stories.org
“Q”. Please explain a little bit about how the WRNHP (Women’s Rights National Historic Park) print equipment ended up with at the Cracker Factory:

A. We found out about the WRNHP print shop through the Briar Press blog and Gary Gregory from the Boston Gazette, who thought it would be a great fit for our growing print shop which began last spring with the donation of a Vandercook 325G Press.
It was the desire of the WRNHP to keep the Helaine Victoria Press shop and its history intact, along with having the press stay in the Finger Lakes. The WRNHP will periodically make park rangers available during programs at Three Stories to introduce potentially new audiences to the National Park Service and share their broad knowledge of the powerful role printed media had in spreading the message of the early women’s rights movement.
 Q. What do you hope to see happen at the print shop in the future?

A. We look forward to hosting letterpress and bookbinding workshops. Along with providing printing facilities to artist in residence candidates.
Q. What excites you most about having the print shop here?

A. We feel letterpress is a very approachable medium which is fascinating to the general public and trained artists. Unlike many creative methods, with a brief introduction people can start printing their own creations in just a few hours. This approachability in conjunction with the intimate nature of setting type allows most who experience letter pressing to gain a better connection to the designed world around them.

At the beginning of June,  I started a summer internship at The Cracker Factory in Geneva, New York. Victor Hammer Fellow (and printmaker extraordinaire) Katie Baldwin connected me with Amy and Brandon Phillips, the owners of Miles and May Furniture Works and The Cracker Factory; and board members of 3Stories (Art, Industry, Opportunity).

I was extremely excited for the opportunity to work in such a beautiful space (an old factory that’s been renovated, yet still keeps much of its industrial charm), with its robust and historically rich letterpress facility donated by The Women’s Rights National Historical Park, as well as friends and colleagues of Amy and Brandon.

I have been organizing the print shop so that it will be easy to use (accessible and efficient) for artists and students alike, and I’ve been having a great time along the way. I am enchanted by the space and the supplies. As I distribute type that’s been set for probably many years, I discover little pieces of history such as quotes by humanitarians such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott Osborne, and Frederick Douglass, all of which were once hand-set in lead type and accompanied by their photo-etched letterpress cut portraits.

They also have an extensive and beautiful collection of wood type donated by good friends of theirs that has been restored, cleaned, and organized by font.

With floor to ceiling windows allowing light to pour into the space, gorgeous wood floors (that were restored from its old factory days, being once completely covered in tar), fine sets of type, cuts, ornaments, and borders, a wide and wild variety of wood type, and several printing presses, The Cracker Factory has a lot to offer letterpress artists and students. The atmosphere is relaxed and positive, and very supportive of the Arts.

I am really excited to be a part of this up and coming print shop, as I sift through the dust and lead, and watch new life emerge from richly historical letterpress equipment.

Be sure to read the interview with Amy and Brandon to find out more about The Cracker Factory/ 3Stories.

Thanks for checking out our blog and supporting the wonderful world of Book Arts!

Jessie Reich, Wells College Class of 2013

We’re extremely excited to announce that Wells College will have student work from Art on the Press (Spring 2012), along with works by artist and professor, Katie Baldwin, on display at Press in North Adams, Massachusetts. The name of the exhibition is Type High: Wells Artists at the Vandercook, and will feature several works by all of the students from the class.

The show will run from July 26, 2012-August 26, 2012; So if you’re in the area, be sure to explore this fantastic venture for the students of Wells College.

Photographs will be posted soon.

Please follow the link below for a more detailed description of the exhibition, including the names of the artists that will be featured.

http://letterpressasapublicartproject.wordpress.com/current-and-upcoming-exhibits/july-26-2012-type-high-wells-artists-at-the-vandercook/

Our new website – wellsbookartscenter.org – is up and running! The most exciting part? It will soon include an online store with special products hand-crafted right at the center. Check it out!