Book Art Centers & Community Education (Mid-Atlantic Region)
- Frederick Book Arts CenterFBAC is a Frederick, Maryland-based arts center offering bookbinding, letterpress, printmaking, photography, and language arts workshops, as well as memberships for studio use.
- Pyramid Atlantic Art CenterPyramid Atlantic is a nonprofit contemporary art center fostering the creative disciplines of papermaking, printmaking, and book arts within a collaborative community based in Hyattsville, Maryland.
- Studio Two ThreeStudio Two Three is a Richmond-based non-profit art center offering book art and printmaking workshops, as well as studio rental.
- Triangle Book ArtsTriangle Book Arts is a grassroots collective of artists in the greater Triangle area of North Carolina with focus areas of bookbinding, artists’ books, printmaking and printing, papermaking, zines, calligraphy, etc.
- Virginia Center for the BookWorking across the Commonwealth to unite communities of readers, writers, artists, and book lovers through year-round programs and partnership initiatives, the Center recognizes the enduring power of literature, storytelling, and the book arts to engage in public dialogue and promote intercultural understanding. As an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the Center works within a network of affiliates to promote books, reading, literacy, and the literary life of Virginia.
- Visual Arts Center of RichmondVisArts is a Richmond-based non-profit arts center offering classes in bookbinding, letterpress, and printmaking.
Book Art Graduate Programs
- University of AlabamaOffers an MFA in Book Arts
- University of the ArtsOffers an MFA in Book Arts + Printmaking
- University of IowaOffers an MFA and Graduate Certificate in Book Arts
- The University of UtahOffers a Minor and Certificate in Book Arts and an MFA in Creative Writing & Book Arts
- Visual Studies WorkshopOffers an MFA in Photography, Book Art, and Moving Images
Papermaking at Women's Studio Workshop
Artist Bhavna Mehta making paper at Women's Studio Workshop
Photo courtesy of Women's Studio Workshop
Letterpress printing at Virginia Center for the Book
Artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. letterpress printing at the Virginia Center for the Book
Photo courtesy of Virginia Humanities
Artists' Books at Penland School of Craft
Artist's books from a workshop with Julie Chen at Penland School of Craft
Book Art Centers & Community Education (Nationwide)
- Arrowmont School of Arts and CraftsArrowmont is an arts and crafts school based in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, offering classes in book arts and printmaking.
- Austin Book Arts CenterABAC regularly offers workshops in letterpress printing, bookbinding, papermaking, typography, book history and design, and various arts of the book. In addition, ABAC provides access to equipment for qualified users during regularly scheduled Open Studio times.
- Book Arts LABook Arts LA is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization devoted to bringing the beauty of printing, binding and collecting artists' and other hand made books to the public.
- Booklyn Artists' AllianceFounded in 1999, Booklyn is an artist-run, non-profit 501 (c) (3), consensus-governed, artists and bookmakers organization headquartered at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, offering classes in book arts and printmaking.
- Center for Book ArtsThe Center for Book Arts promotes active explorations of both contemporary and traditional artistic practices related to the book as an art object. Founded in 1974 and still located in Manhattan, it was the first not-for-profit organization of its kind in the nation, and has since become a model for others around the world. CBA offers classes in book arts, printmaking, and letterpress.
- Cincinnati Book Arts SocietyCincinnati Book Arts Society (CBAS) which began in 1998, is a non-profit organization comprised of professionals and amateurs from all quarters of the book, paper and printing arts-bookbinders, paper makers, printers, paper marblers, and book artists, as well as archivists and conservators-for the purpose of creating a spirit of community among hand workers in the book arts and those who love books, in addition to offering book arts workshops.
- Focus on Book ArtsFocus on Book Arts is a five-day conference of book and paper arts workshops held biennially on the verdant campus of Pacific University in charming Forest Grove, Oregon, just west of Portland, every odd-numbered year.
- Hamilton Wood Type & Printing MuseumHamilton Manufacturing was America’s largest and longest wood type maker. We have the world’s greatest collection of type and the tools to use it. You can tour over 40,000 square feet of printing history from slabs of rough-cut maple to row upon row of exquisite type. We show the process, the machines, the presses and the product. As a working museum, you can see a pantograph that cut the type 100 years ago. On workshop days, watch new printers pulling proofs or sign up for a unique experience. Wander the gallery to view new or traditional posters by artists near and far. Take a tour or visit Hamilton Dry Goods, the museum store, filled with prints and products often made by museum staff. Visit, learn, print, repeat.
- Iowa Center for the BookThe Iowa Center for the Book (ICB) is a program of the State Library of Iowa and an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Founded in 2002, ICB's mission is to stimulate public interest in books, reading, literacy and libraries. ICB also has an extensive directory of book artists and craftspeople living and working in Iowa.
- Jaffe Center for Book ArtsThe Jaffe Center for Book Arts at Florida Atlantic University offers workshops in book arts, letterpress, and papermaking, in addition to studio rental and an artist residency program.
- Minnosota Center for Book ArtsMCBA offers workshops in book arts, printmaking, and papermaking, in addition to open studio hours, exhibitions, and artist fellowships/prizes.
- Paper and Book IntensivePaper and Book Intensive is an annual working sabbatical in the book arts, papermaking, and conservation for seasoned practitioners and motivated beginners at Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, Michigan.
- Penland School of CraftPenland is a center for craft education located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina offering workshops in book art, papermaking, printmaking, and letterpress.
- San Francisco Center for the BookThe San Francisco Center for the Book is a center of inspiration for the book arts world, featuring the art & craft of letterpress printing, bookbinding, and artists bookmaking.
- Wells Book Arts CenterWells Book Arts Summer Institute is an annual program offering week-long intensive courses in letterpress printing, hand bookbinding, artists’ books, lettering and paper arts taught by some of the foremost book artists working today.
- Western New York Book Arts CenterLocated in the heart of downtown Buffalo, the Western New York Book Arts Center is a community print shop and studio for letterpress, screen printing, book binding, paper making, calligraphy, origami, and more! We are a nonprofit organization and a working museum dedicated to preserving the book arts through collaboration and innovation, bridging antique equipment and processes with modern artmaking techniques, and celebrating the heritage of Buffalo’s’ printing industry.
- Women's Studio WorkshopWSW maintains facilities for etching, letterpress, papermaking, book arts, silkscreen, 3D work, ceramics, and photography. Our studios are housed in an historic building, located in the foothills of the Hudson Valley’s Shawangunk Mountains. The studios are extensively equipped and well-maintained. Artists can take workshops, rent the studios, or schedule private instruction. Women-identified visual artists may apply for artist residencies.
Shuttered, but historically important, centers for book arts education:
- The Columbia College Chicago Center for Book & Paper Arts (CBPA) was one of the largest and most comprehensive book art facilities in the world. The CBPA had a large gallery that exhibited student and faculty work, sponsored a national juried biennial of book and paper art, and inaugurated and hosted national traveling shows and exhibits. It was also the home of the MFA in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts program at Columbia College Chicago, and a center of community-based book arts education encompassing bookbinding, letterpress, printmaking, and papermaking.
LET'S DO IT! THE CENTER FOR BOOK AND PAPER ARTS: A HISTORY is an essay by Jessica Cochran published in the Journal of Artists' Books JAB46 that recounts the history of the CBPA gathered from conducted interviews.
- Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) earned a reputation as a leading college of art and craft in the United States. Known for its exceptional faculty of artists, writers and makers, OCAC was a uniquely small, mentor-based college where students were individually guided to become successful artists and professionals in the fields of creative practice, business, and industry. OCAC offered both BFA and MFA degree programs.
