Artists & Writers Dream Up The Future Of Book Arts In Chicago

Image by Tracy Baim.

On October 5th, ABH’s panel “Book Arts in Chicago: Past, Present, Future” offered a rich opportunity for new and old friends to gather at Colvin House to discuss all things book arts — and in particular, what our new center combining book arts and literary arts could become.

Thank you to those who came out to be part of the conversation. Do watch out on our website for the full video of the panel. Special kudos to Audrey Niffenegger for graceful moderating, to our Executive Director Deborah Siegel-Acevedo for organizing and hosting, and to our terrific panelists, whose work you must check out if you haven’t yet:

Pictured from left to right: Eric Von Haynes (Flatlands Press, Chicago Printers Guild, Paper Jam - happening now) | Hannah Batsel | Julia Arrendondo | Jill Gage - go visit The Newberry! Thanks to Tracy Baim for the candid photos.

Here are just a few of the comments left on notecards from the event- we plan to read them all and absorb them into our ideas going forward:

• “For perhaps a far-flung future–or maybe one close at hand: Once ABH is established in its home, an ABH Artists Bookmobile, a taste of ABH that can roll out to other neighborhoods. (Growing up in the South Bronx, I had no local public library at first except for a bookmobile that gave me my first taste of the world of books.)”

• “I think having big windows into studio or classroom spaces would be good. Let people who walked in for the shop see the process and maybe they will sign up for classes.”

• “A publishing program or nexus for people who are artists and designers, but also for people who aren’t artists or designers, but who want to see their idea for a book in a physical form.”

• “Shared services like training in marketing and social media for writers and artists.”

Can you picture it? We can picture it. And we look forward to creating it with you, over time.