Prologue Party - Executive Director Deborah Siegel-Acevedo

Remarks given by Executive Director Deborah Siegel-Acevedo at Artists Book House's Prologue Party on June 15th, 2023. Read her remarks below.

PROLOGUE PARTY

June 15, 2023

The first book I had a visceral reaction to was Jane Eyre. 

I read it curled up under a fluffy yellow comforter, the winter I turned 15. I was a lonely teenager, an only child, and that book became my lifelong friend. It wasn’t just the words that captivated me. It was the hardcover–one of the first I owned.  It was the paper between my fingers as I turned its pages. 

I thought about that book when I was away and couldn’t wait to come back to it when I came home. I know it sounds like I’m talking about a lover, and in a way I am. And I bet every one of you in this room can remember the first time you fell in love with a book.

When I grew up and became a writer, holding my own book in my hands was as significant a moment for me as holding my twins when they were born. There’s nothing quite like expressing your story, holding the physical form that contains it, and knowing that what you’ve created, other people will hold in their hands. That what you’ve poured forth from your soul has a chance to touch another human’s heart.

When Audrey and I first explored teaming up, the expansive way she talked about the book as a vessel for carrying forth knowledge and ideas across space and time and history cracked something open in me. As Audrey has said, “People come to books for information, companionship, nourishment; books are full of life.” Indeed, like many of you in this room, books are the dearest of friends.

So humor me, friends. I invite you all to close your eyes (corny, I know, stay with me). Picture yourself when you first had a visceral reaction to a book. Where were you? What did it feel like? Do you remember how that feeling changed you?

Now, hold that thought… We’re coming back to it in a moment.

First, I want to make sure that we’re all on the same page. I’d guess that ⅔ of you here are familiar with book arts. For those who are not, welcome.

“Book Arts” includes all art forms and practices related to the creation of books and, these days, often refers to the handcrafts used to produce books before the modern era: hand bookbinding, making paper from plants, letterpress printing, calligraphy, typography, illustration, and more. 

It’s a field as old as the hills. It’s wildly inclusive, negating boundaries that confine the various arts, connecting disparate audiences, calling us together.

You remember that feeling you called up a moment ago–your first experience of book love? We want to take that feeling and put it into a space that becomes a community of and for book-loving people of all sorts. A space where you feel deeply connected to books and all that goes into them–thread, ink, pulp, and words. A space where you feel connected to each other, as book lovers, as book makers, as artists–even if you don’t yet use that term. 

We foresee a place where you’re encouraged to play, where the multiple intelligences of multiple media converge. A place where you are physically changed because you are there. That is our Artists Book House.

ABH will be a creative habitat, open to all. It’ll be a place that celebrates the arts of the book, offering courses in writing, papermaking, bookbinding, and much more. Our building will be near public transportation and accessible to people with disabilities. We’ill have a generous scholarship fund.

ABH will be a highly unusual community center, offering university-quality classes at community prices, providing a non-credit adult education in the literary and book arts accessible to all. 

I’m coming from a world of literary entrepreneurship where my mission has always been to help break down barriers to entry of the more gate-kept realms of creative expression–book publishing, op-eds, TEDx. What speaks to me about ABH is that we have an opportunity here to engage people who historically haven’t had access to a high-quality arts education.

At the same time, our Artists Book House will be a hub for existing writers and artists to refine skills and be part of an R&D book lab, creating the most imaginative books you’ve ever seen. 

Speaking of which, do check out our Board Co-President Eileen Madden’s table full of artist’s books, and get inspired!

In addition to hosting a school, our Artists Book House will host a library of treasures; a gallery for exhibitions; a book shop filled with delights. 

On any given day, a nationally-known artist will teach a master class, a local author will launch their book tour, and someone will, for the very first time, make paper out of pulp on which they may later write their first poem.

Though this sounds like nirvana, it’s not some airy fairy fantasy but rather a new incarnation of a Center that existed for 25 years: the Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College. Founded in 1994 in a historic printing district, it lasted until the college shut it down in 2019. Audrey was central to its formation and its duration.

It’s time to raise it back up. Chicago is poised for this. We have a rich history of printing, publishing, and producing fine press books. We’re a literary hub–home to the Newberry, the American Writers Museum, the Poetry Foundation, StoryStudio, Off Campus Writers Workshop, Ragdale; home to LillStreet and great art schools and artist book collections; home to the Chicago Printers Guild and Spudnik Press. 

I recently attended Chicago Zinefest and CAKE (Chicago’s alternative comics expo) with my family and, frankly, was blown away.

As highly collaborative people, our vision for our Artists Book House is that of a big tent where individuals and organizations come together in the celebration and service of books. You know, some people right now would rather ban books and curtail expression. For every book someone tries to take down, we’ll be putting up two more.

So, how will we do this you are wondering. During our Prologue Period, this current early phase in our existence (thank you Carrie Goldman), we’re keeping costs low and programming light: We’re offering pop-up workshops every few months in artists’ studios and here at Colvin House to give people around town a taste of book arts and expand our community. 

Be sure to visit our talented Board members’ demo tables outside: Hannah Batsel is showing us linoprinting, and Regin Igloria is teaching us how to hand bind a book.

We’re convening Community Conversations–public panels that ask big questions, like “What Is Book Arts in Chicago?” and what should a center be and “What Does Literary Citizenship in Chicago Mean Now?”

We’re adding staff this month to help us bring this interim programming we’ve scheduled to life. 

Building on our robust list of supporters, the goal is to build a portfolio of partnerships through connections with Chicago’s literary and arts organizations so that when we open our doors, we’ll already be on each others’ lists.

Speaking of doors…. We know we need our own building. Guided by Board member and real estate agent Carol Prieto, we’re looking. And we know this will be a substantial cost. We want to be really smart about how we go about raising funds and planning programming once we’re in our building that leads to sustainability. 

Recognizing that we’re a merry band of writers and artists and printmakers and entrepreneurs(!), during these first two months that I’ve been here, we’ve created a Donor Advisory Council, an ABH Champions Circle, that we’ll continue to expand. 

As we cultivate our foundational donors, we’ll be guided by individuals like Roberta Rubin, Jackie Vossler, Alison Aldrich, and Colvin House’s own Angela Valavanis–people who themselves have invested or collectively raised millions to see artistic ventures through. 

We’ll construct our development and strategic plans with the help of our newest Board members Juliet Bond, Director of Development for Piven, and Jeff Rosen, formerly Dean at pretty much every school of continuing education and professional studies in this town–as well as experts like Nina Antonetti and David Ben-Arie (who is here tonight).

We believe in data. So we’ll be sitting down with the Chicago Community Trust and other foundations to help us base our numbers in research, explore endowment, and figure out exactly what our financial goals should be.

At the same time, we’ll be reaching out now to our national and international colleagues to assess best practices for today’s book and paper center, learning from their experiences so that we can focus right away on developing programs that work, collaborations that are efficient and effective, and outcomes that lead to longevity. 

Minnesota Center for Book Arts, New York Center for the Book, San Francisco, London: here we come (whether via field trips or  Zoom)

In the near future, we’ll grow our staff further, expand our board, collaborate with consultants, enact our capital campaign, and buy our building.

We anticipate opening our doors and rolling out our first catalog of courses, having renovated at least part of our building so that we can start holding courses in our own home. 

We have ambitious plans. 

We need money for our operating expenses during this transitional time. 

Money for our new future home.

And money to ensure our long-term financial health.

If you’re moved by our mission, what we’d love tonight is for you to get involved. We need a groundswell of support. We’re looking for people to join our committees. We’re looking for gifts.

Tonight you’re part of a moment in ABH history, because as part of our larger and longer-term development plan, tonight we’re unveiling…The Benevolent Order of the Spine.

Shout out to Board Co-President Ken Gerleve for his whimsical design superpowers, and speed.

Gifts at different levels will grant access to various guilds and societies, the perks of which are being developed in our R&D lab right now!

Gifts of any size matter to us, deeply, whether it’s $1 or $1000 or 10k.

For those able to give more, we have some specific asks to fund programming over the next year in ways that will allow us to walk our walk, right out of the gate, by making our programming accessible to all.

A gift of $850 helps support 1 pop-up and allows us to scholarship up to half of the participants, as needed. As our thank you, we’ll save a slot for you and a friend to participate in a pop-up of your choice in 2023 or 2024.

A gift of $2,500 helps pay for sponsorship of 1 Community Conversation. As our thank you, you’ll receive 2 tickets (valued at $500) to a private Dinner Before with the speakers, and your name will go on the program as sponsor.

One last thing: It’s our founder’s birthday week. Let’s make her wishes come true. 

Help us bring ABH home. Thank you.