Frequently Asked Questions

“Book Arts” is a commodious term that includes all art forms and practices related to the creation of books. These days, it often means the handcrafts used to produce books before the modern era: hand bookbinding, making paper from plants, letterpress printing, calligraphy, typography, and illustration, for example. Artists Book House will also include the literary arts of writing, reading, and publishing as we believe that all bookish pursuits should be integrated, in order to create the most surprising and interesting books.

We plan to offer classes and workshops for adults, youth, and children at various levels of skill. Some of the topics will include: Creative Writing (Poetry, Fiction, Memoir, Creative Non-Fiction, and more); Artists Books (making books as art, in small editions or as unique objects); Bookbinding (for beginners and more advanced students, ancient methods, traditional styles, non-adhesive books, box-making, leather skills and fine binding); Papermaking (Western, Eastern, sculptural, pulp painting, decorative paper techniques such as marbling, paste papers, natural dyeing); Letterpress Printing (with lead type and polymer, and also relief methods such as linoleum and woodcut); Calligraphy and Typography (history, theory, practice); The History of the Book; as well as reading groups on a wide variety of subjects.

Our book shop will offer artists’ books, zines, comics, handmade books in small editions, poetry chapbooks, fiction, books that are one-of-a-kind, books that are sculptures, books about art, books about books. Some of our books will be by local authors. We will feature special topics (chocolate! steampunk! climate change!) and will bring in writers and artists to give readings, talks, demonstrations and book signings. We will sell paper made in our very own paper studio, tools and supplies to help you DIY, and oddball, delightful surprises.

Right now, we are asking individuals to donate or pledge money. Because we are a non-profit 501-C3 organization, you can write your donation off on your taxes.

In addition to donations from individuals, we are applying for grants and seeking sponsorship opportunities, but as a brand-new-thing we may not be competitive until we have shown our mettle. Artists Book House has been busy during the pandemic, producing over 60 YouTube videos including: Conversations with artists, writers and librarians hosted by Jamie Thome; Tutorials featuring simple and accessible writing, book arts and papermaking tutorials; and Stories After Dark, a ghost story series curated by Todd Summar. Additionally, our series Collaborations invites artists, writers and poets to collaborate on new works exclusively for the ABH website. All content is free to the public and accessible at artistsbookhouse.org. We offer merch at our Threadless Store, and soon, we will offer pop-up workshops and throw a few fundraising events.

But our best hope is that many of you (yes, you) want there to be a book arts center in the Chicago area enough to chip in and help it become real. Artists Book House is a non-profit 501-C3 organization. If you would like to support Aritsts Book House please donate or pledge today!