Greetings Friends,
On January 11 of 2023, the Artists Book House Board of Directors voted to terminate our lease for the Harley Clarke Mansion with the City of Evanston.
It had become increasingly clear that the mammoth task of fundraising 8-10 million dollars to renovate a building owned by the City of Evanston during a global pandemic, coupled with the entrenched politics surrounding the property and its usage, had consumed the majority of our time and resources.
Our mission as an organization was not about the historic preservation of a publicly owned building, yet we set ourselves to the task of cleaning the house, making repairs to the gutters, and having our amazing architects design innovative (but expensive) plans for the renovation of a building we would never own. It would have been great. But, alas, it was not to be.
Our primary mission has always been to provide quality, university-level instruction in the literary, book and paper arts, at community art school prices, in a welcoming and inclusive environment for anyone who wants it. We want a space that gives beginners a place to grow, and more experienced writers and artists a place to hone their skills. Our mission has not changed. Just our address.
What’s next for Artists Book House? While leaving the Harley Clarke Mansion in Evanston was a difficult and bittersweet choice, ABH is steadfast in our vision: to bring a world class literary, book, and paper arts center to the Chicagoland area.
As we began to ponder what this might mean, post Harley Clarke, it became clear that in order to serve our mission, we needed to narrow our focus to the book arts core of ABH while broadening the community that we want to serve, to include those neighborhoods and minoritized groups that are underserved by existing arts nonprofits.
The result of this soul searching was our decision to relocate Artists Book House to Chicago, to purchase (rather than lease) our future facilities, and to concentrate on the teaching of the literary and book arts, exhibitions and events, our permanent collections library, and our bookstore. We want to be sure that our new home is accessible via public transportation, so we can welcome and serve more people. We hope that our Evanston family will continue to engage with and support Artists Book House wherever we land in Chicago. Despite these major changes, our mission is the same:
Artists Book House is devoted to the Book Arts: writing, reading, printing, bookbinding, papermaking, typography, calligraphy, poetry, fiction, memoir, artist’s books, publishing, comics, zines, and much, much more. It is a place where artists, writers, readers, and other thoughtful people gather to learn and create.
Through education, exhibitions, publications, and events, Artists Book House expands our community. We promote the literary arts and the crafts of book making. We rejoice in the physical form of the book and embrace interdisciplinary approaches to the book arts. We are committed to conservation, understanding the history and craft of the book, and sharing knowledge. We celebrate diversity and are committed to empowering people to tell their stories, to transform their worlds into books.
In the midst of all of this, we are excited to announce that we have hired Deborah Siegel-Acevedo, PhD, as our first Executive Director. Deborah brings her experience in the literary, academic, and nonprofit worlds to Artists Book House. More can be read about Deborah here.
In the next few months, with Deborah’s leadership, Artists Book House will be focused on refining our strategic and business plans, upgrading our website and admin systems, fundraising and searching for a building to purchase and renovate into our new home, re-engaging with our existing community of supporters, and growing that community in Chicago.
During this period of transition, board members Ken Gerleve and Eileen Madden will be stepping in as interim co-presidents and will be working with the rest of the board to help bring Deborah up to speed. Eileen Pollard is our new Treasurer, and Hannah Batsel is our interim Secretary. For more information about our board, click here.
Artists Book House will be temporarily based at Creative Coworking (link) at Colvin House in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. We will maintain our PO Box in Evanston until we have a permanent Chicago address. Our PO Box address is:
Artists Book House
PO Box 5851
Evanston, IL 60204-5851
Finally, we want to offer sincere thanks to everyone who has stood by us during this challenging time. We could not have done this without you.
Onward!
Ken Gerleve & Eileen Madden
Artists Book House Interim Co-presidents
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