Valley Book Fest

Sunday, June 10th

Arrival on Hampshire Campus by 4 pm

5 pm
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Open at 5 to view current exhibition.
5.30 pm
Opening program in the museum auditorium. 
Welcome by Ken Botnick
Conversation by Ruth Rogers and Betty Bright; how to read artists books. 
Ruth Rogers is curator of special collections in the Clapp Library at Wellesley College.
Betty Bright is one of the foremost curators, critics, and public speakers on contemporary practice in the arts of the book. 

We will also be joined by faculty and students from Rare Book School which is meeting at Amherst College that week, and hear a short presentation about the nature of their program.

We invite all those interested in all things "book" from around the Valley, including writers, publishers, curators, sellers, and artists, to participate in a conversation that evening about the future of the book in Valley culture.

This program is free. You may join us for a cookout in the Hampshire College Red Barn. Please RSVP to kb@kenbotnick.com. The cost of the cookout is $25 per person. You may also join us for beer and wine at the cash bar. 
 

Monday, June 11th

Workshops, will take be for two full days, Monday and Tuesday

Participants will select workshops at time of registration. 

Breakfast on the Hampshire campus, transportation will be provided to workshop locations. 

These workshops represent rare opportunities to work with masters in book arts in their studios, and have the luxury of discussing ideas and approaches to making work. Workshops are open to all registrants, but workshop size is limited.

Workshop #1
Art Larson and Barry Moser

Wood engraving and letterpress printing.

Location: Horton Tank Graphics, Hadley, Massachusetts

Barry Moser is internationally recognized for the achievement of his illustrated books of classic texts. Larson is a master printer who has printed engravings for Leonard Baskin and Barry Moser, among many others. Larson’s shop has an incredible inventory of vintage and rare wood type to be explored. 

Workshop #2
Daniel Kelm in the idea kitchen

Location: Wide Awake Garage, Easthampton, Massachusetts

Daniel will discuss the marriage of form to content and how to think through a project from interior to exterior. Kelm is recognized as an alchemist of the book form and has made significant contributions to the book arts through his unique book structures. Participants are encouraged to bring ideas and projects to "workshop" along with Dan and others in this group. 

Workshop #3
Andrea Dezso; The Tunnel Book

Location: Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts

Andrea will lead participants through the design and production of a simple tunnel structure, while addressing the illustrative properties of the pages in the tunnel and strategies for making images suitable to this unique form of the book. Andrea Dezso is a leading illustrator and artist whose works appear in print and sculptural installations internationally.

Monday Evening: Smith College Special Collections, a conversation about some favorites between Shannon Supple, Curator of Rare Books in the Mortimer Library, and Ken Botnick

Dinner on your own in Northampton or on Hampshire campus. 

Tuesday, June 12th

Workshops resume, completed by 4pm. 

Lunch on own. 

6 pm Hampshire College Library and Art Gallery
Short presentations from several of the leading book artists of the Valley about their work, and a talk by Barbara Blumenthal on the history of the book arts in the Valley.  Dinner in the Hampshire Art Gallery will follow at 7pm.

11.30 am
Tour archives at Eric Carle Museum. Please confirm if you would like to participate.
Members of the community are welcome to attend. Tours of local studios in the valley on your own. A map of studios will be provided. 

Departure by midday.