Postcard

Special thanks to WNYBAC members Nicole Lecht and Josh Spaulding who have lent their design talents to our new promo postcard. We hope to do a series of these from guest designers. If interested in this project, just email info (at) wnybookarts.org

WNYBAC Printshop

The basement printshop at WNYBAC is now functional and being used while fine tuning the presses and workshop planning. The photo above taken by WNYBAC member Mark Hatley shows Sunnyoutside publisher David McNamara running a limited edition letterpress book on the vandercook 219. The printshop is open to members to use on a proposal and availability basis. The printshop itself may need a unique name...considering Mohawk Press or something to help distinguish it as an entity within the WNY Book Arts Center. Suggestions welcome.

WNYBAC demo days

That's Demonstration, (not demolition)

In advance of our Spring Workshop Schedule, we are doing something a little more casual to help members become acquainted with our facilities at 468 Washington St. Starting for the next 3 Wednesday evenings, we will have 2 hour demonstrations of some of our equipment. These are not in-depth workshops but rather overviews where you can see various processes, ask questions or offer input. In some cases, we are still learning ourselves, so in the spirit of collaboration and creative inspiration:


Demo Days...open to all
WNYBAC Members - Free
Non members - $10.00 fee


Wednesday January 14 6pm-8pm
---Thermography
The "raised" type you see on many business cards or "Poor man's engraving" is a relatively simple process but getting it right and using it in the right situations can be tricky. See some examples of this technique and try out our modest set up for this elusive post-printing technique.
----------

Wednesday January 21 6pm-8pm
---Ludlow line casting
Our newly tuned-up Ludlow Typograph machine and selection of over 100 fonts is ready for some serious use. Members who joined before December 20 will have received a holiday ornament cast on the Ludlow. See what it takes to use this machine and cast a line to take home.
----------

Wednesday January 28 6pm-8pm
---Punching & Cutting machines
Paper Drills, grommet machines, corner rounders, and a trusty Guillotine are but a few of the resources we have to make paper yield to your will. Some of these machines will always require WNYBAC staff assistance, but many others are just fun to put holes in paper. Get a tour of these tools that can help put that final touch on your book edition project.
----------

Please RSVP if you plan on stopping by so we know how many people to expect.
To reserve a spot on any of these days
RSVP to info @ wnybookarts.org
Non members send a check
468 Washington St. Buffalo NY 14203
or paypal payment to payments @ wnybookarts.org


Additional resources in our collection

New Year's Eve at WNYBAC

The WNY Book Arts Collaborative New Year’s Party & Fundraiser

We hope you will join us by ringing in the New Year at the WNY Book Arts Center, & help us take the next step in our progress towards our grand opening in the spring of 2009.

See the Ball drop from the Electric Tower at Midnight from the 2 floors of the book arts center.

Tasteful and tasty hors d'oeuvres from Bistro Europa.
Live Music from David Kane
Open bar & champagne toast at midnight.

At 468 Washington St. (the building formerly known as Slotkin)
9pm -2am

1920’s black-tie optional.

Limited to 200 Guests. Register soon!

http://www.wnybookarts.org/newyears.php

$75 per person
$125 per couple
wnybac members:
$60 per person
$100 per couple


Additional info: 716 846-2704 or email info @ wnybookarts.org

2009- a year of vintage type

Every year end, the Zenger Group prints a wall calendar for clients and associates. This year they were given access to the WNY Book Arts Center collection of wood and metal type & ornaments and came up with a visual feast for 12 months of historic type. We have a pile of these at the Center so if you don't get one from the Zenger Group directly and would like one, just stop by (as always, call or email first since we have not officially opened for regular hours yet)

The card design that is a book in the book about card design

The first announcement piece for the WNY Book Arts Collaborative was a hand bound mini book/business card. As with many good ideas, the labor involved in making these as business cards made it difficult to mass produce. Only about 150 of these were made. The cover was hand set metal 8Pt. "Venus Expanded" on the discontinued line of Strathmore Americana paper (Shaker Straw color 80lb. cover). The inside was color laser printed with some P22 fonts that i can't recall the names of. They were then stitched together with silk thread. So what started as a calling card with just a website, turned into a little book.
This card/book was recently featured in the book Best of Business Card Design 8 (2008 Rockport Publishers).

Slotkin's Archeology

In our recent renovations with the street level flooring of the Western NY Book Arts Center, we have unearthed (or defloored?) a vibrant silkscreened dress box from the Slotkin department store who was the namesake tenant of the building that still has it's signage on the Washington St side of the building. Slotkin's was an upscale womens' dress shop at our location at 468 Washington St. in downtown Buffalo. It was likely* from the corner window of Slotkin's that Charles Burchfield painted the view of the Electric tower while waiting for his wife to do some shopping. It was later in the 1950's and 60's a semi-legendary new and used bookshop. The basement once filled with books is now filled with equipment to make books. Interesting.


(*editorial conjecture)

“So you want to be a rare books librarian in a digital age”

University at Buffalo, Department of Library and Information Studies presents “So you want to be a rare books librarian in a digital age” by Dr. Sidney E. Berger, Monday, November 10, 2008

A presentation by Sidney E. Berger, Ph.D. offered by the Department of Library and Information Studies, University at Buffalo, Buffalo NY, Amherst Campus
Monday, November 10, 2008 2:30-4
553 Baldy Hall

Dr. Sidney E. Berger is a nationally recognized library scholar administrator, and director of the Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. Also a faculty member at Simmons College, Boston MA, Dr. Berger previously headed the special collections department at the University of California, Riverside and was curator of printed books and manuscripts at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. His Ph.D. is from the University of Iowa, in Medieval Literature and Bibliography, M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. He teaches a wide variety of classes, including The Preservation of Library Materials, Preservation Management, the History of the Book, and Bibliography. He runs his own handpress, makes paper, casts type by hand, and publishes extensively on literary and book arts topics.

Please come! This program is free and open to the public RSVP and registration are not required

Charles Burchfield at WNYBAC

The vista looking up Washington Street from our building toward the Electric Tower is breathtaking Painter, Charles Burchfield also thought so: the point of view in this painting (circa 1940) is from our exact location at 468 Washington St. at Mohawk.

WNYBAC welcomes: It's own Ludlow Typograph!

A Ludlow is a line-type casting machine. After a long trip to and from Connecticut, WNYBAC founding members Richard Kegler & Hal Leader have returned with a Ludlow machine to add to the equipment roster of WNYBAC. With over 70 fonts of matrices to cast text for letterpress printing, foil stamping or other uses, this amazing machine will allow members additional options for producing their work. WNYBAC will also entertain Linecasting to order. A full list of avaiable fonst will be posted soon. Pictured above is traveling Ludlow expert Dave Seat getting the machine in shape and fully functioning.

CBBAG'S BOOK ARTS FAIR 2008

Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild Fair

Saturday, October 18: 10am-4pm
Holiday Inn on King (2nd Floor, King II, 370 King Street West, at Peter Street, Toronto)

BOOK ARTS FAIR includes access to the Vendors Room of the Guild of Book Workers 2008 Conference.

Admission is free and open to the public.

CBBAG’s Book Arts Fair offers a unique opportunity to explore a diverse range of practices within book arts from the craft of traditional bookbinding, conservation and repair, to innovative contemporary books. It features fine bookbinding, letterpress printing, private presses, one of a kind artists’ books, decorated papers, handmade paper and unique works that challenges the definition of the book form.

Showcasing the work of book artists from the Toronto area and regional CBBAG groups from across Canada: Hugh Walter Barclay (The Hellbox Press), Ruth Brown, Susan Carr, Martha Cole, Mira Coviensky, Rebecca Cowan, Tony Crowle, Isabella Chang Fong, Carolyn Eady, Martina Edmonson, Sue Globensky (for the Ottawa Press Gang), Audrey Hollinger (The Papertrail), Lucie Lapierre, Chum McLeod, Cathyrn Miller, Susan Mills, Stephen Murphy, Stefan Berg (OCAD), Claire Owen, William Rueter, St Armand Paper Mill/Editions Denise Lapointe, Toba Shapiro, Peter Sramek, Alan Stein, Don Taylor, Claire Van Vliet (Janus Press), Debbie Waker, Robert Wu

The Vendors Room is open from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Book art suppliers from Canada, U.S.A. and Europe. For more information please contact

CBBAG at cbbag@cbbag.ca or call 416-581-1071.

Books Reborn - Exhibit

Impact Artists' Gallery in the Tri-Main Building (2495 Main Street Buffalo NY) currently has an exhibition of altered books, collage work and hand made books.

Foundry Pattern Exhibition Closing Oct 16

The foundry pattern show which was hung for the building preview during TypeCon this past July will be coming down to get ready for the next phase of Gallery remodeling and our eventual grand opening, so we are having a closing reception on Thursday Oct 16 6-9pm. The handmade wooden foundry patterns from one of Buffalos defunct iron foundries that are on display will be for sale with all proceeds to benefit WNYBAC.

Foundry Patterns on Display at WNYBAC

BUFFALO
Buffalo was a steel town. This is an undeniable legacy that helped build the city in the early 20th Century and unfortunately led to its decline towards the end of the century. As the steel industry declined, Buffalo also served as an incubator for an entire new generation of artists and a new “creative class”. The University at Buffalo in the late 1960s was a haven for the avant garde. The low cost of living and diverse population has made Buffalo an attractive place for artists to cultivate their work since.

FOUNDRY PATTERNS
The process of casting objects in metal requires a pattern or replica of the object to be cast to form a cavity into material such as sand. Molten material will then be poured during the casting process. Patterns used in sand casting are made to exacting standards of construction so that they can last for a reasonable length of time and stand up to repeated casting. Patternmaking is a skilled trade that is related to the trades of tool and die making and moldmaking. It may also incorporate elements of fine woodworking. Patternmakers learn their skills through apprenticeships and trade schools over many years of experience. Although an engineer may help to design the pattern, it is usually a patternmaker who executes the design.

PATTERNS AS ART
The patterns in the exhibit were rescued from the Atlas foundry on Elmwood Avenue near Kenmore (current site of the Regal Cinema). The anonymous craftsmen who produced these utilitarian objects may never have imagined an art exhibit showing this work. The choice of colors was not an aesthetic choice, but rather designation as part of the pattern. Looked at as found objects, individually or as a collective body of work, there is undeniable artistry, craftsmanship and an industrial beauty in these pieces. Primary colors over carefully shaped hardwoods such as mahogany evoke a clear, but unknown, intention to these mysterious objects. As the inaugural exhibit for the WNY Book Arts Center, the two-part patterns can be seen as covers for conceptual sculptural books. They can also be seen with fresh eyes as historic relics reminding us of Buffalo’s past with a view towards Buffalo’s future. The concept of what a book is and what art is will be explored and challenged with the WYNYBAC. Our future collaborations with existing cultural organizations will build upon an already dynamic landscape of what makes Buffalo’s quality of life unique and worth enhancing.

Drive-By Printing at UB

October 1&2 2008 at UB

Drive By Press was created to educate and share the contemporary practice of printmaking with students and art audiences across America.
DBP has visited well over 100! Universities, Colleges,and public schools, traveling over 100,000 miles!
During each stop DBP collects prints from area artists, amassing the largest collection of contemporary prints from across the country!
DBP is a self- funded endeavor solely surviving on small visiting artists honorariums from schools and from the sales of printing wood blocks on paper and t-shirts. Many blocks have been graciously donated from some of the greatest wood cut artists in the country to support and perpetuate the the endeavor of Drive By press!!

WNYBAC Fall 2008 Workshop Series

WNYBAC is pleased to announce its Fall 2008 workshop series. This first series at our new home at 468 Washington Street in downtown Buffalo covers some basic intro classes in printing & book binding. As facilities & demand increase, we will offer additional and more in-depth classes. We have kept the fees reasonable (plus WNYBAC members receive a 20% discount on all workshops) and have a few unusual sessions to help make gifts for the holidays. We welcome your feedback and hope you will join us for one or more of these workshops.

All of the following can be registered for online

Intro to Letterpress Printing. Sept 30 and Oct 7

Introduction to FontLab. Oct 8 and 15

Link Stitch/Long Stitch bindings. Oct 11

Open Studio/Critique/Demo. Oct 12

Budgeting for Independent Publishing. Oct 14

Printmaking with Leaves (kids) Oct 18

Introduction to Letterpress. Oct 21 and 28

Letterpress Holiday Cards Nov 3,10 and 17

Simple Book Structures Nov 4 and 11

Hardcover multi-signature book. Nov 5 and 12

Decorative Marbled and Paste Papers. Dec 2 and 9

Cards and Tags using Recycled materials. Dec 3 and 10

Printmaking with Household Objects (kids) Dec 6

DIY Pin back button making session. Dec 17

Shuffle off to Rochester

ART & SOUL through SPACE & TIME
Printing & Book Arts Center, Genesee Center for the Arts & Education, 713 Monroe Avenue Rochester NY 14607
Fri., 5 Sep 2008 at 6:30 pm until Sun., 2 Nov 2008 at 5:00 pm
Book Arts exhibit featuring the art of Andy Gilmore, Davin Kuntze, Mary Lewandowski, Jennifer Maire and Julia Nitzsche. Reception with live music from LouLou and the Sharp Sword and Roger Kuhn.
Opening Reception: Fri., 5 Sep 2008 from 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm


ALSO IN ROCHESTER SEPTEMBER 27

Slide talk by Nancy Jacobi (from the Japanese Paper Place in Toronto) with examples of contemporary art:
"Japanese Paper: ancient material, powerful contemporary resource"

Sat. Sept. 27 2008
10am - noon
Cascade Art Centre at Rochester Art Supply
150 West Main St
Rochester, New York

Free

Bread & Puppet Theater - Buffalo Appearances September 10-13 2008

The Vermont based Bread & Puppet Theater is a politically charged group that encourages community participation and advocates a "cheap art" philosophy of inclusion in art and performances along with a literal manifestation of the bread by having fresh baked bread shared at each performance. Bread & Puppet comes to Buffalo in September 2008 for a mini series of events & Workshops at Artspace and the WNY Book Arts Center.

Wednesday September 10 (2pm-8pm) (performance at 8pm)
Lubberland Dance workshop & Performance
Artspace - 1219 Main St. Buffalo
A day-long workshop culminating with an 8pm performance at Artspace.
Workshops begin at 2pm and include dinner for participants. Bread & Puppet founder Peter Schumann will be participating
Fee: Donation only

Thursday September 11 (5pm-9pm)
Junk Instrument and Movement with Objects Workshop
WNY Book Arts Center - 468 Washington St. Downtown Buffalo
The "cheap art philosophy" of using found objects and junk instruments will be extended into the machines at WNYBAC. Participants will also become involved with performing with props and produce content for the Saturday performance. An evening meal is included as part of the workshop.
Fee: $30 (both Thurs & Fri workshops $50)

Friday September 12 (5pm-9pm)
Cantastoria Workshop
WNY Book Arts Center - 468 Washington St. Downtown Buffalo
Cantastoria is a theatrical form where a performer tells or sings a story while gesturing to a series of images. These images can be painted, printed or drawn on any sort of material. Bread & Puppet workshop will use the presses & facilities of the WNY Book Arts Center to produce content for the Saturday performance. An evening meal is included as part of the workshop.
Fee: $30 (both Thurs & Fri workshops $50)

Saturday September 13 (8pm)
Bread & Puppet Performance
WNY Book Arts Center - 468 Washington St. Downtown Buffalo
Culmination of previous 2 days workshops including local musicians & performers
Fee: Voluntary Donation


This event series is being coordinated by Buffalo based artist and former Bread & Puppet resident Kyla Kegler with sponsorship in part from Rust Belt Books, Artspace & the WNY Book Arts Collaborative

For more information contact: pherumphos @ gmail.com

Elmwood Festival of the Arts

The Western NY Book Arts Collaborative will be set up at Cultural Row at the 9th annual Elmwood Festival of the Arts. Stop by and print a piece you can take home on our tabletop platen press and our brochures can be hand bound on the spot also. Stop by and say hello.

Turkish Paper Marbling at Erie County Fair

A special treat for those attending the Erie County Fair and have a hankerin' for book arts rather than Ted Nugent (although its OK to like fine books and the Nuge!) Artist John Bielik will demonstrate traditional Turkish paper marbling techniques in the Historical Building. details not fully known but here is the fair info

New Old Type

Recent acquisitions for the WNYBAC type collection include some unusual wood and metal type as seen here (photo courtesy Greg Meadows). much sorting and cleaning needed, but when it is ready for use, there will be some fine material for printing. A grand opening day has not been set, but we are working on getting ready and volunteers are always welcome to help with setting things up. drop us a line at info {at} wnybookarts.org

Book Arts call at Impact Artists' Gallery

Deadline for entries has been extended.

Sign not of the Times

TypeCon2008: Punkt continues today (Wednesday, July 16) with a public sign painting demonstration from the steady hand and keen eye of John Downer. The site of this real time display of the art of window painting is the Western NY Book Arts Center at 468 Washington & E. Mohawk (a very short walk from the Hyatt hotel). From 11 till 3 today, stop by and gawk or stop by at some point during the conference to see the end results. WNYBAC is not currently open for regular hours, but a sneak preview this week has been met with some enthusiasm

3 out of 500 Handmade books...

...are by WNYBAC board members Kyle Schlesinger & Diane Bond

Congratulations on their inclusion in this fine compendium of the current state of the art & craft of handmade books. Entries juried by Steve Miller were selected from thousands of entries. 500 Handmade books is a good place to start if you are curious about what can be done between two covers.

...and so it begins

A full day of moving assorted type cases, furniture, racks & proofing presses from various locations into the new print shop area of the WNY Book Arts center gives a glimmer of what will be. We are quite excited, but there is much to do. Volunteers are always welcome and needed: from polishing up old equipment to identifying unmarked type cases to sweeping, painting & even some more moving. If you really want to help out but have no time, please consider joining as a member. Things are moving along daily.

WNYBAC in the media

The past 7 days of media have been very good for the WNY Book Art collaborative and the announcement of the new building on Washington St. in Buffalo

June 23 - Buffalo area NPR affiliate WBFO featured an interview
June 24 - The Buffalo News featured a story on the Book Arts Center
June 25 - Buffalo Spree magazine released July/Aug issue with article on TypeCon with WNYBAC as a presenting partner
July 1 - Buffalo Rising July print issue features the WNYBAC building

And we have a new facebook page

whew!

WNYBAC in the Matrix

The Western NY Book Arts Collaborative portfolio of prints: WNYBAC-1 has received the honor of being reviewed by the British fine press "journal for printers and bibliophiles": The Matrix #27. This all letterpress annual is focal point of contemporary letterpress and fine printing and typography. The review includes a tip-in from one of the WNYBAC prints and states:

The twenty-one contributions to the first publication of the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative, although boxed in the same style & format as Verse into Type, make an interesting contrast. This is certainly a lively group, no holds barred (the first contribution comes in a slightly retro-looking Agfachrome slide mount), and letterpress is definitely an optional extra. Colour abounds, one uses the third dimension, and while the purists may be startled, there's certainly plenty going on within the confines of the format. Richard Kegler, founder of the P22 type foundry in Buffalo, NY bravely offered to reset and reprint his eye-catching contribution for Matrix. Quite how it all locked up and imposed is known only to the printer, but it epitomises WNYBAC's delight in breaking the rules... Such collaborations are a revealing way of seeing how different printers approach a common task...

TypeCon2008-Buffalo NY

July 15-20 is TypeCon week in Buffalo

- Austrian design superstar Stefan Sagmeister will speak at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum commemorated with a special limited edition poster by Buffalo design studio, Hero Design
- Dutch design group NLXL will present at UB's Center for the Arts
- German design legend Erik Spiekermann will speak at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery Gusto free Friday event
- Type-themed Pecha Kucha at Hallwalls
- TypeCon identity designed by Buffalo-based designer David A. Moore
- Typographic tour of Forest Lawn Cemetery
- A special rare book exhibit at the Buffalo and Erie Co. Central Library
- Special City Hall tour focused on the Art Deco Typography of City Hall
- Student newspaper design project with Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School with mentorship from Business First and visiting designers
- Special tour of the Cary Collection at RIT
- Type and Design Education Forum for local and international educators
- Mohawk Place will feature an evening showcasing local label P22 records with Odiorne + others
- Gala party at the Hyatt with Buffalo DJ legends Déjà Blü
- Closing reception for attendees at The Roycroft Campus
- Workshops being held at: the Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School as well as Quality Bindery, Paradise Press, French Press, and UB
- Events co-organized with SOTA, the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative, and P22 type foundry
- Plus three days of talks, multimedia presentations, exhibitions, and panel discussions on type and lettering arts and how they relate to communication, design, literacy, and visual culture.

A number of TypeCon events are free and open to the general public, with all events included for conference attendees. Registration is open and all are welcome to attend.


discount admission for SOTA & WNYBAC members

For full details & Registration

Hamilton Type Festival

Continuing on the Southern Ontario theme (seeing that Ontario is technically minutes from downtown Buffalo) the Hamilton Type Festival features a series of events focused around typography and signage in Hamilton Ontario. Some events include:

May 9 - June 6
Ghost Signs of Hamilton - A photographic exhibition documenting Hamilton’s ghost signs originated at the Art Gallery of Hamilton last year.Showing at Mixed Media until June 6.

Thursday, May 22, 7pm
Helvetica (the film) - Hamilton premiere at Staircase Theatre

Saturday, May 24th, 1-3pm free
Greg Smith, typesetting demonstration At The Print Studio
173 James St. N.

Saturday, May 24th, 1-3pm free
Gord Pullar, sign-painting demonstration at Mixed Media, James St. N.

Sunday, May 25th 1-3pm free
Signs of Downtown Hamilton walking tour - Meet at Wellington Park, King & Wellington St. Tour wraps up with coffee and discussion at HIStory+HERitage, 165 James St. N.

Southern Ontario

Western New York and Southern Ontario are linked geographically but at times they seem worlds apart. As part of the WNYBAC outreach program, we are supporters of the Type Club of Toronto whose series of Type & Design speaker events is as good an excuse as any to visit the Metropolis to our near North. About half way to Toronto from Buffalo (yes, there is also an IKEA about half way) is Grimbsy Ontario. This April 26th is the Grimbsby Wayzgoose fair and WNYBAC will be represented at its own table. Admission is free.

Every year on the last Saturday in April, the Grimsby Public Art Gallery celebrates Wayzgoose, a festival of Book Arts. This annual book arts fair brings together private presses from all across Canada and the United States representing the renewal of old friendships, the beginning of new ones, and the appreciation for handmade book and paper arts. Demonstrations and displays of paper making, book binding, calligraphy, paper marbling, and book making celebrates the love of fine art, fine craft, and stories.

A Curious Type: Graphic Design In Film

A great film series starts today at the George Eastman House/Dryden Theatre in Rochester.

George Eastman House Presents: A CURIOUS TYPE: GRAPHIC DESIGN IN FILM - Graphic design is an implicit part of the filmmaking process. It is often so implicit, however, as to become obscured by some of the flashier aspects of movies. For this series, we’re hoping to uncover the elements of graphic design in cinema by exploring artists and examples that exhibit great design.

April 3rd, 7pm
7pm: RIT Professor, R. Roger Remington lecture on the Bauhaus Films
8pm: László Moholy-Nagy & Bauhaus Films (80 min)

April 10th, 8pm
British Television Advertising Awards 2007

April 17th, 8pm
The Films of Charles & Ray Eames

April 19th
7pm: RIT Professor Charles Bigelow on the history of typography
8pm: HELVETICA with Charles Bigelow in Person!

April 20th, 5pm
HELVETICA

April 24, 8pm
Saul Bass and the Art of Title Design

For more information

BIGELOW and HOLMES @ UB

L*E*T*T*E*R*S
& LITERATURES

a joint presentation by
CHARLES BIGELOW and KRIS HOLMES

RESCHEDULED for April 2 4PM


"We'll talk about calligraphy and typography for oral literatures that became literate at some time. Such as Kiksht Chinook, colloquial modern Irish, medieval Provencal, a little K'iche', a smattering of Old English and Ancient Greek."

Charles Bigelow is the Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Professor of Graphic Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology, the recipient of RIT's Frederic W. Goudy Award in Typography, and a former MacArthur Prize Fellow.

Kris Holmes is an internationally known calligrapher and the designer of more than one hundred type faces, including Lucida Grande, the standard font for Macintosh OS X. She is the President of the Bigelow & Holmes Studio.

Tuesday, February 26 at 4:00 PM in the Poetry Collection, UB Libraries Special Collections Research Room, 420 Capen Hall, North Campus. (Sorry to report, due to the Winter Storm Watch, this talk has been postponed until April 2.)

There will be a display of their work.

Helvetica DVD

The Western NY Book Arts Collaborative brought the Helvetica film to Buffalo for the WNY TypoFest back in May of 2007, now we bring the film to you as an official reseller of the DVD. WNYBAC members can get the DVD for only $18 or $20 for non-members (+$5 for shipping with in the US, members can save on shipping by making arrangements via workshops or serendipitous clandestine car trunk sales.)

The DVD includes the full 80-minute feature film, plus over 90 minutes of additional interviews with Massimo Vignelli, Matthew Carter, Erik Spiekermann, Hermann Zapf, and many more. 16x9 anamorphic widescreen presentation, with English and German language subtitles, and a 12-page color booklet.

Saturday Workshops in 2008

The Western NY Book Arts Collaborative presents its Winter 2008 book arts Saturday workshop series in the Buffalo NY area.

January 12
Intro to hand set type & letterpress printing
Instructor: Hal Leader - Paradise Press
January 19
Intro to Fontlab - Making digital fonts
Instructor: Richard Kegler - P22 type foundry
January 26
Gocco Printing & Japanese binding
Instructors: Diane Bond & Linda Meyer
February 2
Budgeting for Independent publishing Instructor: David McNamara - Sunnyoutside press
February 23
Foil Embossing workshop
Instructor: Don Dehoff - Keepsake Bindery
March 1
Zine Publishing & Distribution
Instructors: Amy Greenan & Joel Brenden
March 8
Silk Screening Printing on Wood
Instructor: Jeff Sherven - UB Print dept.

For more details, registration information & additional events:

Additional workshops in Rochester NY presented by The Printing & Book Arts Center at the Genesee Center for the Arts and Education

Woodtype for Woody

Guthrie that is. The WNY Book Arts Collaborative assisted in a unique typographic treatment for the first ever "Live" Woody Guthrie recording release. The CD comes in a small but lush 72 page hardcover book with metallic inks and papers, yet highly sensitive to the aesthetic of Guthrie in the 1940s. Designed by Grammy award winning designer Susan Archie (You thought I was going to say Brian Grunert, not this time, but it's nice that WNYBAC has 2 Grammy award winning designers as cohorts), the wood type from the collection of Paradise Press (Buffalo's letterpress treasure trove) was printed and scanned with irregularities and wood grain that cannot be reproduce in a standard digital font. A generous thank you in the back of the book to The WNY Book Arts Collaborative is a nice feather in our collective cap. Sales of the book benefit the Woody Guthrie Foundation and from one non profit venture to another, WNYBAC was happy to donate its services.

TypeCon2008 public meeting Nov 6

TypeCon2008 Buffalo Town Hall Meeting – Tuesday, November 6
SOTA‘s going back to Buffalo next week to meet with local crew and others interested in helping to develop the TypeCon2008 program and extracurricular activities.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Old Editions Book Shop & Cafe
74 East Huron Street
Buffalo, NY
Directions to TypeCon2008 Planning Meeting

All type lovers are encouraged to join us for this fun and informative brainstorming meeting. Coffee and dessert will be served to help fuel your creative juices.
Anyone interested is welcome to attend, but please RSVP so we know how much caffeine and sugar to have on hand. Email: richard at p22.com and info at typesociety.org
If you can‘t make it to this meeting but would like to participate, please email us at info at typesociety.org. Spread the word to your type-loving friends - everyone is welcome in building the best TypeCon ever!

Small Press is Big

For decades Buffalo has had a burgeoning small press scene fueled by poets turned publisher out of inspiration and necessity. Last years inagural Small Press Book fair and the recent relocation of sunnyoutside from Boston to Buffalo shows that Buffalo is a thriving and welcoming scene for independent publishing and "the book".
The University at Buffalo's Small Press in the Archive is an ongoing series of lectures highlighting current activities and the impressive collection at UB's Poetry and Rare Book room. Next up in the series is Kyle Schlesinger Lecture "The Letterpress in the Mimeo Revolution," Monday October 29 at 12 noon in The Poetry Collection, 420 Capen Hall.

Small Press in the Archive Lecture Series dedicates itself to the study of poetry outside the traditional literary historical plot. The lectures in this series draw on materials in The Poetry Collection, at SUNY Buffalo in order to explore community/discourse formations, the status of ephemera and the making of genre, the conditions of literary production, transatlantic cross-pollinations in and between specific magazines, the careers of poets, the role of book art, and how the little magazine functions in the making of the avant-garde.

Blazevox is another prolific Buffalo based publisher of "post avant poetry and fiction" and will feature a book launch party for Michael Kelleher's “Human Scale” and “Hello Helicopter” by Kyle Schlesinger at Rust Belt Books, 202 Allen St. on Sunday Oct 28(after the Bills game for those who cannot multi-task.) Great food is rumored to be included in this free event.

Book Art Shows, Conferences and Seminars

Over the next couple of months there are quite a few events around the US dedicated to the book arts, here are just a few:

October 5-8 — Oak Knoll Fest, New Castle Delaware

October 11-13 — American Printing History Association Annual Conference
Transformations: The Persistence of Aldus Manutius. At UCLA

October 26-28 — The Connection: Arts and Crafts Conference, at the Roycroft- East Aurora NY

November 2 — Production not Reproduction: The Influence of Offset Printing on Artists' Books at the Center for Book Arts New York City

November 10 — BABYLON LEXICON is New Orleans' annual exhibition of artists' books and book inspired art. The show opens in conjunction with the NOLA Bookfair

Stop Counting Sheep

Congratulations to WNYBAC Advisory Board member Kim Fleischman for her book "Sheep Hill Community Tree" being selected as one of the AIGA's 50 Books/50 Covers for 2007. To see more about this book, visit this Flash based website and see #76. The AIGA Fifty Books award goes back to 1922 and honors the best book designs of each year by such luminaries as Bruce Rogers, Frederic Goudy and the Grabhorn Press. It's great to see one of our own included this year as an independent publication amongst some very high budget company (and the usual slew of McSweeney's books).
Cheers Kim!

September 7th a busy day

If you are in Buffalo NY area and not already going to Elvis Costello at the Albright Knox Gallery or to the Steve Kurtz benefit screening of Strange Culture by Hallwalls at the Market Arcade Cinema...and are still looking for something to do on the eve of Sept 7,

take a drive up to Grimsby, Ontario for the opening reception of "A Printer’s Craft: The Art of Printmaking" at the Grimsby Public Art Gallery, 18 Carnegie Ln., Grimsby, ON. The exhibit runs until October 13th.

Helvetica at home

HELVETICA ON DVD

Many people who were at the WNY screening of Helvetica have asked... so here it is: The DVD edition of Helvetica is now available for order. The DVD includes the full 80-minute feature film, plus over 90 minutes of additional interviews with Massimo Vignelli, Matthew Carter, Erik Spiekermann, Hermann Zapf, and many more. 16x9 anamorphic widescreen presentation, with English and German language subtitles, and a 12-page color booklet.

DIY...with some help

Booksmart Studio in Rochester "is a fine art studio that specializes in producing artwork, whether it is in print or book form that utilizes digital printing". Proprietor Eric Kunsman offers workshops and direct collaboration with artists and photographers to produce fine edition books.

Get Enthusiastic!

"Enthusiast is a creative project based in Buffalo, New York. It is a unique mix of art, entertainment, and commerce, and we need you to help make it worthwhile. Be an audience, purchase goods, but most of all be a participant. More than anything, we look forward to hearing from you through letters and postcards."

Kudos to this fine Buffalo grown periodical.It is just about ready for Issue #2 and worth looking into for a quality DIY publication that uses screen printing and letterpress and still costs less than slick magazines in the supermarket.

2007 Buffalo Book Fair

2007 Buffalo Book Fair
Celebrating Reading, Literacy and Buffalo's Cultural History!

Saturday, July 7th - 11 am to 7 pm.
Lafayette Square and Washington Street, Downtown Buffalo

Featuring a full day of free activities for the entire family!
* Opportunity to meet and greet celebrity authors
* Readings and book signings
* Interactive children's activities
* Panel discussions and seminars
* Variety of vendors
* Much more!

For more information and an overview of the national and local authors
that will be participating, visit: www.buffalobookfair.com.

Summer Morning Book Classes at the Roycroft

Two classes by Book artist Diane Bond. Originally formulated for teaching Children creative book techniques, these classes have now been made available to adults as well.

SIMPLY SEWN BOOKS ~ 3 morning session Book Making Class
July 24, 25, 26 from 9:30am -- Noon only $60 for non-Residents!

ARTRAGEOUS HANDMADE BOOKS ~ 3 morning session Book Making Class
July 31, August 1 & 2 from 9:30am -- Noon

Classes held at the Roycroft Copper Shop Gallery
31 South Grove Street, East Aurora, NY 14052 (716) 655-0261

for more information & registration

Roycroft Summer Festival

Roycroft Summer Festival June 23-24, 2007

The Annual Summer event on the Historic Roycroft Campus with Roycroft Artisans ~ Antique Vendors ~ Music ~ Art Works ~ Entertainment ~ Food
PLUS
A variety of Book arts related Artisan Demonstrations in paper making, bookbinding, printing, silk screening and calligraphy will take place in the the Copper shop. ~ Open to the Public ~ No fees on the Roycroft campus S. Grove St. East Aurora NY

10:00am-5:00pm June 23 & 24, 2007

For more information, please call 716 655-0261
or visit http://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/

Buffalo Digital Media Arts Festival

Digital Media Arts Festival
May 24th - 26th at Canisius College (Buffalo, NY)

The Digital Media Arts Program at Canisius College will be hosting this year's Digital Media Festival from May 24th - 26th at Canisius College. It will occur during the evening on Thursday and Friday, and during the day Saturday.

This three-day event will be comprised of a competition and various workshops/seminars. Each workshop is 90 minutes long. Some of the topics are how to make short films, font design, and animation. There is limited space in all the workshops.

Richard Kegler from P22 will be giving an introduction to fontlab workshop on Saturday May from 2-3:15

Visit: dma.canisius.edu/festival for more information
Please contact Morgan Calhoon at calhoonm@canisius.edu or 888-3124 if you have additional questions.

Marshall Arisman Film Screening with Artist Talk

Marshall Arisman the internationally known illustrator and artist will talk about his extraordinary work and the full-length documentary film directed by Tony Silver titled "Facing the Audience: The Arts of Marshall Arisman" will be shown. The film premiered at the 2002 Santa Barbara Film Festival. The paintings and drawings of Marshall Arisman have been widely exhibited, both internationally and nationally. His work may be seen in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, at the National Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in many private and corporate collections. This is is an Advertising Club of Buffalo event

Wednesday, May 23rd at 6:30 PM
University at Buffalo
Center for the Arts - Screening Room
Members - $7. Gen. Admission - $11. Students - $5.

for more information

WNY Typo Fest May 8-11

A celebration of the graphic and typographic arts Featuring the Western New York Premier of Helvetica: A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit

May 8 - Tuesday 7pm
-Buffalo- Pecha Kucha Night
Featuring Graphic Designers (Shelly Bronson, Brian Grunert, Hero Design, Colin Kahn, Richard Kegler, Nicole Lecht, Julian Montague, David Moore, Kyle Schlesinger) discussing their work, presented by Hallwalls in the basement of The Church - 341 Delaware Ave. at Tupper.

May 9 - Wednesday 2pm
-Buffalo- Studio Visit to Paradise Press
Hand-set metal type Helvetica demo & tour of Paradise Press located at Printing Prep - 12 E. Tupper at Washington St. Free: RSVP required 716 885 4490

May 9 - Wednesday 7pm
-Buffalo- Helvetica: A Documentary Film
w/ Director Q&A. Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre - 639 Main St. Reception following at Hallwalls - 341 Delaware Ave. at Tupper.

May 10 - Thursday 3-4pm
-Rochester- Lecture by Charles Bigelow "The Creation of Meaning by Typographic Evolution" RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection 2nd floor, Wallace Library, Rochester Institute of Technology. Free event

May 10 - Thursday 4pm
-Rochester- RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press
Dedication of its new Alexander S. Lawson Publishing Center, featuring a glass wall design by Hermann Zapf. 2nd floor, Wallace Library, Rochester Institute of Technology. Free event

May 11 - Friday 3-7pm
-Rochester- Hermann Zapf in person
Join us for an exhibition opening and celebration for Zapf's new book "Alphabet Stories." Gudrun Zapf von Hesse will also be a special guest. RIT Cary Collection, 2nd floor, Wallace Library.

May 11 - Friday
-Rochester- Helvetica: A Documentary Film with Director Q&A. Rochester Institute of Technology Webb Auditorium (Building 7B)

Presented by Hallwalls and WNY Book Arts Collaborative with support from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Advertising Club of Buffalo,Daemen College Department of Visual & Performing Arts,Veer, Society of Typographic Aficionados, Pecha Kucha Buffalo, P22 type foundry, Swiss Dots, Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre, Dipson Threatres & Printing Prep.

More details

WNYBAC at the Roycroft

Western NY Book Arts Collaborative Meet-up and Open House at the Roycroft.
Tuesday April 17, 5:30- 8:00 p.m.
Roycroft Copper Shop- 31 S. grove St. East Aurora, NY
Join us for an informal get together of the Western NY Book Arts Collaborative on the historic Roycroft Campus!

• See the collection of letterpress equipment and progress of the campus redevelopment.
• Print your own keepsake on one of the antique presses
• View the bookbinding tool collection of Len Robinson (previously owned by Walter Jennings)
• Book arts demonstrations and WNYBAC materials available
• RCC president Doug Swift will give a short update on the growth of the Campus and the goals of future on-site artisan workshops


Free & Open to the Public ~ Refreshments served.
All visitors will also receive a complimentary copy of the most recent edition of “The FRA”, the official publication of the RCC.


RSVP
716.655.0261

Ludlow Workshop - Hot!

This past saturday WNYBAC presented a Ludlow Type casting workshop hosted by Quality Bindery. The Ludlow is a machine that casts single lines of lead type for letterpress printing or foil stamping. Like the Monotype and Linotype machines, these are becoming scarce but are still in high demand for book artists and fine printers.

Deep Fried Books

Papermaker and book artist Drew Matott earned his B.F.A in Printmaking from Buffalo State College before moving to Chicago to study at Columbia College’s Interdisciplinary MFA program in Book and Paper. He recently sent me links to his "People's Portraits of Jesus" performance and his new series of "Deep Fried" books.If you have any books that you would like him to fry, e-mail him at: drew (at) greendoorstudio (dot) net. Learn more at http://www.greendoorstudio.net/dmatott/drew.html

WNYBAC-1 launch

WNYBAC-1 Portfolio is now available for purchase.

All proceeds to benefit the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative.

The first publication from the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative consists of a suite of 21 prints, broadsides and assemblages from 21 artists, printers and poets on the theme: Western New York and the Book Arts. Each piece is loosely enclosed in a Hand-bound Clamshell box with Natural finish Buckram with a custom paste paper pattern created by Lynne McElhaney and Diane Bond specifically for this edition.

Contributors include: Michael Basinski, Jan Conradi, Frank Eckmair, Jennifer Farrell - Starshaped Press, Eric Jackson-Forsberg, Hero Design ,Richard Kegler, Kevin Kegler, Jerry Kelly - Kelly-Winterton Press, Hal Leader - Paradise Press, David Lyttleton ,Dorothy Markert, Gerald Mead, Julian Montague, Sue O'Donnell, Jim Rimmer - Pie Tree Press, Kyle Schlesinger - Cunieform Press, Carol Schwartzott, John Senchyne, Jeffrey Sherven, & Hermann Zapf.

A 16 page booklet with paste paper cover is included with biography and print descriptions from each contributor.

Limited edition of 75 copies. 40 of which are for sale. price: $150 (WNYBAC member price $125)

Each print can be previewed with the WNYBAC online print browser
And ordered via options found here.

The first public showing of the portfolio can be seen at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair on March 31, 2007

Jerome McGann at UB

JEROME MCGANN
“Wagner, Swinburn and the Music of Poetry”
April 5, Poetry Collection Univerity at Buffalo 420 Capen Hall at 1pm.
Free and open to the public.


Jerome McGann is well known for his unique approach to printed texts as historical and physical artifacts. His many books include A Critique of Modern Textual Criticism, Black Riders: The Visible Language of Modernism, and The Textual Condition.

Clamshell box workshop

The Western New York Book Arts Collaborative workshop hosted at Quality Bindery in Buffalo was taught by Brian Maloney of Toronto on Saturday Jan 20, 2007. This full day workshop introduced the clam shell box traditionally used to protect book and archival materials. Participants made a double tray clamshell box. This same style box is being made for the WNYBAC-1 portfolio. The portfolio will debut at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair

Buffalo Small Press book fair

The 2007 Buffalo Small Press Book Fair takes place on March 31, 2007 from noon to 6pm. The event will be held at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, located at 453 Porter Avenue in Buffalo, NY. The book fair is a one day event that brings together booksellers, authors, bookmakers, zinesters, small presses, artists, poets, and regional cultural workers of all kinds in a venue where they can share ideas and peddle their wares. Tables will be available at the event where people can showcase and sell their work. Poetry readings, performances, discussions, and related lectures are also scheduled to go on throughout the day.

The event is FREE to attend and open to the public!

Joe Brainard Book Events in Buffalo

Joe Brainard: People of the World Relax!!
January 25, 2007 to March 3, 2007
UB Art Gallery, First Floor Gallery - Center For the Arts
Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11am - 5pm. Extended hours Thursday 11am - 7pm

Events:
Opening Reception Thursday January 25, 2007 5-7pm

Albright-Knox Gusto at the Gallery
Ron Padgett and Kenward Elmslie Poetry Reading
Friday, January 26th, 2007 @ 8pm

Listen to Kenward read an Easter Poem for Joe

Brown Bag Lecture - Steve Clay
Publisher of Granary Books, Clay is an editor, curator and archivist specializing in the American art and literature of the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Thursday, February 1 @ 1pm UB Art Gallery, 1st Floor

Extraordinary Publication

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Event was produced by the State University of NY at Buffalo to commemorate the Dalai Lama's Buffalo visit in September of 2006, this two book set features the photography of Douglas Levere . This coffee table book for the spatially challenged is only 4.5" x 6" but lush and... extraordinary.