Combat Paper Residency

Although the weather outside is frightful, February has been a busy month at WNYBAC. We were very excited to host Combat Paper as artists in residence for almost two full weeks, and it was great to strengthen our personal relationship as well as help them produce some fantastic prints.

Combat Paper is a collaborative project initiated by Drew Cameron and Drew Mattot that helps veterans mitigate their war experiences through art, and more specifically, through papermaking and printmaking. Veterans cut apart their own uniforms, then use the rags to create pulp for paper, make sheets of paper, then use that paper to create art objects relevant to their emotional struggle. Learn more about the process at the Combat Paper website, and see photos of work here.

We're always happy to host Combat Paper, and below are some photos of a broadside they produced during their time here. It's a collaboration between Drew Cameron and veteran Jan Barry, a broadside that features Jan's hand-set letterpressed poem and a background illustration/woodcut by Drew. Jan's broadside, as well as other art prints made by Combat are available at WNYBAC, and some will soon be available on our Etsy shop.

During their stay, Combat also did a number of presentations and demonstrations at SUNY at Buffalo, Niagara County Community College, and Just Buffalo's Big Night event.

Fresh off the Press

We've printed new cards! Two new cards printed in the WNYBAC print shop, available for $3 each ($2.40 for members).

Perfect for Valentine's Day, this card is printed on kraft paper in red and silver ink:

Blank buffalo notecards printed on duplex blue and purple paper with matching purple envelope:

MIMB and Pop-Up Poster Show!

The next two weeks are a great time to stop by the WNYBAC gallery! In addition to the Monumental Ideas in Miniature Book show that we have up, we've also added an impromptu poster and print show. The shows perfectly contrast one another: MIMB focuses on the 3-dimensional aspect of the book as an object and glorifies the diminutive, whereas the poster show heralds the (almost) 2-dimensional art of the print, and focuses more on large scale works.



Stop down and take a look at the creative output of book artists who have contributed to MIMB, and pick up one of the prints that are on sale in the poster show! Most of the prints were designed, executed, and printed by in-house printers Richard Kegler and Chris Fritton. Remember, some of these prints are available online at our Etsy shop, but many aren't, especially the monoprints, make ready, and art prints, so it's worth a visit!

New Year, Old Style

In the good-will spirit of the new year, WNYBAC has been producing a number of limited edition broadsides and cards that feature quotes from Elbert Hubbard, the founder of the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora, NY. The Roycroft was instrumental in the American development and dissemination of the European style that has come to be known as "Arts and Crafts." Following in the footsteps of William Morris and his influential Kelmscott Press, Hubbard originally conceived the Roycroft as a press. They produced any number of books, pamphlets, and treatises, but none as influential and far reaching as the extended essay A Message to Garcia. Roycroft artisans pride themselves on hard work, handiskills, and technique. With that in mind, we've created a series of traditional-looking 8" x 10" broadsides suitable for framing. They will soon be available at WNYBAC, at our Etsy shop, the Roycroft Campus, and the Burchfield-Penny Art Museum gift shop. Here's a sneak peek:

The WNYBAC 2011 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 steps in our progress towards becoming a self-sustaining center
for the arts of the book and beyond.

See the Ball drop from the Electric Tower at Midnight from the 2 floors of the book arts center.
At 468 Washington St.
9pm -2am

Tasteful and tasty hors d'oeuvres
Live Music
Complimentary Beer, Wine & champagne toast at midnight.

Silent Art Auction.
The Annual Artist Silent Auction, featuring artwork from many renowned artists-
preview to be hung at WNYBAC Dec 17th

Limited to 200 Guests.
RESERVE BY midnight DEC 30!!

First 100 individuals or couples to register get a free limited edition signed and numbered
4 color letterpress poster print (see event photo)

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

for more info
http://wnybookarts.org/newyearsreg2011.php

Crispin Hellion Glover!

Things are very busy around the WNYBAC print shop; we've been creating a lot of new holiday cards, broadsides, New Year's Eve invitations, and of course, posters. The latest that we're quite proud of is this two-color monster for Crispin Hellion Glover:Glover is an actor, performance artist, musician, author, and illustrator noted for straddling the fine line between madman and genius - his work rarely has boundaries and often deals with uncomfortable subject matter, but other times it's just outright kooky (check out Clowny Clown Clown) He's best known for his role as Marty McFly in Back to the Future, but he's also done countless independent video shorts and performance pieces. He's coming to the Market Arcade Cinema in downtown Buffalo on December 15, 2010, courtesy of my good friend Jill Mertz and Little Red Booking.

If you have any interest in the unusual or the forbidden, this is the place to be that chilly Wednesday in December. Check out the close up photos below. A limited edition will be available for purchase after the event at the Book Arts Center.

Movin' On Up

WNYBAC is a perpetual work in progress, and we're always improving, but we've been making some great advances lately. Most notably, our successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign allowed us to install much needed professional heating and ventilation in the Print Shop.
For those of you who are interested, we had a 70,000 BTU Payne Closed Combustion furnace installed; it's a high-efficiency unit capable of heating the space in a few short minutes. The closed combustion unit ensures that the fumes from the ink and solvents won't corrode the burners. It's already been an amazing help during open studios and workshops (where our members are welcoming a reprieve from the biting cold).
For ventilation purposes, we had 12" duct work installed with a 800 cubic ft/minute Fantech Inline fan, capable of an air change in the room once every 5-10minutes. The fume hood is mounted at about 2' high in the center of the room on the East wall near our line of Vandercook presses; it's situated low because the fumes from solvents are heavier than air. It's been working amazingly well - we no longer come home with our clothes and hair smelling like One-Step Type Wash, we no longer feel dizzy or crampy, and we feel perfectly secure ensuring the health of all of visitors, students, artists, and staff alike.
Again, to all those who donated money or who have helped support us, THANK YOU! Stop down and visit any time you'd like to see the space and what we've been doing to enhance it! As WNYBAC continues to improve, the community of cultural workers in the city of Buffalo will strengthen as well, so remember - we're not just trying to refine the building, the print shop, or the gallery - we're doing our best to improve Buffalo as a whole!

Our New Baby: The Vandercook 4

On November 4th, Rich Kegler, Chris Fritton, and good friend Brian embarked on a duo-fold road trip from WNYBAC. The purpose of the journey was not only to attend the Hamilton Wood Type Museum Wayzgoose in Two Rivers, WI, but also pick up a Vandercook 4 proofing press from The Platen Press Museum in Zion, IL (run by Paul Aken). The plan was simple: the first day, drive from Buffalo to Chicago, pick up good friend Jim; the second day visit Starshaped Press and The Platen Press Museum then drive on to Two Rivers for the Wayzgoose at night; the third day was all Wayzgoose; the fourth day was a print swap and sale, the end of Wayzgoose, then the long, long, long trip hope. Did I mention it was long? On the last day, these brave men had to drive back from Two Rivers to Zion, IL, load the press, drop Jim off in Chicago, then continue all the way through to Buffalo.

The road was hard, the road was tough, but everyone involved survived. The Dead Kennedys helped when the weather and traffic threatened to eat them in Chicago, Culver's helped when their stomachs threatened to eat themselves, and three iPhones working simultaneously helped when the highway system threatened to get them irreparably lost. Scratch that last part, even with 3 iPhones and a sadsack GPS system, they still managed to get lost any number of times. Did I mention they learned the history of the Jesus and Mary Chain and some Yiddish along the way? Or that what really saved them was the theme song for the trip, aptly chosen by Chris Fritton, more aptly sung by Paul Rodgers?

I may have also forgotten to mention that after an interminable trip across the interminable state of Ohio in the wee hours of the morning (which we came to call O-wide-O), that these brave souls still had to unload the press from the u-haul trailer and bring it inside WNYBAC. And that within a few short days, this 1100 lb. baby would have to be brought down the stairs an inch at a time with a come-along. The pictures tell a story, but it is not the whole epic story.
















If you want to come see the new baby, stop by anytime. We also acquired a Showcard Press from the Carnegie Center with a 22" x 29" bed that was moved down the stairs at the same time. That is now our largest press. Big thanks to everyone who made this adventure possible: Brian Maloney, Brian F., Joe Bergquist, Jay, Fran Fritton, Paul Aken, Rich Kegler, Jim, and Scott from Printing Prep that lent us the pallet jack to move the monsters on flatland.

Holiday Cards

We've been working on a bunch of new cards for the holiday season, and the first two are now stocked in our shop at the Book Arts Center and on Etsy.

Ben Folds Gig Poster

On November 12th, 2010, Ben Folds played at show at the Town Ballroom here in Buffalo. We made a four color gig poster, with rule and border material formed to resemble a piano. We have a few extras that may be available for sale soon at our Etsy shop!

Help Needed!

Volunteers are needed to help move presses this coming Monday and Tuesday (November 8 & 9). If you can help, please email info(at)wnybookarts.org and let us know. Thanks!

Drive-By Press and Cro-Mags Gig Poster

Greg Nanney and Steven Prochyra from Drive-By Press spent two days at WNYBAC recently on a stopover between Rochester and Toronto, where they were doing demos adjacent to Printopolis.

Even though they were only here for a short time, they managed to pump out some great work. Greg did a 3-color reduction woodcut and Steven cut an amazing Cro-magnon skull. The skull was used for a collaborative gig poster for the legendary hardcore band, the Cro-Mags.

Check out the photos - woodcut by Steven Prochyra in deep reddish-brown, antique woodcut scroll in red pepper, and handset wood and metal type in black printed by Chris Fritton. Available for purchase at our Etsy shop!