Wowie wow, what a year.
Virtual hugs & gratitude for a year of reimagining the book arts magic
We can’t say it enough, thank you for following along, for sending us your *virtual* smiles, high fives & warm wishes, and for supporting us through this quite topsy-turvy year!
Through a complete reimagining of our hands-on workshops & offerings, an entirely new online shop featuring goods made right here at Book Arts and by members of our Buffalo artist community, a re-developed virtual component of our exhibition series with virtual events, artists talks & studio visits, online fundraisers – all while continuing building renovations! – 2020 has definitely been a wild one as we’ve discovered new ways to spread the book arts magic.
All of these changes, growths & accomplishments could not be possible without the support of our members, volunteers, & donors. We truly can’t thank you enough for being on our side as we navigated these unforeseen challenges, and we are so excited to see where 2021 will take us!
Take a look below at all the highlights 2020 has brought us!
BOOK ARTS GALLERIES – NEW YORK STATE ARTISTS ON VIEW FROM YOUR HOME
Through a combination of high-quality gallery images, videos of studio visits, and live Zoom events, our robust gallery exhibition program was brought from our gallery right into the homes of our viewers. Exhibitions have been made available for viewing both at our home here at 468 Washington Street, and on our website in the “virtual gallery”, reaching more than 5,000 viewers and providing greater accessibility than ever before.
Also this year, we were able to launch our Studio Gallery program! Artists Nicholas Stokes and Robert Rusch worked in our screenprint and letterpress studios to create original artwork and editions showcased in our Studio Gallery, located in our lower-level letterpress studio.
VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS – LEARN WITH US FROM HOME! HANDS ON, BUT ALSO HANDS OFF
We reimagined what it meant to learn *hands-on* and began creating at-home artmaking kits – bringing the Book Arts Magic right into your homes! More than 3,500 viewers tuned in to watch our video demos and virtual bookmaking workshops workshops across multiple digital platforms.
Curious about getting creative in 2021? Check out our upcoming virtual workshops!
THE BOOK ARTS SHOP – SUPPORT FOR BOOK ARTS AND OUR COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS
The Shop here at Book Arts houses over 90 local artists showcasing their handmade wares, handprinted cards and posters printed right here in our studios, and various bookbinding tools to make your next project! By transitioning our shop to a webstore on the new site we built back in 2019 (thanks Telesco Creative!) we were able to fill more than 1,200 orders for handmade goods.
This provides important income for local artists of our consignment artist program- and supports our organization as well! We are *so so so* grateful for the support! <3
PRINTING PARTNERS PROGRAM – BREAKING DOWN MORE BARRIERS TO ARTS EDUCATION ACCESS & REIMAGINING HANDS-ON ARTMAKING
In a typical year, Book Arts hosts year-round hands-on book & printmaking programs for children & families across our Queen City. Known as PRINTING PARTNERS, these classes at local schools & community centers bustle with creativity, laughter, and plenty of shared supplies, ideas, and hands-on arts learning.
We learned that many Printing Partners students do not have any artmaking materials at home, so we provided supply kits including everything they’d need to participate – down to pencil sharpeners and glue sticks! These workshops build resilience, fight isolation, and offer an outlet for expression; a creative reprieve during an unprecedented time.
Read more about the Journey of Printing Partners this year on our blog!
CUSTOM PRINTING WITH BOOK ARTS – SEND SOME CHEER WITH A LITTLE BOOK ARTS MAGIC
The presses were hot this year with custom printing orders! Our mid century Vandercooks Barbie & Mandy, and our screenprinting squeegees (yet to be named) were busy printing holiday cards, corporate stationery, wedding programs, tote bags & one of a kind prints. We are so thankful for the support of all folks who made custom printing orders this year – proceeds from orders like these directly support our mission and frankly, help keep the lights on!
There’s nothing quite like a custom handprinted card. If you want to get ahead on your 2021 stationery & handprinted needs, let’s chat!
BOOKFEST FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
The celebration of our beloved BookFest , an event typically held inside our Center and spilling out into the parking lot across the screet, went all virtual this year! All summer long, viewers could follow along as we got creative with artmaking videos, plus a lunchtime Zoom speaker series and virtual artists’ market – engaging viewers from all over the country with printing and book-related arts.
LIQUOR & LETTERPRESS – A TOAST TO TWENTY-TWENTY!
We toasted to type from afar with our virtual rendition of our largest fundraiser – Liquor & Letterpress!
This year, we raised a glass by creating 5 limited edition L&L themed gift boxes – complete with items made by local artists, exclusive offers from our local partners, and of course all the handmade goodies straight off the presses! Guests also partook in a virtual raffle of various gift cards to local restaurants!
All proceeds from this fundraiser directly fund community artmaking programs, like Printing Partners!
THE BOOK ARTS GLOW-UP CONTINUES
While we were closed to the public, we moved forward with planned renovations to our beloved home on Washington Street, including a very anticipated storage solution project among many other improvements to our space & layout. We now have more *organized* space to expand our offerings, and of course, a home for all those artmaking kit supplies!
As we round the corner into 2021, we’re excited to continue impoving our space & we can’t wait for you to visit and see these exciting improvements for yourself!
All of this reimagining into the world of virtual was definitely something we didn’t expect this year, but we are so excited for the growth & organizational milestones that will be uncovered as we tread this new territory. We really couldn’t be here without your support. We hope that you consider making a donation to our Annual Fund to help fuel our mission!
Thank you for helping us to preserve the book arts and share it with our communities. We can’t wait to see where 2021 will take us!