- “Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.”
- —Leonardo da Vinci
Current & Upcoming Events
Festival of the Book
The University of California, San Diego Libraries and San Diego Book Arts are co-sponsoring a Fall Festival of the Book: a series of exhibitions, lectures, and a film screening to celebrate the artistry and craftsmanship of handmade and rare books. The events, which will be held from September through October, are all free and open to the public.
A complete listing of Festival of the Book Events is on our Exhibitions page.
Festival of the Book events
San Diego Book Arts Second National Juried Show
Continues through October 31, 2008
UCSD, Geisel Library
Over 60 artist’s books from around the country have been selected by Erika Torri, Executive Director of the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla, the juror for the Second National San Diego Book Arts Juried Show. Eighteen of the 45 artists represented in the show are SDBA members. A full color catalog of the exhibition will be available for purchase.
In addition to introducing our Second National Juried Show to the public, the opening reception will also serve as an informal inauguration of the Festival of the Book, and promises to be a highlight of the year for San Diego Book Arts. And remember, parking is free and easy for this Saturday event.
A Festival of the Book event.
Catalog now available . . . We have just published a 65 page, 9 x 7 inch, full color catalog of our Juried Exhibition. Each artist’s book in the show is on it’s own page, with 2-3 images of the book. The price is $20 plus $4 for shipping.
To order your copy, send a check for $24 to San Diego Book Arts, P.O. Box 90562, San Diego, CA 92169. Or, click the "Buy Now" button below to pay with a major credit card using our PayPal shopping cart.
Please allow up to two weeks for delivery. If you plan to attend the opening reception on Saturday, September 20, from 3:30 to 5:00, you may pay $20 by check or cash and pick up your copy at that time.
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
San Diego premiere of a new film about Mary Ellen Long,
Screening and reception with a talk by the artist
Saturday, October 11, 2008, 3:30 – 5:00 pm
UCSD, Seuss Room, Geisel Library
This short film reveals the inner thoughts and outer workings of internationally recognized Durango artist and SDBA member Mary Ellen Long. Her site-specific environmental works, which subtly intervene in nature, are presented along with the installations, sculptures and book works she creates for collectors, museums, and gallery exhibitions. Often using the indigenous materials found in nature, Long is interested in invoking the spirit and investigating the history of the places in which she creates her temporal, outdoor works while collaborating with the changing seasonal processes that inform her pieces.
A Festival of the Book Event.
“Lost & Found”
October 11 through end of Fall Semester 2008
Reception/Interactive Event, Friday, October 17, 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Library Addition Basement
San Diego State University Library and Information Access
Special Collections and University Archives is pleased to host a unique, interactive exhibit opening for “Lost and Found,” a display of work by fine art, graphic design, multi-media, and applied art students who have taken Michele Burgess’ Art of the Book I and II classes.
Compact Shelving, located in the Library Addition Basement, contains thousands of rarely-used books. Most of the books are bound in the same manner with very similar spine titling. Art faculty member and SDBA member Michele Burgess asked her students to go down and select one of these books to “rescue from obscurity” by designing and creating a new dust jacket or container. They also inserted something temporary into the book to give a clue about the identity of the artist and her/his relationship to the book.
Special Collections Librarian Anne Bahde collaborated on the project, attended the critiques and made sure that the cover/container and inserts were reversible and not harmful to the book in any way. The books were then re-shelved in their usual spots with the new covers, as a combination library archive and art installation.
At the reception, visitors will have the opportunity to browse the shelves, keeping an eye out for these remarkable creations and leafing through their pages to experience the transformation. Please join us to see political, literary, socially conscious, and many other thematic works of art in book form, including a book about Arctic exploration “encased” in ice, and a rhyming dictionary turned dialogue between rappers.
A Festival of the Book Event
Fall Membership Campaign Now Underway—
Take Advantage of Special Two-Year Rates
As we head toward the end of 2008, it is once again time to renew membership in San Diego Book Arts, and we have introduced several changes that are designed to help us expand both our numbers and our geographical reach.
First and foremost, this recruitment campaign includes a special, limited time, two-year rate for individual and family memberships. In addition to the regular individual rate of $40 for one year, you can now renew for $60 for two years. You may renew at the family rate of $60 for one year or $90 for two years. These special rates expire, however, on December 31, 2008.
The deadline for renewing or joining in time to be included in the directory has also been moved up to December 31, 2008. The directory will be printed in time to distribute at the Annual Meeting in January.
You may now use your credit card to renew your membership or to join San Diego Book Arts. Click here to visit our Membership page, for full information on joining, renewing, and donating.