Classes
Classes
The Columbia Center for Book
and Paper Arts offers classes to the community at large. These classes
are designed for those who wish to study Book Arts in a non-degree seeking
program. No experience is necessary, however, some classes may have
prerequisites. Our community class instructors are working professionals
in various book arts related fields and come from all over the country.
The classes are offered three semesters a year: fall, spring and summer.
All community classes are held at the Columbia College Chicago Center
for Book and Paper Arts, 1104 South Wabash, 2nd floor, Chicago, IL 60605.
If you are taking classes here please note the following:
Papermaking:
If you are taking a papermaking class, bring waterproof shoes, galoshes or boots and expect to get wet.
Letterpress:
If you are taking letterpress, bring rubber gloves and an apron and prepare to get inky.
Bookbinding:
For bookbinding classes please bring your own scissors, bone folder, needles, rulers, and X-acto knife on the first day of class and expect to work.
Some classes do have supply lists, and these are either given out at the first class or sent to registered students with your registration confirmation. After your class, if you are unable to pick up your artwork, you may have the Center mail you your work for an $8.00 shipping and handling fee.
Columbia College Chicago
Center for Book and Paper Arts
1104 South Wabash Ave., 2nd floor
Chicago, Illinois, 60605-2328
p: 312-344-6630 f: 312-344-8082
www.bookandpaper.org
book&paper@colum.edu
Staff
Anita Garza Director of Community Programs
Brad Freeman Studio Coordinator
Gina Ordaz Administrative Assistant
April Sheridan Studio Technician
Greg Weiss, Gallery Coordinator
FALL 2008 CLASSES:
Printing & Lettering:
IF YOU ARE TAKING LETTERPRESS, BRING RUBBER GLOVES, AN APRON AND PREPARE TO GET INKY.
Letterpress II
Stacey Stern
We remember, vividly, the first impression we pulled from type we’d set: it was a magical thing, and we knew, holding that printed piece of paper, that we needed to do this again and again. Printing is exciting. It gets a grip on some people. If you are one of these people, you need to sign up for Letterpress II. You will be learning polymer plate making and printing, pressure printing, monoprinting and wood cuts.
Tuesdays, September 23–November 25, 6–9
Limit 10 / 10 sessions / $360.00
(Members $325.00) + $35.00 materials fee + $50.00 refundable distribution deposit. (If you are paying by check, please write a separate check for the distribution deposit. Thank you.)The pre-requisite for this class is Letterpress I.
Letterpress Express
Karol Shewmaker
Walk in with a vision, walk out with an armful of letterpress goodies. Letterpress Express provides the basic skills, instruction, and guidance necessary to transform even the messiest scribble of an idea into a beautiful, crisply printed reality. The first meeting is devoted to an overview of letterpress printing, including type and image setting options, and to the initial preparation of individual projects. Class two continues with the group and individual instruction needed to fully execute each participant’s printing plan.
Saturdays, October 18 & 25, 10–4
Limit 10 / 2 sessions / $144.00
(Members $130.00) + $30.00 materials fee
Hatch Show Print Visits Chicago
Jim Sherraden
Join artist Jim Sherraden as he shares his joy and expertise in letterpress printing. Jim will try to reignite your artistic passion for design, via the vehicle of letterpress printing. About eighty pounds of woodblocks (mere potato chips from the Frito-Lay factory) will be made available to free form print on paper and fabric, in addition to printing on the presses.
Saturday & Sunday, November 8 & 9, 10–4
Limit 10 / 2 sessions / $144.00
(Members $130.00) + $35.00 materials fee
Papermaking:
Breaking the Surface: Hand Papermaking and the Photographic Image
Sara Walton Andrews
In this two-weekend workshop, we’ll create paper that informs, changes, and interacts with the imagery that we’ll print upon it using digital negatives and darkroom processes. The first weekend will be spent in the paper studio, experimenting with collage elements within sheets, textured surfaces, embedded material that can later be used to break through the surface of the sheet, image transfers, and more. The second weekend will be spent in the computer lab and darkroom, as we prepare the negatives and print surfaces and then make the prints. The result will be a small collection of images, transformed by the sculptural aspect of paper and the painterly qualities of cyanotype, liquid emulsion, and other alternative photo-processes into new works of art with new meaning.
Saturdays & Sundays, October 4,5, 11 & 12 10–4
Limit 6 / 4 sessions / $240.00
(Members $215.00) + $65.00 materials fee
Cheap Papermaking Day
Sara Walton Andrews & TBA
Brought to you by the Illinois Art Council, the Center’s Cheap Papermaking and Cheap Bookbinding classes are all the rage. In one action packed day we will introduce you to the basics of papermaking: sheet forming, couching, pressing and drying. We will have lots of cotton pulp of various colors beaten and ready to use, and you will be able to make quite a few small sheets of paper. Papermaking is fun and very interesting and we want as many people as possible to try it, so sign up immediately.
PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE PAPER WITHOUT GETTING WET, PLEASE DRESS ACCORDINGLY.
Cheap Papermaking Day Section I
TBA
Saturday, November 22, 10–4
Cheap Papermaking Day Section II
Sara Walton Andrews
Sunday, November 23, 10–4
Please note: Due to popular demand, you may only sign up for either ONE Cheap Papermaking or Bookbinding Class per semester. The Cheap classes are designed to give you a taste of papermaking or bookbinding and are meant for beginners. Please respect this and let us infect as many people as possible. Thank you for being understanding. The processing fee for a cancellation of the cheap classes is a non-refundable $25 and is also non-transferable.
Limit 15 $25.00 including materials
Bookbinding:
FOR BOOKBINDING CLASSES BRING YOUR OWN SCISSORS, BONE FOLDER, NEEDLES, RULERS, AND X-ACTO KNIFE.
Bookbinding courses present information in a sensible and gradually building sort of manner. If you will not be able to attend class regularly, please consider taking the course some other semester, when you will be better able to enjoy the steady flow of information into your brain.
Intro to Artists’ Books
Jen Thomas
So what exactly is an artist’s book? Well, artists’ books continue to defy definition and often take many different forms – altered books, sculptural books, one-of-a-kind objects, beautifully printed and bound multiples. They remain a fantastically creative form for artistic expression and visual communication. In this class students will be introduced to several basic book structures and image transfer techniques that they can then build upon to create their own artists’ books. Students will be encouraged to view the book as a conceptual space and create an artist’s book every week to fully explore the medium. Leave any preconceived notions at the door. No previous bookbinding experience is necessary.
Thursdays, October 2–November 6, 6–9
Limit 10 / 6 sessions / $215.00
(Members $205.00) + $35.00 materials fee
Five Japanese Bindings and a Box Intensive
RaeAnn Collins
Do you long to be Japanese? Do you lie in bed on grey winter American mornings imagining yourself getting up, dressing, and walking out of your tiny Tokyo apartment into the Tokyo subway, wedging your slender Japanese self into a compartment, and riding to your job at the Hello Kitty store? Yeah. You can indulge your secret Japanese persona by taking this class, which will introduce you to some of the most useful and beautiful Japanese bindings. Students will complete a set of five Japanese bindings of their choice. To complete the set, each student will construct a Japanese Wrap-Around Case to house the collection of bindings together.
Saturday & Sunday, October 18 & 19, 9–5
Limit 10 / 2 sessions / $170.00
(Members $155.00) + $35.00 materials fee
The pre-requisite for this class is Bookbinding I.
The Alternative Image and the Spontaneous Mark
Pam Paulsrud
Instruction on image transferring techniques, layout, design, layering, and image density concerns. Students will be working with various tools, organic and otherwise, to create textured, fluid, splattered, or other marks using walnut and sumi inks. Transfer techniques will be explored and combined with marks, text -- creating a uniquely intuitive book.
Saturday & Sunday, October 25 & 26, 10–4
Limit 10 / 2 sessions / $144.00
(Members $130.00) + $35.00 materials fee
Cheap Bookbinding Days
Ken Gerleve & Erin Cramer
We know that some of you are sitting at home reading this catalog and despairing, because you think you have no time or money to take one of our enticing courses. So we have decided to use some of the cash the Illinois Arts Council thoughtfully bestows on us to create these very inexpensive classes. Of course, we hope that after taking a Cheap Class you will be so besotted by book arts that you will come back and take one of our longer classes, and before you know it you’ll be in graduate school working on your MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts. So give us a call and sign up.
Please note: Due to popular demand, you may only sign up for ONE Cheap Papermaking or Bookbinding Class per semester. The Cheap classes are designed to give you a taste of papermaking or bookbinding and are meant for beginners. Please respect this and let us infect as many people as possible. Thank you for being understanding. The processing fee for a cancellation of the cheap classes is a non-refundable $25 and is also non-transferable.
Limit 10 $25.00 including materials
Cheap Bookbinding Day Section I
Ken Gerleve
Saturday, November 22, 10–4
Cheap Bookbinding Day Section II
Erin Cramer
Sunday, November 23, 10–4
Bookbinding III
Syvia Alotta
In Bookbinding III you will learn all the skills you need to make a quarter leather binding sewn on cords. In the first part of the course you will concentrate on all the processes up to covering. The second part of the course will focus on using leather and covering. Students will learn to sew signatures on cords utilizing the sewing frame, and will round, back and line spines. Appropriate endbands will be presented and boards will be attached by lacing in. Beginning leather techniques, using goatskin, will then be discussed, including appropriate tools, edge paring, using the spokeshave, nipping the bands, and working the leather. Please note, If you need to skip class[es], perhaps you can consider taking it at a time when you can commit to all 10 sessions.
Mondays, September 8–November 10, 6–9
Limit 10 10 sessions $360.00 (Members $325.00) + $35.00 materials fee
(Prerequisite: Bookbinding II or permission of instructor.)
Fresh Cuttings
Béatice Coron
A creative approach to papercutting: participants will learn to use papercuttings as images and as tools for stenciling while experimenting with 3D structures for artist books. During this workshop we will explore how to balance positive and negative space and the different ways to adapt photographs and illustrations to papercuttings. Tips, tricks and resources will be provided.
Saturday & Sunday, November 15 & 16, 10–4
Limit 10 / 2 sessions / $144.00
(Members $130.00) + $30.00 materials fee
Photography:
Digital Cyanotype Prints
Stephen DeSantis
Make beautiful Cyanotype blue prints from your digital and film photographs by combining modern digital technology with this 19th century alternative photographic process. Scan, retouch, output large format negatives, then print on various papers and fabrics to create prints that are ready to frame, letterpress or inkjet print text onto, or bind into books!
Section I
Wednesdays, October 1–29, 6–9
Section II
Thursdays, October 2–30, 6–9
Limit 6 / 5 sessions / $180.00
(Members $160.00) + $35.00 materials fee
Digital Salt Prints
Stepehn Desantis
Make beautiful Salt prints from your digital and film photographs by combining modern digital technology with this 19th century alternative photographic process. Scan, retouch, output large format negatives, then print on various papers and fabrics to create prints that are ready to frame, letterpress or inkjet print text onto, or bind into books!
Section I
Wednesdays, November 5–December 10, 6–9
NO CLASS ON NOVEMBER 26
Section II
Thursdays, November 6–December 11, 6–9
NO CLASS ON NOVEMBER 27
Limit 6 / 5 sessions / $180.00
(Members $160.00) + $35.00 materials fee
Community Class Faculty & Center Staff
Sylvia Ramos Alotta received her MFA from Columbia’s Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts program. Before coming to Columbia, she was as an Automotive Designer for General Motors and proprietor of Design Alotta Inc. Currently, Sylvia is the sole proprietress of the Sharpest Pencil Bindery and Letterpress Shop.
Sara Walton Andrews moved to Chicago from the green hills of Vermont to pursue her MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts. She arrived in Chicago in 2006 with a background in photography and a desire to expand her horizons, and she has since fallen in love with papermaking. When not sporting galoshes and a rubber apron, Sara can be found riding her bike around the city and playing simple yet captivating games with her dog, Pearson.
RaeAnn Collins received her MFA from Columbia’s Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts Program; her BA in Printmaking is from Aquinas College.
Béatrice Coron was born and raised in France but has been living in New York since 1984. Her vast catalog of work includes books, installation pieces, sculpture and large-scale public art pieces. She has exhibited extensively throughout the world and her work is included in collections at the MOMA, The Getty, Walker Art Center, and many other public and private collections.
Stephen DeSantis has been fascinated with photography since he could hold a camera. A photo club member and yearbook photographer through high school, he went on to receive is BFA in Communication Design from Parson’s School of Design in NY, concentrating in Photography. Stepehen received his MFA in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper in 2008.
Brad Freeman is a photographer, printer, and book artist whose work is collected internationally. He founded JAB the Journal of Artists’ Books in 1994 in an attempt to raise the level of critical inquiry into artists’ books. He has an MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Favorite color-green; quote-Yaaarrrr!
Anita Garza is the Director of Community Programs for the Center. Her BA in art and creative non-fiction is from Columbia College Chicago. She graduated with an M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts in 2003. Her extra-curricular activities include the band Itchy Pet and the literary website burningword.com.
Ken Gerleve is a current MFA student in the Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts program at Columbia. His illustration and design work has appeared in several publications and he is currently writing and illustrating a serialized Gothic Mystery novel. His other interests include children’s literature, comics, graphic novels, felt puppets and paper cut illustrations.
Gina Ordaz received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Columbia College Chicago. In addition, Gina’s pleasant demeanor will greet you as you walk into the Center’s Office. Not only is she the Administrative Assistant here at the Center, but she also manages the Unstore. One of Gina’s greatest life contributions is her son, Ezra.
Pamela Paulsrud, visual artist, papermaker and calligrapher received her MFA from Columbia College in Interdisciplinary Arts concentrating in Book and Paper. Pamela’s work work is in the Special Collections at the University of California, San Diego and the Newberry Library, Chicago having been a recipient of the 1997 Newberry Library Purchase Prize. She is currently exhibiting her work internationally and collaborating with Marilyn Sward on a project entitled Treewhispers, which can be seen at www.treewhispers.com.
Jim Sherraden is co author of “Hatch Show Print, The History of a Great American Poster Shop.” He travels extensively, speaking to Graphic Design Societies and Advertising Associations on the historical and current work of Hatch, and teaches university level workshops on the letterpress technique. The combined work of his monoprints and the staff’s constant production has been exhibited recently in over 60 cities in the United States as well as the Netherlands, Norway and France.
April Sheridan graduated with an M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts in 2005. She is the Broadside Coordinator for the Poetry Program in the English Department at Columbia College Chicago and makes poems pretty for Brass Door Press.
Karol Shewmaker is pursuing an MFA in Book & Paper arts at Columbia College.
Stacey Stern received her B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has been teaching at the center since 1999. In her spare time she makes book art, wears pink wigs and is the sole proprietress of Steracle Press www.steracle.com.
Jen Thomas is a writer, printmaker, and book artist based in Chicago, Illinois, completed her M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago. When she’s not constructing three-dimensional board games about renters’ nightmares and painful weddings, she spends her time publishing etchings of trailer parks under her own imprint, Veronica Press.
Greg Weiss received his BA from Purdue University with a concentration in political theory. He is the Center’s Gallery Coordinator. His artistic interests include monoprinting, painting, and mail art.