If you have not seen our book arts exhibit at The Camden Public Library click here to take a look at Structure & Narrative. The virtual exhibition will be on view throughout the month of September. You can download our exhibition catalog and you can Zoom into the Book Arts Studio event which took place on Tuesday, September 8th.
So, how did this exhibition come to be?
Two years ago, Cynthia McGuirl, Abbie Read, Paula Blanchard and I formed the Midcoast Maine Book Arts group. We curated our first exhibition at The Camden Public Library, inviting book artists from around the state to exhibit with us for the month of September. The opening was widely attended, and we held an event entitled, Ask Your Bookmaker, which brought many of us together for an evening of book talk. It was a feel-good moment.
One of the exhibitors, Jan Owen, said to me “Wouldn’t it be great to form a recurring group that could meet to share our current work, other ideas, resources, and information?” I met with a program coordinator at Maine Media Workshops and asked if that was something they would support. Richard Reitz Smith at Maine Media, who was also an exhibiting artist at our first show, was really interested in the idea. We felt that there could be a relationship between Midcoast Maine Book Arts and Maine Media that would be reciprocal and generative.
Abbie Read, book artist, in teaching mode.
A Facebook page was created, as well as a Mission Statement. We made decisions about how often to meet, and started publicizing the group’s intention and meeting dates, thanks to Paula Blanchard.
And so, since October 2018, the Midcoast Maine Book Arts group has met every other month! We have invited book artists in residence at Maine Media Workshops to meet with us, shared our work with one another, shared sources of materials, organized book arts workshops at 26 Split Rock Cove, and most importantly we have become a group of friends for whom making books, creating books, and exhibiting books, and talking about books has become essential.
Then came 2020! Here we are two years later, getting ready to curate and mount our second exhibition, Structure & Narrative. But COVID-19 had closed the library and everyone was scrambling to create alternative exhibitions. Camden Library offered to help us create a virtual exhibition and virtual opening. We said yes!!! Structure & Narrative was re-invented.
The first important element of this group is team spirit and cooperation. All of this activity doesn’t just happen without a team. Or without work. There are so many wonderful artists and practicing book artists in this group, and so many willing to share their skills and time.
Second, professionalism. Each artist brings their best selves, best work, and contributes in a timely and thorough way to the creation of the exhibition, catalog, and related events. Our Zoom into the Book Arts Studio event was an example. Four artists prepared a 10 minute journey through their studio, focusing on how a new artist book came to be from mock-ups and jigs, and experiments to the final product; another went on a tour of equipment and set-up of her studio all the while referencing the book she was exhibiting in the show; another talked about influences and methods and why the book is the most important way to exhibit those, and the fourth talked about her initial response to an event that created the work which then determined the format for her book.
Third, I think that support among the group is lively and fun. At our regular meetings people share without fear, or hesitation. No success or not-quite-success is treated without the entire group’s input. It is somewhat remarkable, really.
We hope to be in Damariscotta Skidomph Library in January and February, though we’re not sure in which format – live or on-line. Following that look for the Midcoast Maine Book Arts exhibition at the Michael Good Gallery in August 2021 (thank you Avi Good!). And then on to Blue Hill Library in 2022. (Thank you, Eileen Ahearn!)
And thank you readers and community of 26 Split Rock Cove, we appreciate your interest in fostering arts and culture.