In the spring semester of 2015, Baylor University offered its very first book arts course, “Typography and the Artist’s Book” (ART 4338). For this upper level elective, Virginia Green (Associate Professor, Graphic Design) and I planned the course in such a way that students would gain experience creating a number of artist’s books in various structures. In preparation for their own projects, we planned several visits to the Baylor Book Arts Collection (BBAC) for the students to experience and study various structures. My position as art liaison librarian and curator of the BBAC has enabled me to develop valuable connections in the book arts world. Throughout the semester, I was able to integrate several opportunities for the students to engage with book artists, gallery owners, and dealers from across the country. Bill and Vicky Stewart of Vamp & Tramp Booksellers (Birmingham, Alabama) came to campus and exhibited works by numerous book artists with particular emphasis on some of the types of projects the students were working on. Peter and Donna Thomas (Santa Cruz, California) gave a public talk about artist’s books, held a workshop with the class, and led a paper making experience. Alicia Bailey of Abecedarian Gallery (Denver, Colorado) shared her works with the students, talked about her work as an artist, and led a creative writing experience. Alicia worked with us to shape the final student project that would be submitted to a juried exhibition this summer where the works were all based on the Julie Chen and Barabara Tetenbaum’s Artist’s Book Ideation Cards. Even Virginia and I created artist’s books for this show! As the art liaison librarian, this was a great experience for at least five reasons:
• Collaborating with faculty to design and enrich the course was rewarding and helpful in strengthening the relationship between librarian and teaching faculty.
• Integrating the BBAC throughout the course was a great opportunity heightened awareness of the collection and how it can be useful to faculty and students).
• Embedding the librarian throughout the course experience and working alongside the students on projects allowed me to gain a much greater appreciation and more focused view of the experiences and needs of the students and faculty.
• Embedding in the course and creating alongside the students and professor gave me valuable experience as a practicing artist in book arts (where previously I had just been involved from an academic and curatorial perspective).
• Sharing this experience allowed me to build strong relationships with the students and professors (including other professors who sat in on the class or who hovered nearby, intrigued by all the excitement) and has resulted in a number of other collaborations, working relationships, and opportunities.
Sha Towers
Art Liaison Librarian and Director of Liaison Services
Baylor University Libraries, Waco, Texas