Baylor University’s academic strategic plan includes special emphases on transformational education and the arts. One of the five main initiatives of the strategic plan focuses on human flourishing, that includes being “image-bearers of God working creatively and interacting with others for the individual and common good” – a concept richly reflected in the arts. The strategic plan also focuses on engagement in the Americas (South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean) in areas including Culture and Arts:

“It is through the study of literature, art, and music that we begin to understand the narrative of the human experience. To be in authentic relationships with people and communities of Latin America, Baylor must broaden and deepen its study of art, language, history, and culture. The culture and arts area of inquiry will capitalize on current and future assets within the humanities, drawing on the expertise of our faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Music, and other departments, units, and institutes at Baylor. Areas of application within this content area include multicultural understanding, education and appreciation, language acquisition, and culturally competent partnership facilitation. These areas of emphasis are responsive to the current and projected population trends in Texas and the nation at-large that will shape the demographics of both faculty and students of the University in coming years.”

This year, the Baylor Book Arts Collection (part of the Arts and Special Collections Research Center in Moody Library) is focusing on the intentional collection on the work of Hispanic and Latin American book artists reflecting their cultures and experiences. Our goal is not only to create a broader and more diverse representatino of culture and arts from other parts of the globe, but also for more of the Baylor and local communities will see themselves and their experiences represented in this collection.

This past spring, I was fortunate enough to meet with a number of amazing artists during an international artist’s books fair in Miami and an arts conference in Mexico City and am currently collecting their works for inclusion in the Baylor Book Arts Collection.

Here are just a few examples of these most recent artists joining the Baylor Book Arts Collection:

Gloribel Delgado Esquilín (Puerto Rico)
Isabel Fernandez Echavarria (Chile)
Sol Rebora (Argentina)
Ioulia Akhmadeeva (Mexico)
Antonio Guerra (Mexico)

To see more of these and other works in the BBAC, visit us on Instagram at @baylorbookarts. To learn more about the BBAC and the Arts and Special Collections Research Center, visit https://library.web.baylor.edu/arts. You can also request a visit to experience these amazing treasures in person at https://baylor.libwizard.com/f/Special_Collections_Visit_Request

Sha Towers
Founder and Curator of the Baylor Book Arts Collection
Librarian for Art and Theatre
Associate Dean for Research and Engagement