AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
- August 9 – October 14, 2018: Book Exhibit: A Garden of Earthly Delights – Artists’ Books & Sketches by Mark Hoppmann
Partially funded by a Tacoma Artist Initiative Project (TAIP) grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission, The Garden of Earthly Delights is an exhibition of nine new works by Tacoma book artist and illustrator, Mark Hoppmann. See if you can translate the cryptic text of Coptic bound, Tacoma Codex I, a handwritten and illustrated manuscript transcribed in a new alphabet inspired by the decaying wharfs of Tacoma’s seafaring past. Explore the strange collection of images found in A Garden of Earthly Delights which Hieronymus Bosch might have used in his masterpiece, had he lived in the present day Pacific Northwest.
In addition to alliterative haiku in Northwest Aliterations, a collection of sketches titled Gargoyles, and other new works, the exhibition will also include previous works and many of the artist’s past and current sketchbooks, studies, and tools, all of which challenge the viewer’s perceptions of the Pacific Northwest and the art of the book.
Mark Hoppmann graduated from Drake University with a BFA in graphic Design and Commercial Art in addition to studying art for one year in Florence Italy. After working for twenty years in the graphic arts industry as an offset pressman, prepress and bindery operator, he resumed his art career and has been an artist in Tacoma Washington, working primarily as a book artist, illustrator, and watercolor painter for the last twenty years. He says, I have always been curious. That curiosity has resulted in an eclectic accumulation of bric-a-brac, memories, experiences, and books, all which in turn, inspire my art. With apologies to Rudyard Kipling, my intent is to design illustrated books for those, “with ‘satiable curtiosity.” Simple and sometimes unadorned, but thoughtfully creative book designs hide a treasury of illustrations within. - Saturday, August 11, 2018: A Garden of Earthly Delights – Artists’ Books & Sketches by Mark Hoppmann – Opening reception, 4:00–5:30pm, Collins Library, Pacific NW Room – hors d’oeuvres will be served.
- Sunday, September 23, 2018: Open Cases: co-sponsored by the Puget Sound Book Artists, 2:00–4:00pm, Collins Library. A unique chance to handle the books and see the illustrations from A Garden of Earthly Delights – Artists’ Books & Sketches by Mark Hoppmann.
- Thursday, September 20, 2018: Behind the Archives Door: Exploring Artifacts from the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, presented by Anthony Clark, 3:00–4:00pm, Archives Seminar Room, Collins Library.
Interested in Chinese history, social activism, and exploring artifacts from the past? Join us as we investigate our Claire and Don Egge Collection on China with Anthony Clark of Whitworth University. Professor Clark specializes in Chinese history, directs Whitworth’s Asian studies program and the “Whitworth in China” study-abroad program. He’ll be highlighting one of our most unique archival collections and remarking on the importance of studying the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. - Monday, September 24, 2018: Johnny Devine, teacher and manager of Makerspace at SAMI will return to share insights about the Tacoma Public Schools commitment to Maker Culture and the Science and Math Institute Makerspace. 4:00–5:00pm, Development Studio, lower level of Collins Library.
- Wednesday, September 26, 2018: Bill and Vicky Stewart of Vamp & Tramp Booksellers, 1:00–2:30pm, Archives Seminar Room, Collins Library. Bill and Vicky Stewart of Vamp & Tramp Booksellers are based in Birmingham, Alabama. They specialize in contemporary fine press and artists books. During their campus visit they will display a selection of their fine press and artists’ books and will conduct a small presentation on their latest acquisitions.
- September 26 – October 9, 2018: Art related exhibits in the Collins Library during the Race & Pedagogy Conference:
- Zine and Heard: Narratives of Resistance and Liberation and Drop-In Zine Making Workshops: A display of zines that are part of the permanent collection of the Collins Library will be on display in the lower level of the Library outside the Makerspace. All conference participants are welcome to stop by the Makerspace to make their own zine and buttons that reflect the themes of this year’s Conference. Students will be on hand to provide assistance and we will have an abundance of materials to inspire personal artistic creations!
- Speaking Out: Twenty-One of Tacoma’s Social Justice and Civil Rights Champions: Courtesy of the Tacoma Historical Society, this banner exhibit describes and honors Tacoma’s unsung heroes who have worked for Social Justice and Civil Rights. Prominently displayed in the entrance to the Collins Library, these banners serve as a complement to the Civil Rights Walk that has been organized as part of the Conference.
- I Am Psyched! Located in the Library’s Learning Commons, I am Psyched! is a multimedia initiative that explores the history and contemporary contributions of women of color in psychology as they engage in psychological science, practice and social justice. Also included, will be a selection of books from our collection that complement the exhibit.
- Migration Now: A limited-edition portfolio of thirty-seven handmade prints, addressing migrant issues, from Justseeds & CultureStrike will be on display, alongside the work of Sligh, in the front gallery room.
OCTOBER
- Monday, October 1, 2018: Shreeti Hemal Patel, a student currently working with Siddharth Ramakrishnan will present on her research and work on virtual reality. 4:00–5:00pm, Makerspace, Collins Library.
- Wednesday, October 3, 2018, Sketch In with the Artist, 10:00am – 3:00pm, Collins Library. Mark Hoppmann will be demonstrating sketching, in collaboration with the Slater Museum. He will be sketching from museum specimens of local wildlife that has inspired his recent work in A Garden of Earthly Delights. Everyone is welcome to bring in their own sketchbooks and join in the fun.
- Thursday, October 18, 2018, Behind the Archives Door: Dennis Flannigan’s “Letters From Mississippi”, 5:00–6:00pm, Archives Seminar Room, Collins Library. Dennis Flannigan, former Washington state legislator and pioneering Tacoma community leader, will be visiting the Archives & Special Collections to discuss his time at Puget Sound and his experience as a civil rights worker in the 1964 Freedom Summer campaign in Mississippi. In the Fall of 1964, Flannigan wrote a series of letters to his friends at Puget Sound and they were published in The Trail as a series titled “Letters from Mississippi.” Join us to hear Flannigan reflect on his past of civic engagement and peruse documents from Puget Sound’s past.
- Exhibit: October 22, 2018 – January 25, 2019, Memory Lame: An Unforgettable Installation by Jessica Spring and Scott Gruber. A multi-faceted installation by Jessica Spring and Scott Gruber, “Memory Lame” focuses on retention and loss of memory, and our collective knowledge. As humans we employ many memory aids—from digital apps to old-fashioned mnemonic devices—to readily access facts we need.
- Monday, October 29, 2018: Darcy Mitchell from Tinkertopia, will visit and discuss the creative process and how Tinkertopia came to be. Tinkertopia is a creative reuse organization located downtown on Pacific Avenue that encourages innovation and recycling. 4:00–5:00pm, Makerspace, Collins Library.
- Monday, October 29, 2018: The Green Amendment: Securing our Rights to a Healthy Environment, presentation by May K. van Rossum. The Collins Memorial Library and ASUPS are pleased to sponsor Maya K. van Rossum, leading environmental rights advocate. 6:00-7:00pm, The Rotunda, University of Puget Sound.
NOVEMBER
- Sunday, November 18, 2018: Veritas Editions, 2:30-4:30pm, Archives & Special Collections Seminar Room.
Veritas Editions is honored to present the Puget Sound Book Artists the story of our journey in Fine Press Artist Book Editions. Veritas Editions is dedicated to the beauty in truth, and the truth in beauty. Formed in 2015 by photographic artist Craig Alan Huber, Veritas Editions’ goal is to communicate the message of truth through the publication of premium limited editions of combined word and image. As we live in an increasingly digital, texture-starved world, Veritas Editions strives to bring that texture back into our lives with fine prints, papers, and materials matching the raison d’être of each publication.
The goal is to treat the artists as equal partners in such endeavors. We employ a novel funding approach for the production of these hand-crafted editions, one akin to that of a Co-Op, in which the artists as a collective and Veritas Editions each contribute equally to the cost, and each share equally in the profits.
Works from Veritas Editions are in permanent collections including the Vatican Library, the Huntington Library, the National Steinbeck Center, Carmel Mission Foundation, Stanford University Special Collections, UC Berkeley Bancroft Library, four State Libraries of Australia, the Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain; and in private collections throughout the US, Mexico, Europe, and Australia.
DECEMBER
- Wednesday, December 5, 2018, Memory Lame: An Unforgettable Installation by Jessica Spring and Scott Gruber, Opening reception and Artist Talk, 6:00pm, Collins Library exhibit space. Exhibit open October 22–January 25.
A multi-faced installation by Jessica Spring and Scott Gruber, “Memory Lame” focuses on retention and loss of memory, and our collective knowledge. As humans we employ many memory aids—from digital apps to old-fashioned mnemonic devices—to readily access facts we need.
FEBRUARY
- Exhibit: February 1 – May 12, 2019, Transforming Knowledge: Altered Encyclopedias, Collins Library exhibit space.
This exhibit features altered encyclopedias made by local artists. This exhibit provides the opportunity to reflect upon our relationship with the printed word and the future of libraries. We are grateful to the participating artists who have transformed the discarded volumes into new and vibrant works of art that reflect a rebirth of ideas. The exhibit also features photographs from local artist Sharon Styer as well as a number of books about books, knowledge, and libraries.
MARCH
- Exhibit: March 12 – May 12, 2019, Sarah Bodman: Read to Me: A psychometric collaboration with objects, Collins Library exhibit space.
An experiment by the artist British artist Sarah Bodman in collaboration with a psychometric reader, to transmit the emotional content of selected narratives through a series of physical objects. The artist selected 10 objects to read stories to. They were then posted to the reader who relayed the objects’ messages back to the artist to produce an artist’s book. Read To Me is touring with an exhibition of the artist’s book and a selection of the original objects which were read, until December 2019. Produced at the London Centre for Book Arts, this is the first showing in the United States. You can read more about the development of the project in a photo essay written for Axon: Creative Explorations, a free access online journal: https://www.axonjournal.com.au/issue-14/read-me.