PSBA Opening Reception: Saturday June 11, 2–4pm
Collins Memorial Library
The University of Puget Sound
*masks are not required but recommended
The Puget Sound Book Artists are pleased to announce the 11th Annual PSBA Members’ Exhibition. The exhibition will be on view this summer at the Collins Memorial Library at UPS. The suggested theme is “peaks and valleys,” and promises not to disappoint. It will be the first PSBA Member’s Exhibition held in person since the pandemic began.
One of the hallmarks of the exhibition is that every member is offered an opportunity to exhibit. Narrowing down the 80 submissions was difficult as there is an abundance of talent in the organization. Sixty were ultimately selected, meaning some difficult choices were made by lead curator, Traci Timmons, and the rest of the curatorial team of Mark Hoppmann, Peter Newland, and Rachel Watson.
Timmons, who managed the book arts collection at the Seattle Art Museum as head of libraries and archives, remarked on the high quality of the works in the exhibition. “The works submitted to this year’s exhibition felt especially personal, with many responding to the pandemic and the effect it had or is having on their lives. I was struck by the visual and technical diversity of the work, by the overall excellence of the submissions, and by how artists can imagine an idea, like ‘peaks and valleys,’ in so many ways. I really can’t wait for people to see these works in person.”
The exhibition’s opening reception will take place at the Collins Memorial Library on Saturday June 11, 2-4pm. Awards for this year’s exhibition will include the Award for Excellence and the Curator’s Choice Award to be announced during the reception.
The People’s Choice Award will be announced following the panel discussion on July 28 after the ballots have been collected.
POST OPENING-RECEPTION AWARDS:
This year PSBA is pleased to have Cornish College of the Arts faculty member, Dan Shafer, as the exhibition’s juror. Shafer is a Seattle-based graphic designer, artist, and educator. He owns Dandy Co., a graphic design studio specializing in book design, environmental design, and event branding and promotion. Dan is also the Creative Director for Chin Music Press and teaches book arts and design classes Cornish College of the Arts.
Juror Dan Shafer selected Kimberly Izenman’s maze-fold accordion book “Grief” for the Award of Excellence. “Grief” invites the reader into a dense meditation on loss and devotion. The meticulously stitched fabric scraps, layered with family artifacts and memories, are both beautiful and fragile, and they seem to be quiet islands in a sea of chaotic, abstract painted gestures. The book reveals a journey through immense challenge and loss which, though intensely personal, is also invitational. In Izenman’s work, we are all given a space to consider our own grief, and to see a way through it.
The Exhibition Committee awarded the Curators’ Choice Award to Ray Zill for her work, “Peaks & Valleys.” This flag book structure incorporates photography and poetry by the artist and chronicles the peaks and valleys she experienced during the pandemic. Through photos using different exposure techniques, Zill depicts herself in a number of powerful poses– sitting back to back with herself drinking and smoking, “Speak the truth, if you let me; cloud your judgment by choice, What is real becomes an effigy when all is shaken but your voice.” The work embodies the exhibition theme, from its visual depictions of the personal ups and downs in the artist’s life to the physical manifestation of peaks and valleys in the book’s curving flag segments. All in all, it was a compelling piece that strongly resonated with the exhibition team.
Mark your calendars for these events scheduled during the exhibition:
- A four-part “open case presentations” series will be held on Wednesdays, June 15, 22, 29, and July 6 from 12-1:30pm. During these sessions, the public are given the opportunity to listen to artists speak about their individual work.
- Panel Discussion, July 28, 2022, 5:30-7pm: The last event is a special screening of a panel discussion between several artists in the exhibition and moderator Peter Newland.
Once again, we are fortunate to have the exhibit hosted by the Collins Memorial Library. “The entire community is always delighted to see the return of the PSBA exhibition. Over the last 10 years this has become a summer tradition and it is always a joyful experience to see the library space transformed with the incredible books” states Library Director, Jane Carlin. Carlin goes on to say: “Over the years our exhibit has grown and expanded. We have many artists from out of state and PSBA now has a national reputation. It is truly gratifying to see the impact of what started as a grass roots organization 11 years ago grow into a nationally recognized book arts organization supporting artists at all levels.”
For more information about the Puget Sound Book Artists, please visit the website at:
https://pugetsoundbookartists.wildapricot.org/
For additional information regarding the exhibition, send inquiries to psbaexhibition2022@gmail.com