The University of Colorado at Boulder Friends of the Libraries will present "Artists' Books Revealed: Personal Lives and Wild Imaginations" on March 25.
The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Center for British Studies on the fifth floor of Norlin Library at CU-Boulder. Entrance to the library will be through the west doors.
A preview exhibit of artists' books will be on display at 6 p.m. in Norlin's Special Collections Department. A reception will follow the program, which is part of the Friends' annual Treasures series.Ìý
Mia Semingson, Boulder book artist, photographer and CU Fine Arts instructor, and Camilla Beck, gerontologist, poet and artist will make presentations. Both will discuss how art and writing can come together to create artists' books, conveying information through text and/or visual images. Artists' books are often small, one-of-a-kind editions that make use of uncommon materials such as scrolls or accordion pages.
The artists' book format can be used to create a family history to leave as a legacy for people's survivors. Other artists' books are built merely for aesthetic delight or to hold a message of social consciousness.
Semingson received her MFA in photography and electronic media from CU-Boulder. She has been an apprentice bookbinder with Diana Phillips at Two Hands Paperie in repair and restoration, custom-book design and production. She also is the owner of Hairline Press and Bindery, where she focuses on the creation of artists' books.
Beck learned her craft in the writing and gerontology programs at East Carolina University and Naropa University. Her company, Fosilpress, is devoted to preserving elder arts in print and electronic media. Some of the people whose personal or family histories have been preserved in artists' books through collaboration with Beck include: Violet Ramsey, pioneer woman of the West, Jose de Onis, former Central Intelligence Agency agent and CU-Boulder professor, and Frances Adams Dwight, niece of Cecil B. DeMille and Senior Olympics silver medallist.
Parking will be available in the Euclid Avenue Autopark on the CU-Boulder campus. For more information, call (303) 492-7511.