The latest happenings at Ewing Farm and beyond.

2013 Book Arts League News

Several members of the Book Arts League gathered at the farm on April 20th 2013 for a Tintype portrait by photographer and BAL member German Murillo. We’ll post scans of the photos as soon as we can.

Click link to see a video:

Tin Type with German at the Ewing Farm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News from Beyond:

The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum will be moving to a new location in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Please visit http://www.woodtype.org for complete information.
You can make a donation for the move at http://www.woodtype.org/support
The museum continues to be important not only to the letterpress and graphic design community, but also for its significance as an historic national treasure of early printing artifacts.

Following is a response from the museum director to inquiries from the APA Journal:

Wednesday, January 16th at Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. The doors have been locked since the start of the year. We have 73 days left to pack and leave the building. Some of the displays have come down and type is being boxed and packed into cartons. This weekend is the first official moving party with a crew of 12 coming in to help with the massive task of boxing up 1.5 million pieces of type. The rest of the factory has been empty for weeks, with only cleaning crews clearing out debris. We’ll begin moving larger equipment to the south end of the building in a staging area before it’s loaded onto semis for the move.

Fund raising has gone incredibly well. To date, we have received pledges of over $178,000 toward the move. Over 40 states and 20 countries have made donations. In-kind donations of shipping materials, to coffee for helpers have been offered. We have met a couple of matching grants but we’ll need to keep going to pay for the entire move.

We have identified the space we want for the new museum. It is the former Formrite building, across from Lake Michigan about 3/4 mile from the current site. Initially, we were committed to staying in the Hamilton building. When that became unrealistic, we looked at a number of sites around the city. Knowing the the history of Hamilton should ideally stay in the city of its birth, we hoped to find a spot as close to the original museum site. Formrite is a great site and would allow the museum to nearly double its footprint. One of the challenges is simply to pay for a building and the overhead costs that our current space didn’t have. While Thermo Fisher has asked us to leave, it’s worth noting that we have had essentially free rent and utilities since the early days in the late 90s.

We have yet to completely secure the new space. While the owner is being most accommodating in our attempt to purchase, we have to raise a good portion of the cost ahead of time. While we are confident of our efforts to fund raise, we have a long way to go. We will not truly know if we are free to move in until after city council meets on March 18th because of zoning codes. This is frighteningly close to our April 1st moving date. Formrite may be kind enough to allow us to begin moving in prior to that date. If all goes well with the city council, we hope to be moved in by April and begin setting up the new space and attempt to open by mid summer. We also plan to hold our 5th Annual Wayzgoose on schedule in early November. Stay tuned.
BAL News from the recent past:

Collaboration on path to the Farmhouse: Sat. Sept 29th 2012

The Ridge at Cross Creek Homeowners Association worked on the trail in the lovely park next to the Ewing Farm house & Bunkhouse. Some members of the Book Arts League helped out, completing the HOA’s refurbishing of the development’s pathways. BAL members worked on the path leading up to Ewing Farm by spreading out gravel on the Ewing Farm parking lot. When you walk through the HOA’s park on the way to a Book Arts League activity at Ewing, be sure to thank our neighbors!

Thanks to HOA volunteers Jackie and Peter Van Dore, Didi Liebried and Karl Yambert worked together to clean up Bristlecone Way, and Mark Rode, Lucas Liebried, Randy Owen, who worked with BAL members Earl Noe, Dismas Rotta, and Julia Seko on the pathway to Ewing and the Ewing parking lot. In addition, Louise Padden and Evert Brown helped organize refreshments for everyone.

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We note with great sadness the passing of J. K. Emery. Please see our History Page for more info about him. His love of books and letterpress printing contributed immeasurably to the existence of the Book Arts League.

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Call for entries:
The Ephemera Exchange 2013
We continue the Book Arts League tradition by asking for contributions to the Ephemera Exchange.
Please bring your submissions to the October 6th Open House at the Ewing Farm.
Alternatively you may mail them to:

Ephemera Exchange Earl Noe
1713 Mapleton Avenue
Boulder CO 80304

Guidlines for submission:
Please make your entry 5 x 7 or smaller, in an edition of 30.
Include $5 for return postage.
Deadline for submissions extended through December.

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News from 2012:

The Book Arts League was present at the Lafayette Peach Festival on Saturday, August 18th.

Here is a report from Julia:

The 2012 Lafayette Peach Festival was busy and fun (in its own exhausting way). Earl and Julia were the setup crew plus a couple of good samaritans who were passing by! Thanks to our neighbor vendor for helping us get the canopy up, and to a random passerby for helping scoot the Pilot press along.

David arrived just in time to help set up the piles of tee shirts and make some lovely labels and signs. As usual, folks loved his calligraphy bookmarks. Evert helped man the keepsake he and Earl had prepped and folks loved it.

Tracy did a demo of her tunnel book ornament, which fascinated many, and talked with visitors about BAL in general. Many folks looked at the book samples Brenda brought. Jeff also dropped by to chat.

The new Peach tees were a great hit. We sold 22 of them, along with 2 Tea tees and a few small books. We made about $370 (plus a $15 payment to come in the mail), which is a pretty reasonable haul, especially in these tough times.

Thanks to all who came out and helped, especially to Earl who was there from setup to takedown, and who brought the indispensable van for hauling. We need some more members with large vehicles!

Book Arts League held a special paper themed Open House on Saturday June 2, 2012.

Ray Tomasso gave a papermaking demonstration outside, while printers held forth in the Bunkhouse print shop, working on a member’s project and discussing printerly things. In the Farmhouse, Vivian Jean printed a linoleum block on a roller proof press and the Members’ sale was in full swing. A video of Japanese papermaking played in the background and an impromptu origami session taught by a young visitor enlivened the proceedings.

The rain mercifully held off until the Open House ended, and we had a packed house for the Movie Matinee showing of Between the Folds, a film about the
passion and potential of folded paper.  Judging by the ooh and ahhs during the movie, it seems likely no one in the audience will look at origami and paper in the same way again.

Thanks to James Ascher and Scripta Lab and Ray Tomasso and all the wonderful BAL volunteers for a fantastic day!

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Beyond Ewing – BAL Member receives honor

We are pleased to congratulate Book Arts League member James P. Ascher on being elected as a member of the Grolier Club, the largest and oldest society in the United States for bibliographically oriented enthusiasts.

Please read the news story here: Ascher elected to book Society 

2011 Events:

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small press: the art of letterpress

an exhibit at Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery

through November 6, 2011

 

Visit Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery 1421 Pearl Street in downtown Boulder to see this show. Featured artists are: David Ashley, Allison Bozeman, Rick Griffith, Alicia McKim, Kay Moller, Tom Parson, Ray Tomasso, Gail Watson & Matthew Winheld. Several are Book Arts League members & instructors. A percentage of sales will benefit the Book Arts League. Thanks to Earl Noe for loaning his Chandler & Price Pilot Press for the display.

Recent years have seen a growing number of small print shops creating functional paper goods & fine art with old fashioned letterpress printing presses. These presses leave a characteristic tactile impression on paper. There is great appeal in the dimensional aspect of the letterpress print, from a calling card to a poster.

The art of setting lead & wood type made in the last century excites many designers. The type itself is a small sculptural relic from the past. Graphic design on computers has its place – but machines requiring maintenance, traditional tools and oil can impart real character and depth uniquely their own. small press: the art of letterpress showcases local artists fascinated with the process of creating fresh new ideas with traditional letterpress tools.

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Lauren Ottaviano & Kay Moller taught the Creative Letterpress class on a warm October Saturday. The nine students completed an accordion style book about Fall. Lauren brought pre-printed pages & covers, and everyone in the class contributed a short poem or sentence having something to do with Autumn. They chose a font, set their type and printed on the Vandercook press at the Ewing Bunkhouse. The whole group was incredibly talented and patient, and the end product was beautiful. Lauren hopes to continue doing introductory courses like this one to promote letterpress printing.

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September 17: Book Arts League at

Lafayette Days, Old Town Lafayette

Help send the Centaurus High School Marching Band to New York City this fall by being part of the Lafayette Days Celebration in Old Town.  BAL will be participating by offering book arts demos.  Art Night Out, a pancake breakfast, a parade, and kids’ activities are all part of the family-friendly festivities! For more information go to City of Lafayette web site

WHEN: Saturday, September 17, starting at 11:00 (Book Arts Demos)

WHERE: Festival Plaza at Public Road and Chester Street in Old Town Lafayette

Free!  Drop on by!

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BAL Booth at the Lafayette Peach Festival Saturday, August 20th, 2011

It’s that time again! The Lafayette Peach Festival will be held on Sat, Aug  20, from 9am-4pm in Old Town Lafayette, and the Book Arts League will have our usual booth offering demos and items for sale. We have been a regular at this event for years, and folks look forward to seeing the traveling Pilot “spokespress”, buying t-shirts, and getting the latest news on Ewing and our activities. It’s our big opportunity to let the community know we’re here and thriving!

As usual, we are inviting volunteers to come out and enjoy Lafayette’s signature festival and help out the Book Arts League. We need help with:

Booth setup (~7:30 am-8:30am)
Book arts demos (printing, bookbinding, calligraphy) (~9:00-4:00, in shifts)
Sales (~9:00-4:00 in shifts)
Greeters/Information (~9:00-4:00, in shifts)
Booth takedown (~4:00-5:00 pm)
Coffee and peach smoothie runs (anytime!)

Please let us know if you can help out for a couple of hours or half-day, or whatever you can do. It’s a fun event, with food, music, Western Slope peaches, and arts of all kinds, and a chance to socialize with other BAL members and the good people of Lafayette. Refreshments and snacks will be provided.

If you can help out, please email sekoja@gmail.com. We need to work up a schedule, so please respond as soon as possible. See you at the Peach!

http://www.lafayettecolorado.com/peachfestival/2011peachfestival/2011peachfestival.html

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