This page was designed to support the students in Virginia Green's book arts course as they explore the Baylor Book Arts Collection. We will be looking at examples from the BBAC during the course, but if you would like to make an appointment to see other works or have an in-depth opportunity to engage with the collection, you can click here to make an appointment. Let me know if you have any questions and I'm looking forward to sharing this amazing collection with you!
- Shā Towers, Curator of the Baylor Book Arts Collection and Art Librarian
Baylor Book Arts Collection
Artist's Books in the BBAC -- this link allows you to browse all of the artist's books in the Baylor Libraries collection.
BBAC Instagram
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Images from the Baylor Book Arts Collectionselected photos from the Baylor Book Arts Collection (photographer: Ben Johansen)
NOTE: in Flickr, you can search within these photos by adding the keyword "baylorbookarts" to your search string. (ex. search: "baylorbookarts egypt")
The Baylor Book Arts Collection began in 2007, with the acquisition of a collection of works by artist Maddy Rosenberg. Since that time, the collection has grown to nearly 1400 hundred items representing many artists and presses. The collection includes works in nearly every genre of artist's book from single page construction to elaborate and complex structures. Fine press examples include partnerships between artists, poets, and presses, resulting in exquisite examples of the physical book.
More information about the BBAC
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"o Baylor Book Arts Presentation by Sha Towers" by Craig Bunchfrom The Medium: Newsletter of the Texas-Mexico Chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America, v. 41, no. 2 (fall 2015)
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"Artist's Book Collection, Baylor University" by Sha Towersfrom Central Book Magazine, Sept. 2015 (click the "read now" button on coverpage)
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"Creating Online Exhibits to Extend Reach" by Sha Towersfrom ARLIS/NA blog (20 July 2015)
What is an "artist's book" ?
What, exactly, is an artist’s book? You may not be able to tell just from looking at the object itself! The simple answer to someone not familiar with artists’ books might be: art in book form. But they are not quite so simple…
An artist’s book is a medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of “book” as inspiration. It is the artistic initiative seen in the illustration, choice of materials, creation process, layout and design that makes it an art object. . . .What truly makes an artist’s book is the artist’s intent, and artists have used the book as inspiration in a myriad of ways and techniques, from traditional to the experimental. The book could be made through fine press printing or hand-crafted, the pages illustrated with computer-generated images or cheap photocopies; books became sculptures, tiny and gargantuan; books were sliced up and reconfigured, made from all kinds of materials with unconventional objects incorporated, in unique or limited editions, or produced in multiple copies. With all sorts of ideas behind them, artists continue to challenge the idea, content and structure of the traditional book.
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Curator of the Baylor Book Arts Collection and Art Librarian
