A Student Odyssey is simultaneously an inclusive show and a juried exhibition: it provides virtual exhibit space for all student entries (both on the Center's Web site and on the gallery's iMac) plus gallery space for selected work.

The 17 pieces in the gallery -- and dozens more in our digital display -- represent many different points in the spectrum of course offerings at the San Francisco Center for the Book. More important, they're expressions of courage and commitment, of exuberance and experimentation, and of talent.

Courage, because it's scary being a student, taking risks, trying something new, and wrestling down thoughts like "What if I mess up?" and "What if I'm not good enough?" Commitment, because the students in this show stuck with their new challenges despite any niggling doubts. Exuberance, because once you've been bitten by the book arts, you feel compelled to carve out time for your new enthusiasms. You experiment. You practice. You play. You explore a particularly fascinating medium, or a structure, or a technique. Emboldened, you even try things the Center's teachers didn't teach you!

I hope the qualities so evident in these book works touch visitors to A Student Odyssey. But most of all, I hope they encourage other students to delve further into the book arts and in turn enrich it with their passions and innovations.

Click here to see the juried exhibition. Click here to see all student entries.

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