The San Francisco Center for the Book

2008	Mid-year
	Campaign

Support our 2008 Mid-Year Campaign! Donate your gift of $250 or more and receive a special keepsake print from our past Roadworks events. Donate Now.

Volunteer and support the Center. Volunteers earn credits for free classes. You can also support the Center when you shop at Amazon. For more information click here.

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In the News

In a first-time collaboration, SFCB and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland are presenting the exhibit Banned and Recovered: Artists Respond to Censorship, opening August 15 in San Francisco and September 5 in Oakland.

The Bay Area is a center for the thriving art of hand bookbinding according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

In their annual Best Of issue, SF Weekly has named us the Best Place to Take an Art Class! See what they have to say.

There's more in our Press Room...

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Welcome to The San Francisco Center for the Book. We're a place where you can learn about the many arts and crafts of the book. Through workshops, exhibitions and public events, the SFCB promotes both knowledge of traditional book arts and exploration of experimental book forms. Have fun browsing our website.

Named after their display on clotheslines by street vendors, Brazil's Livros do Cordel are a form of street literature with roots in Europe. Becoming a dying artform, these cheap pamphlets tell the news as only poets can. Everyday fare, such as political scandals, arson, revenge, illicit affairs, and so on, are commemorated in doggerel verse, cheaply printed and illustrated with wood, linoleum, and rubber cuts. What they lack in technical skill they more than make up for with vibrant images and snappy rhymes. Some of the poets sing their works to guitar or boom box accompaniment to attract customers to the market place. Our exhibition is in the Austin/Burch Gallery from May 09 - Aug 01.

To see what's going on at the SFCB day by day, check out our Calendar. Or click on Workshops to learn about classes in Printing, Binding and Related Arts. Like looking at pictures? Click Book Pix for an eye-popping visual database of the books we teach. Learn more About Us by clicking here. And for driving directions and public-transit suggestions, click here.

Highlights

Roadworks: Steamroller Prints
Sat Sep 20, 12 noon to 5 pm
Join us for our 5th annual street fair on De Haro Street between 16th and 17th Streets. Local artists will be creating unique large-scale linoleum block carvings printed with a three-ton steamroller, dozens of book arts vendors will be selling their wares, there'll be free children's activities, music, and a chance to pull your very own letterpress print in the SFCB studio. See photos from previous events and find out more here.

Ala Ebtekar in BAN5 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Our resident artist, Ala Ebtekar, is included in the biennial exhibition, Bay Area Now 5, at YBCA which opens Saturday. Visit our Imprint page for more information about Ala's project and go to ybca.org for more about the exhibition.

Kay Ryan, SFCB Small Plates author, named poet laureate
Congratulations to Kay Ryan, named the 16th national poet laureate. Kay Ryan wrote How Birds Sing, a Small Plates book from our Imprint publishing arm. The letterpress book includes art by Tucker Nichols and is available for purchase at the Center.

A Bookbinding Odyssey: A presentation by Dominic Riley, Fellow of Designer Bookbinders
Friday Aug 1, 7-9pm
For this presentation, Dominic will show some of the 40 or so bindings he has made over the past eight years, and will discuss in detail one of his latest pieces, a custom binding of the Arion Press edition of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land.

Looking to Buy or Sell Equipment?
Check out our Equipment Exchange Bulletin Board

Marin Art Walk to feature Roadworks Prints
Aug 5, 6-8pm
SFCB will exhibit prints from Roadworks at the Mill Valley Community Center as part of the Mill Valley Art Commission’s First Tuesday Art Walk in August. A reception will be held on Tuesday, August 5 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. This is the first time the SFCB has officially exhibited in Marin, and is a joint venture with the Mill Valley Art Commission.

Visit Bookmaking for Kids
The Teacher Features blog has a new name and a new location. Please click Bookmaking with Kids to explore this resource for finding book projects to make with kids—in the classroom, at home, in libraries and at community events.

In the Austin/Burch Gallery: Livros do Cordel: Books on a String
May 9 - Aug 1
Named after their display on clotheslines by street vendors, Brazil's Livros do Cordel are a form of street literature with roots in Europe. Becoming a dying artform, these cheap pamphlets tell the news as only poets can.

Support the SFCB When You Shop On Amazon
Did you know that you can help the Center when you shop at Amazon.com? It's easy, by using this link to order, a portion of your purchase price will automatically go to the SFCB.

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Web site design and maintenance by Susan Angebranndt.