Welcome

Dear Book Arts Enthusiast,
The ninth biennial Focus on Book Arts conference, Wednesday, June 24 through Sunday, June 29, 2009, offers four days of classes in the book arts - bookbinding, papermaking, printing, artists books, journals - at all skill levels from beginner to advanced. You can pick and choose your classes, coming for only a day or the whole conference. The conference will again be held on the beautiful campus of Pacific University, located in Forest Grove, Oregon, about 25 miles west of Portland. We hope you can join us in this celebration of the book arts.

We are very excited about our workshop and instructor line-up this year, including a variety of book structures and surface treatments. We have many returning favorites - Andrew Huot, Colleen Cavin, Andie Thrams, Doris Arndt, Helen Hiebert, and Dolores Guffey - and a number of new well-known book artists joining us for the first time - Peggy Skycraft, Diane Mauer, Peter Thomas, Patricia Cheyne, and Barbara Mason. There are also several instructors teaching tools and metal work classes - Jim Croft, Joycelyn Merchant, Jill Timm, and Pat Edmonds. We are also offering something new this year - a 4-day workshop in Hidden Fore-edge Painting by Jeanne Bennett and we have an Introduction to Letterpress Printing class taught by Patricia Cheyne right here on the Pacific University campus.

As in previous years, there are several events being held in conjunction with the classes. You can arrive as early as Wednesday noon for registration and enjoy the galleries and shops of Forest Grove in the afternoon. There will be an informal welcoming reception for attendees on Wednesday evening that will coincide with the opening of the In Focus Gallery. The Gallery, offering the work of book artists, will be open the entire conference.

Christine Eagon, our Thursday night keynote speaker, will speak on “The Art of Self-Promotion.” This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited so please order your ticket promptly.

Both artists and vendors can sell their products in The Market, formerly our Trade Show. The event opens Friday evening with a gala reception and continues through Saturday.

Hospitality Night, an opportunity to share your personal work and projects made in classes, will be held Saturday evening.

The Faculty-Staff Exhibit opens May 11th at the Beaverton Public Library and travels to Pacific University June 10th. It will be on exhibit at the University library throughout the conference. The In Focus Gallery, The Market, the Keynote address, and the Faculty-Staff Exhibit are all open to the public. You need not be enrolled in the conference to participate in these events.

We look forward to seeing you.