In an era when digital media increasingly overshadows print books, the Austin Book Arts Center keeps the tradition of bookmaking and printing alive. Inside the center, paper is pressed and dried, ink is rolled across sheets and books are carefully bound and designed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The non-profit Austin Book Arts Center will host its 10th anniversary celebration on Oct. 2 at the Baker Center in Hyde Park, marking a decade of continuous bookmaking education and preservation of the craft of book and letterpress arts. The free celebration includes hands-on letterpress demonstrations and book-themed temporary tattoos. Kevin Auer, an ABAC board member and UT lecturer, said the center offers people a creative medium within the fast pace of life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just are an outlet for a lot of people who don\u2019t have an opportunity to do much with their hands right during the day,\u201d Auer said. \u201cA lot of people get up in the morning, go to work, sit in front of a screen and don\u2019t get a chance to make and do things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since its start in 2015, ABAC has continued to grow and add new classes and equipment. ABAC board member Tiffo Carmichael said they look forward to some new additions at the center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got four or five very large letterpress machines that range from the 1960s (to the) 1800s,\u201d Carmichael said. \u201c(For the) class we\u2019re teaching this fall, we\u2019re also going to talk about the history of people who used that \u2026 like underground flyers or punk bands.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Contrary to the common belief that digital media is phasing out and replacing book arts, Auer said the pandemic brought a rise in interest in the craft.<\/p>\n
\u201cCOVID was this moment where people had a chance to kind of slow down and ask themselves what was important for them,\u201d Auer said. \u201cA lot of people had an opportunity to try things and do things that they hadn\u2019t in the past.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to ABAC\u2019s next 10 years of operation, Auer said he would like to see more young people become interested in book arts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to see more and more younger people come,\u201d Auer said.<\/p>\n
Jim Kuhn, an associate director at the Harry Ransom Center and member of the ABAC board, encouraged people to become a member, take some workshops or make a donation to the non-profit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really do look forward to watching it grow as new folks get involved with the work that we encourage,\u201d Kuhn said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kuhn also said books offer one of the oldest communication technologies for people to record thoughts and artistic creations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe books that we make (are) reflective of the community,\u201d Auer said. \u201cSo that\u2019s why I think that (preserving them) is important \u2014 because they are remnants or reminders of this community that we all share.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an era when digital media increasingly overshadows print books, the Austin Book Arts Center keeps the tradition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-467347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-books"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115302248102489550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}