Jaffe Center for Book Arts

New postage stamp alert! Get these commemorative Shaker Design stamps at your local post office or at usps.com, and then spend your Friday afternoon with us at Real Mail Fridays from 2 to 5 Eastern via JCBA Zoom at the Real Mail Fridays link at jaffecollection.org … and at our profile, find a link to JCBA Director John Cutrone’s blog post about his time as a print and book arts intern at Chosen Land, the only remaining active Shaker Community in the world, at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.

New fall workshops, all of these on JCBA Zoom, await you at the WORKSHOPS link at jaffecollection.org !

Real Mail Fridays! Normally this First Friday of the month would be our monthly In-House + Zoom Social… but here’s a reminder that JCBA is closed while the Wimberly Library is being renovated. Our floor is closed for August and probably we’ll into September, too. As a result, Real Mail Fridays will be online only for a while. Meet us through the Zoom link you’ll find at the Real Mail Fridays page at jaffecollection.org on Friday from 2 to 5 Eastern.

DEADLINE EXTENDED! There was a bit of confusion on our website about the for applications for JCBA’s next Helen M. Salzberg Residency in the Book Arts (never underestimate the importance of good design!). To make things right, we’ve extended the deadline to this new date: September 30.

The project proposal that most excites us will be awarded an $8,000 stipend paid in two installments: $4k at the start, another $4k upon completion of the two requirements: a finished creative project and the teaching of a workshop, which may be in person or virtual. 30 days residency at JCBA required; may be in one block of time or spread over several visits. Full details and application process at jaffecollection.org (in the INTRODUCTION drop down menu).

Here's this week's JCBA News. Real Mail online at JCBA Zoom only for now! New workshops! Salzberg Residency deadline extended! And our physical space is closed for a while. Read more: https://conta.cc/3LOBNKy

Lots going on at our home base : our third floor of the Wimberly Library is currently closed as the ceilings and lighting get replaced. JCBA’s physical space will be closed to the public for the duration of the project…. Most likely well into September. Meanwhile, we’ve got plenty for you online via JCBA Zoom and our video library at jaffecollection.org and the JCBA Vimeo Channel!

Dear Friends: We hope your Friday plans include a visit to REAL MAIL FRIDAYS, JCBA’s beloved weekly letter writing zoom social. 2 to 5 PM Eastern from wherever you are in the world on JCBA Zoom at the Real Mail Fridays link at jaffecollection.org. New friends from around the globe await you along with a very Jaffe soundtrack, occasional chats, and the time you need to get things done. It’s a most heartwarming end to your workweek and start to your weekend.

Here's this week's JCBA NEWS. What's new? Well, new workshops, new deadline for the Salzberg Residency, new updates regarding the Center itself. Plus Real Mail tomorrow on JCBA Zoom.

JCBA: Lots of News! new workshops, new deadlines, new developments new workshops for fall NEW! FOLDED LIDDED BOXES with instructor Susan Joy Share. In this online workshop we’ll create lightweight, versatile lidded boxes

Deadline for applications for JCBA’s next Helen M. Salzberg Residency in the Book Arts is just a few weeks away (August 5). The project proposal that most excites us will be awarded an $8,000 stipend paid in two installments: $4k at the start, another $4k upon completion of the two requirements: a finished creative project and the teaching of a workshop, which may be in person or virtual. 30 days residency at JCBA required; may be in one block of time or spread over several visits. Full details and application process at jaffecollection.org (in the INTRODUCTION drop down menu).

It’s Sea Turtle time here in Florida, and new sea turtle stamps are available now at your local post office. Perfect for Real Mail Fridays letters! Join us this Friday from 2 to 5 Eastern at the Real Mail Fridays link at jaffecollection.org for fun with a Very Jaffe Soundtrack and Real Mail pals from around the globe!

It's been a long while since we've posted links to our weekly JCBA News here at Facebook. Be that as it may, here's the most recent edition, July 17, 2024:

JCBA: Paper is Our Jam by our own labor FOR MANY CENTURIES, prior to the invention of machine-made paper in 1799, all paper was made by hand, by a skilled craftsperson. Today hundreds of artists, craftspeople, historians, c

Real Mail Fridays is happening right now (provided you’re reading this between 2 and 5 Eastern). Join us at the Real Mail Fridays link right now at jaffecollection.org!

Big Day Tuesday! Join us for the opening of our new exhibition BY OUR OWN LABOR: The History and Contemporary Field of Hand Papermaking at 3 PM. Gallery Talk with Curator Daniel Zaccardi: We'll be screening three short films about papermaking, followed by a Q+A with the curator. Read all about it right here: https://myemail-api.constantcontact.com/JCBA--Join-Us-Tuesday.html?soid=1126284945488&aid=56Ix5PcJRLM

Real Mail Fridays is canceled this week, both in-house and on JCBA Zoom, for the 4-day holiday weekend. Happy Independence Day, everyone, as we recall the day in 1776 when the American Continental Congress famously sent a letter to King George III.

JCBA’s SUMMER/FALL EXHIBITION OPENS officially on Tuesday July 9 at 3 PM with a Gallery Talk with Curator Daniel Zaccardi in the Jaffe Book Arts Gallery. It’s an exhibition we’re calling By Our Own Labor: The History and Contemporary Field of Hand Papermaking.

The premise: For many centuries, prior to the invention of machine-made paper in 1799, all paper was made by hand, by a skilled craftsperson. Today hundreds of artists, craftspeople, historians, conservators, and others make and utilize handmade papers. For this exhibition we have assembled various paper artifacts, specimens, materials, books, works of art, equipment, and other pieces into a narrative of paper’s long history, from a ubiquitous utilitarian handmade commodity to a diverse realm of artistic experimentation and development. We invite you to come and gain a greater appreciation for the material that has made our world: paper.

The event: Curator’s Talk with Daniel Zaccardi on Tuesday July 9 at 3 PM. Free, open to all, in the Jaffe Book Arts Gallery (third floor east of FAU’s Wimberly Library). We’ll be screening three short films about papermaking before Daniel’s comments and Q+A. This is our studio coordinator’s last gift to JCBA before heading off to pursue an MFA in the Book Arts at the University of Iowa... so please come and please join us in wishing Daniel the best!

Join us on THURSDAY this week (that’s right: Thursday, June 20) from 2 to 5 Eastern for REAL MAIL FRIDAYS, JCBA’s beloved weekly online zoom letter writing social. Find the link to join us with our pals from all over this wide world at jaffecollection.org … we’ll supply the Very Jaffe Soundtrack. Friday we’ll be at the Midsummer Grand Opening weekend event at Convivio Bookworks () and if you’re local, please join us there, too! That’s at 1110 North G Street in nearby Lake Worth Beach.

For many centuries, all paper, prior to the invention of machine-made paper in 1799, was made by hand, by a skilled craftsperson. Today hundreds of artists, craftspeople, historians, conservators, and others make and utilize handmade papers. For our Summer and Fall exhibition we have assembled various paper artifacts, specimens, materials, books, works of art, tools, and other pieces into a narrative of paper’s long history, from a ubiquitous utilitarian handmade commodity to a diverse realm of artistic experimentation and development. We invite you to come and gain a greater appreciation for the material that has made our world: paper.

Come join us on July 9th! We’ll be having an opening reception for our new exhibition, By Our Own Labor: The Heritage and Contemporary Field of Hand Papermaking. We’ll be showing some films on hand papermaking, followed by Q&A with the curator. If you can’t make it to the reception, the exhibit will be on display until December of this year.

The exhibition features books and works by the following artists, authors, craftspeople, and historians: Cathleen Baker, Timothy Barrett, Shannon Brock, Michelle Burgess, Kathryn & Howard Clark, Claudia Cohen, Don Cortese, Melissa Jay Craig, Amanda Degener, William Goyen, Walter Hamady, Sarah Horowitz, Dard Hunter & Dard Hunter II, Bill Kelly, Katie MacGregor, Floyd Alonzo McClure, Radha Pandey, Count Harry Kessler’s Cranach Press, Steve Miller, Henry Morris, Amy Richard, Tanya Schmoller, Asao Shimura, Ingrid Schindall, Peter & Donna Thomas, Thomas Keith & Harriet Ramsey Tindale, D. R. Wakefield, Robert Walp, among others. The exhibition was curated by our Studio Coordinator, Daniel Zaccardi.

It is also worth mentioning that the old papermakers were by and large anonymous workers, whose names and stories are long lost. The phenomenon of a papermaker having a name, a studio, an identity, is a relatively recent one. Some of the works in the exhibition were crafted by hand by laborers we will never know. Their immense contribution to humanity in the form of paper, our vessel for expression, outrage, dissent, and love, has not gone unrecognized.

A follow-up to our raw flax papermaking, from the opinion of our Studio Coordinator. The absence of hardness and shive was successful, and the sheets test well with an Abbey pH pen. However, the sheets are too thin, and inconsistent sheet formation is present throughout the edition. If this recipe were to be approached again, and we believe we will try again, the dry weight should be doubled, or greater, to assure adequate pulp is on hand to produce uniform sheets of pleasing thickness. Our watermark appears well, but again, the sheets are thinner than desired and unevenly formed, affecting the presentation of all the papers’ aspects. The color is a warm off white, much warmer than cotton and unbleached abaca. We are quite happy with that! A great rattle, and lovely surface texture. The inly things that need changing are technique on our end, and the total pulp quantity. The other aspects of this experiment were quite successful. Always more to do! (Note: the total beat time was actually 68 minutes, not 65 as written. Oops!)

Each First Friday of the month we welcome you for Real Mail Fridays both in-house, at the Jaffe Book Arts Gallery, plus online, via JCBA Zoom, all at the same time. Our next hybrid gathering is this Friday, June 7. Midsummer is soon approaching, so, musically, this one will have a bit of a midsummer theme! Find our Real Mail Fridays link at jaffecollection.org for directions and parking info (for those of you attending in-house) and for the JCBA Zoom link (for those of you attending online from anywhere in the world). If letter writing is part of your midsummer night’s dream, you’ll love this one!

REGISTRATION DEADLINE SUNDAY JUNE 2! Our next paper engineering workshop with Shawn Sheehy is on JCBA Zoom for folks cross country to take… as long as they register by the June 2 deadline. US addresses only; Shawn will mail you a workshop kit before the workshop date, which is June 13. Full details and registration at jaffecollection.org under the WORKSHOPS tab.

Friday I’m in love (with stamps and pens and stationery)… and we hope your Friday plans include a visit to REAL MAIL FRIDAYS, JCBA’s beloved weekly letter writing zoom social. 2 to 5 PM Eastern from wherever you are in the world on JCBA Zoom at the Real Mail Fridays link at jaffecollection.org. New friends from around the globe await you along with a very Jaffe soundtrack, occasional chats, and the time you need to get things done. It’s a most heartwarming end to your workweek and start to your weekend.

One of our favorite things about real mail is the postage stamp that gets your handwritten letter to its destination. Who else will take a note you’ve written to a destination from across town to Nome, Alaska for just 68 cents? No one but the Post Office. They also regularly issue beautiful works of art as postage stamps… next up is this new commemorative stamp honoring American photographer Ansel Adams.

And so once a week we offer you REAL MAIL FRIDAYS, JCBA’s beloved online letter writing social. 2 to 5 PM Eastern from wherever you are in the world via JCBA Zoom at the Real Mail Fridays link at jaffecollection.org. New friends from around the globe await you along with a very Jaffe soundtrack, occasional chats, and the time you need to get things done. Like maybe writing some letters (perhaps even to your new Real Mail Fridays pals). It’s a most heartwarming end to your workweek and start to your weekend.

Our next paper engineering workshop with Shawn Sheehy is on JCBA Zoom for folks cross country to take… as long as they register by the June 2 deadline. US addresses only; Shawn will mail you a workshop kit before the workshop date, which is June 13. Full details and registration at jaffecollection.org under the WORKSHOPS tab.

Dear Friends: Thursday already? That means Friday Eve! We hope your Friday plans include a visit to REAL MAIL FRIDAYS, JCBA’s beloved weekly letter writing zoom social. 2 to 5 PM Eastern from wherever you are in the world on JCBA Zoom at the Real Mail Fridays link at jaffecollection.org. New friends from around the globe await you along with a very Jaffe soundtrack, occasional chats, and the time you need to get things done. It’s a most heartwarming end to your workweek and start to your weekend.

A workshop so nice, we’re doing it twice. This time on a weekend! If you weren’t able to attend last time, now is your opportunity. The workshop will be the same, though we’ll probably use a different fiber. Our Studio Coordinator Daniel Zaccardi will be teaching a two-day workshop on traditional watermarks in handmade paper at the Jaffe Center for Book Arts. The class size is limited to 5 students, due to our limited number of student mould & deckles. More information about the workshop is available here: http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/JaffeCenter/workshops/wire_watermarks.php

Stork watermark made by Sharon Jacobs from our previous watermarking class.

Did you know you can book a fascinating one-hour artists’ books presentation (anytime, all year long) at FAU Libraries’ Jaffe Center for Book Arts? And did you know that summer is the very best time of year to do so? Parking is a breeze while the vast majority of our university students are off on summer adventures. That makes JCBA a perfect summer adventure for you and your book club, art club, social group... gather anywhere from 8 to 24 people and we’d love to show you what JCBA is all about. You’ll never look at books the same way again. Visit jaffecollection.org to learn more and to schedule your visit… or write to the email address in the penguin picture above! 🐧

Here comes the First Friday of May! Won’t you join us, then, this Friday at our next IN-HOUSE Real Mail Fridays social… which is happening simultaneously online at JCBA Zoom, too? Full details, no matter if you’re in Boca Raton or in any other part of the US, or in Scotland or the Philippines or Romania or Canada or anywhere else in this great big world, are at jaffecollection.org