The mission of Austin Book Arts Center is to engage people of all ages in creative, interpretive, and educational experiences related to the arts of the book.
ABAC regularly offers workshops in letterpress printing, bookbinding, papermaking, typography, book history and design, and various arts of the book. In addition, ABAC provides access to equipment for qualified users during regularly scheduled Open Studio times.
VISION
Through its activities, ABAC seeks to advance the book as a vital contemporary art form, preserve the traditional and robust crafts related to making books, promote the contemporary arts of making books, inspire diverse artists and learners, and engage the community in creative, interpretive, and educational experiences, including the improvement of literacy for people of all ages.
ABAC rejects the notion that the printed book is no longer relevant. For centuries, the book has been the prime mode for communicating knowledge and continues to be a vital force for literacy and education. We envision a future where books continue to play an important role in our everyday lives. Our children and grandchildren will share with us the tactile experience of holding a book in our hands and turning the pages, no batteries required. Through books we learn of the world around us; imaginations are sparked; spirits are ignited. We seek continuity in these intellectual experiences and wish to share the delight in the sight and touch of a well-constructed book.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Amanda Stevenson
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kevin Auer
Tiffo Carmichael
Keelin Burrows
Susan Forrester
Carolyn Kilday
Jim Kuhn
Matt Magruder
Dana Manickavasagam
Sara Pedrosa
Jen Poteat
Adam Robinson
Keri Schroeder
Dimitri Tetin
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Betty Sue Flowers
Gary Frost
Craig Jensen
Sarah Nicholls
Kyle Schlesinger
Priscilla Spitler
Beck Whitehead 2015-2021
A BRIEF HISTORY
The Austin Book Arts Center has been years in the making and is the result of the efforts and interests of a diverse array of persons who share a passion for the traditions and crafts of the book arts. The ABAC evolved from the Austin Book Workers, a group that has met in schools, libraries, businesses, and homes since 1986. From 1990 to 2013, the ABW sponsored a book arts fair annually first at Murchison Middle School and later at the Laguna Gloria Art School.
In May 2015, the newly forming Austin Book Arts Center was offered an opportunity to rent a studio at Flatbed Press, an art gallery and workshop for printers and artists, located on the burgeoning east side of Austin. Several local printers, bookmakers, and other book artists contributed a variety of essential equipment, including letterpresses, tabletop cutters, and a board shear.
In the summer of 2015, the Austin Book Arts Center Board of Directors was formed and application was made to the IRS for tax-exempt status. The Austin Book Arts Center became an official 501(c)(3) organization in September 2015.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS BIOS
Kevin Auer trained as an apprentice in bookbinding with Scott Mullenberg in Portland, Maine. He then worked as a conservation technician for a number of years at Cornell University. After graduating from the conservation program at the University of Texas at Austin, Kevin worked as a book conservator at the Walters Art Museum. Kevin learned letterpress from David Wolfe in Portland, Maine. He co-owned Wolfe Editions, a small shop that specialized in artists’ books and limited edition work. Kevin also ran his own shop for a number of years doing letterpress printing and book binding. He has taught letterpress at Dartmouth College, The Maryland Institute College of Art, and The University of Texas at Austin. Kevin is currently the Director of the Communication Design Program at The University of Houston, Victoria.
Keelin Burrows BIO FORTHCOMING
Tiffo Carmichael is a fan of all things books; reading them, writing them, and making them. They started bookbinding though fanbinding, the process of taking fanfiction from a digital format to physical books, in 2020 and have been making books ever since. In 2021 Tiffo joined Renegade Bindery, a community of fellow fanbinders and has helped to run 7 of their events, online and in person since. Tiffo is passionate about the idea of all writers getting to have a physical copy of their work to hold and keep on their shelves and all fans having access to learn how to make books of their own out of their favorite fics. When not bookbinding Tiffo is working, volunteering, or being a parent; and hopes to one day have time to get back to some writing as well. Currently they have been leading the effort to incorporate and ultimately set up Renegade Bookbinding Guild as a fannish bookbinding non-profit. Interested in Fanbinding? Here’s a quick article about the practice and Renegade, and you can listen to Tiffo gush about it here.
Susan Forrester BIO FORTHCOMING
Carolyn Kilday is a graphic designer, art director and illustrator with over thirty years of experience and numerous awards. She has worked for clients in multiple markets. Including retail, medical and technology. She concepted and developed ad campaigns for clients such as Melvin Simon Malls and Schlotsky’s. She designed collateral and identity for St David’s Hospital, Prucare, Citrix, Motorola and Dell Computer. SHe developed illustrations for clients such as the Texas Department of Agriculture. Carolyn has experience in UI/UX as she developed onscreen interfaces for Polycom, a video conferencing company.
She taught at Texas State University for eighteen years as a full-time lecturer. Carolyn led the first communication design study abroad program, held in Florence, Italy in the summers of 2013, 2014,and 2015. Most recently she has combined her love for design, photography and Italy into a book about artisans working by hand with a project called “Fatto o Mano” or Made by Hand in Assisi. She completed this project as an artist in residence at Studio Arte Ginestrelle in Assisi in the summer of 2016.
In the classroom, Carolyn likes to create an atmosphere of hard work, fun, and collaboration in order to draw the best creative results from all of her students.
Jim Kuhn is Associate Director for the Library Division and Hobby Foundation Librarian at the Harry Ransom Center, a position he has held since 2016. Jim has master’s degrees in Philosophy and Library Science, is a member of the Grolier Club, and grew up working and playing with a tabletop Kelsey press. Jim also volunteers as a member of the Victims Advocate Network at the University of Texas at Austin, and serves on the board of the Texas After Violence Project, an Austin-based archive and documentary project cultivating deeper understandings of the impacts of state-sanctioned violence on individuals, families, and communities. In addition to taking occasional ABAC courses when time permits, Jim also collects 78 rpm records and late 19-early 20 c. vernacular photography.
Dana Manickavasagam BIO FORTHCOMING
Sara Pedrosa first became interested in bookbinding in 2017, thanks to a workshop at the Austin Book Arts Center. She loves that book and paper arts combines her artistic interests of writing and photography with her scholarly and professional interests in history and archival studies. Sara has served as an information management consultant with various small business and non-profit organizations. She holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies and a M.S. in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
Jennifer Poteat is an artist and Director within the non-profit sector. She brings a creative lens and design thinking skills to address complex issues. Her work has focused across broad communities with diverse demographics to help improve the lives of Texans across the state. Poteat is a graduate of the Master’s of Health Care Transformation program at the University of Texas, conferred by Dell Medical School and McCombs School of Business in 2021, in addition to earning the Executive Master’s of Public Leadership from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. Her experience includes organizational leadership in communications, development, advocacy/policy advancement, strategic planning, project and grant management. Poteat regularly attends printmaking and bookbinding sessions at Penland School of Craft and the Ladies of Letterpress workshops. She has taught at Austin Book Arts Center.
Adam Robinson BIO FORTHCOMING
Keri Miki-Lani Schroeder is a book artist and proprietor of Coyote Bones Press. Keri holds an MFA in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College. She has worked as a studio assistant for Julie Chen at Flying Fish Press, and as a bookbinder at BookLab II. She is the 2019-2021 Artist-in-Residence for Jaffe Center for Book Arts, and hosts Books in the Wild podcast. Keri’s artist’s books are held in special collections libraries including UC Berkeley, UCLA, Penn State, Stanford, RISD, Otis College of Art and Design, and Savannah College of Art and Design.
Amanda Stevenson is the director of the Austin Book Arts Center. She began her career in the book arts at the Center for Book Arts in New York City, where she was the Registrar/Administrator in the early aughts. Availing herself with many classes in bookbinding and letterpress, she learned from some of the best. Before co-founding the Austin Book Arts Center in 2015, she worked for seven years at The Printing Museum in Houston, primarily as the Curator, where she was responsible for organizing exhibitions, collections management, and education programs. She holds a Master’s degree in Library Science from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, with a concentration in special collections management, and a BA in Art History from UT Austin. She believes in the enduring power of books.
Dimitry Tetin is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Undergraduate Communication Design Program at Texas State. Prior to moving to Austin to teach and do research at Texas State, he was an Assistant Professor in the Graphic Design Design Program at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He also taught as an adjunct at Rhode Island School of Design and Parsons the New School for Design. In 2013, he established Track and Field (trackandfield.pub), a collaborative publishing initiative with Marc Choi, that explores the relationships among personal, public and geographic histories within the popular American imagination. Track and Field’s small-scale printed and digital work has been exhibited at national and international art book fairs. Dimitry also works independently and collaboratively on publication, web, identity and motion projects for clients in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.