Fall Open House

Saturday, October 1st, 10am-5pm.

Come by and see our new digs! ABAC has recently expanded our existing space. We now have a fully-equipped letterpress printshop, with 3 Vandercook proof presses and a 8×12 Chandler & Price platen jobber. This will significantly increase our capacity to offer classes and to fulfill our mission.

We are also excited to announce Open Studio times are scheduled for the first time this fall. Click here for more info.

We do hope to see you at the Open House for bookbinding and letterpress demonstrations. Learn about the fall schedule of workshops and letterpress print a bookmark!

Drop by anytime 10am-5pm. Admission is free.

Winter Open House

Ring in the New Year by learning something new! The Austin Book Arts Center Board of Directors invites the public to a Winter Open House on Saturday, January 16, 12pm-8pm. Attendees will learn about the Spring 2016 schedule of workshops, including letterpress printing, bookbinding, book repair, and paper arts. Attendees may print their own bookmark or make their own book. Admission is free.

The 2016 schedule offers workshops on a variety of techniques and structures. Bookbinding I provides a basic foundation, while Japanese Bookbinding and Coptic Bookbinding will introduce students to centuries-old book structures, still perfectly appropriate today for journals and sketchbooks. Need a custom or personalized portfolio to house prints, photographs, or documents? Take the Portfolio for Artists workshop. Learn to make cyanotype prints and then house them in a hand bound photo album in the Alt Print and Photo Album workshop. Print your own business cards or another small project in one of the Introduction to Letterpress workshops. Learn to set type by hand, like Gutenberg, or learn about contemporary digital letterpress applications most often used today. Curious about book repair? Take Book Repair and Preservation. Do you have your own manuscript or book project you would like to bring to fruition? Learn the skills in DIY Publishing, or Bind Your Manuscript Using Lockstitch.

Click here for complete workshop descriptions.

All workshops are “hands-on” and are appropriate for beginners, artists, and anyone interested in exploring the arts of the book. Workshop sizes are small, and instructors are accomplished artists and experienced professionals. Students can expect to walk away with a new skill set, in addition to beautiful, handmade books and prints that they will be proud to share with their friends and family.

Open House on September 12!

In celebration of our inaugural season, the ABAC Board of Directors invites you to an Open House on Saturday, September 12, 10am-5pm.

Join us for bookbinding and letterpress demonstrations and register to win door prizes. Learn about the fall schedule of workshops and print your own bookmark!

Drop by anytime 10am-5pm. Admission is free.

Stay tuned, and be sure to sign up for our mailing list to find out more!

Austin Book Arts People finally have a home

ABW tompoynerPeople have been meeting to create books under the auspices of Austin Book Workers since 1986. The ABW group met in schools, libraries, businesses and homes. From 1990 – 2013 a free book arts fair was held annually; for the first two years at Murchison Middle School, thereafter at Laguna Gloria Art School. Rollin Polk and Tom Poyner demonstrated letterpress printing at ABW book Arts Fair at Laguna Gloria Art School.

april 2009 zines

ABW bibliophiles of all ages made Zines with Anne Rita Taylor at Domy Books.

After years of searching for a meeting place, Austin Book Workers group has merged with the Austin Book Arts Center. Book Arts people will be able to create more than they could in a limited time, in a borrowed space. Heavy equipment that could not be carried to borrowed spaces is now available at the Austin Book Arts Center. NOW is an excellent time to sign up to be a member of Austin Book Arts Center.