UPCOMING 2025 VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS
Sewn Board Binding (Maine Media Workshop)
WHEN: February 8 & 9, 2025
Saturday & Sunday, 1:00PM to 4:30PM ET
WHERE: Online via Zoom
LEVELS: Beginner, Intermediate
TOOLS & MATERIALS: See class page for details.
The sewn board binding is a light and versatile book structure that opens completely flat: an appealing structure for artists working in a variety of 2-D media—including drawing, painting, printmaking, digital printing, and collage. Its materials are also quite adaptable, making it a great binding to explore at home or with a small studio set-up.
Workshop participants will complete this structure, from text block preparation to covering the layered boards with decorative papers, over the course of two days. Following along with the instructor, students will sew the covers onto the textblock using a French link stitch, learn how to line a spine and build a fitted cloth-covered spine piece.
This workshop is taught online, and the instructor will provide resources and slides to workshop participants following the class. The sewn board binding is an intermediate-level binding structure; interested registrants should have previous experience cutting sections, sewing sections, adhering paper to board using PVA and a brush, and identifying grain direction in paper.
Introduction to Pochoir (Minnesota Center for Book Arts)
WHEN: February 15 & 22, 2025
Saturdays, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM CT
WHERE: Online via Zoom
LEVELS: All
TOOLS & MATERIALS: See list for details.
Learn the foundations of pochoir—a stencil-based printing technique that took off in France during the first part of the 20th century—in this two-evening virtual workshop
We’ll start the class with a short presentation on the history of pochoir, during which we’ll look at several examples of the technique in practice. The rest of the first session will cover the preparation of templates (patrons in French) and the second session will focus on printing. Participants will be encouraged to experiment with shapes and variations in color application. Come away from the workshop with a set of stencils, tests, and samples for future reference. Participants will conclude the workshop with the skills and information they need to edition a pochoir print (print multiples) of their own.
All skill levels welcome and participants must be able to safely cut stencils into a variety of surfaces using sharp tools without injury. Please note that pochoir printing involves repetitive motion of the dominant hand. Prior experience with gouache is a bonus, but not necessary.
Previously Offered Workshops
All in the Spine: Long Stitch Binding (Minnesota Center for Book Arts)
Learn the foundations of the long stitch binding, a non-adhesive structure in which the sewing pattern’s design seems endlessly variable. Drawing from its history of use in account and record books across Early Modern Europe, this technique beautifully balances structural function with decorative elements.
In this virtual workshop, learn how to design and transpose a sewing pattern onto the spine of a paper case, based on a chosen number of signatures. Then, with step-by-step instructions, sew your text block into the covering materials through leather supports. Decorative elements such as button closures and stitching/embroidering into case paper will also be covered in demos throughout the workshop, and participants will learn how to strategize an ‘order of operations’ that fits their design choices.
Participants will complete their own long stitch binding and come away equipped to pursue variations in future designs.
Participants must have taken Introduction to Hand Bookbinding (or equivalent) to enroll in this workshop. Participants will benefit from understanding grain direction and from having the ability to maintain even sewing tension while binding multiple sections (a key aspect of this book structure). Please note that this structure requires precise drawing and measuring, down to 1-2 millimeters. Additionally, the process of ‘punching’ the sewing pattern into the case paper and the sections requires some sustained hand strength.
New Cases for Old Books (Minnesota Center for Book Arts)
Learn how to replace the old covers on your commercially bound books with unique, handmade cases!
Over the course of two virtual sessions, students will gain an understanding of the attributes that make books good (or bad) candidates for a new case treatment and will complete such a re-casing for themselves. Our first meeting will cover tools and materials, textblock evaluations, case-removal techniques, and how to place new endsheets on the book. Students will then work independently to select a book from their own library or local second-hand bookstore and will start preparing it for a new case. In our second session, we'll build a custom-fitted case, and we'll case the book into its new cover. Workshop participants will come away from this class with a newly re-finished book to give as a gift—or add to their own bookshelves.
The workshop is designed for students with intermediate to advanced bookbinding skills seeking to expand the scope of structures to which they can apply their knowledge. Participants registering for this class should have previous experience making a case binding, and be able to source materials and trim their own book board to size. Students must understand grain direction, be comfortable working with a range of small hand tools, and will preferably have experience working with a variety of wet adhesives (paste, PVA + methylcellulose mix, and PVA).
On the Case: Full-Cloth Case Bindings (Maine Media Workshop)
Case bindings proliferated under the mass production of books in the 19th century and remain a foundational bookbinding structure with contemporary bookbinders and artists. In this workshop, students will learn how to make their own case binding from a kit provided by the instructor, focusing first on the preparation and sewing of the text block, and then on making the hard-cover case of the book. In the last unit, students will join the two components of the structure (the text block and the case) by “casing in” their bindings. Workshop participants will come away from the class with a finished book of their own, references and samples of materials to source for future projects, and instructions with which to replicate the process.
Adventurous beginners, intermediate, and advanced binding students are welcome! Class participants should have previous experience with binding books (particularly: sewing multiple sections together), covering the book board with cloth and/or paper, and identifying grain direction in paper.
Pamphlets Seven Ways (Maine Media Workshop)
Not all handmade book projects require a high page count. For ‘smaller’ works, the versatile family of pamphlet bindings might just be the right approach. Generally speaking, pamphlets are single-section book structures and offer an excellent point of entry for foundational concepts and practices in bookbinding.
Over two evenings, students will follow several demonstrations to make their own reference set of pamphlet bindings. Structures will include the 3-hole pamphlet stitch, 5-hole pamphlet stitch, double pamphlet, teardrop stitch, and a hard-cover pamphlet binding. Additionally, we will explore variations in covering styles and discuss how to edition these structures (i.e.: produce a run of identical multiples) from the comfort of a home studio.
All levels of experience are welcome!
Pochoir: History and Technique (Maine Media Workshop)
Learn the foundations of pochoir—a stencil-based printing technique that took off in France during the first part of the 20th century—in this two-evening virtual workshop.
We’ll start the class with a short presentation on the history of pochoir, during which we’ll look at several examples of the technique in practice. The rest of the first class will cover the preparation of templates, and the second class will focus on printing. Students will be encouraged to experiment with shapes and variations in color application, and will leave the class with a set of stencils, tests, and samples for future reference. At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have all they need to edition a pochoir print of their own!
All levels of experience are welcome. Prior experience with gouache paints is a bonus, but not necessary.
Re-thinking the Wrapper (Maine Media Workshop)
The four-flap wrapper is a staple of book preservation practices. It offers protection to worn and damaged books using few materials at a relatively low cost. The “tuxedo” wrapper, as it is also known, can be overlooked as an accessible enclosure — but has a great deal of artistic potential, especially for prints, books, photographs, and drawings.
In this online workshop, students will follow along with a live demo to make a tuxedo-style wrapper, complete with a self-locking flap. In the second part of the class, we’ll also look at how to make:
a flat, envelope-like wrapper,
a wrapper closing mechanism made with buttons and braided thread,
and, we’ll cover the use of cutting and layering as a way to introduce decorative elements to the wrapper.
The class will dive into materials, adhesives, and tools. We’ll explore paper/card stock candidates for future projects, as well as other elements including threads, tapes, and cutting implements.
Students will be provided with a kit. All levels are welcome.
Sewn Board Binding (Maine Media Workshop)
The sewn board binding is a light and versatile book structure that opens flat—an appealing structure for artists working in a variety of 2-D media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, digital printing, and collage (it also makes for a great journal). Its materials are quite adaptable, too, making it a great binding to explore at home or with a small studio set-up.
Workshop participants will complete this structure, from text block preparation to covering the layered boards with decorative papers, over the course of two sessions. Working with an instructor-provided book kit, students will sew the covers into the text block using a French link stitch; learn how to line a spine; and build a fitted, cloth-covered spine piece.
This workshop is taught online, and the instructor will provide resources and slides to workshop participants following the class. The sewn board binding is an intermediate-level binding structure; interested registrants will benefit from prior experience with sewing, practice with adhering paper to the board using PVA and a brush, and the ability to identify grain direction in the paper.
Sewn Board Binding (Minnesota Center for Book Arts)
The sewn board binding is a lovely and versatile contemporary book structure that opens flat, making it extra convenient to handle, journal, paint in, and more. Its material needs are adaptable, too, which makes it a great structure to explore at home or with a small studio set-up. Over the course of two evenings, workshop participants will learn this structure, from text block preparation to finishing the book covers with decorative papers.
We’ll fold sections simultaneously with the covers into which the sections will be sewn, and we’ll look at ways of building up the covers after we’ve lined the spine. Following careful step-by-step instructions, participants will come away with one sample structure to use for future reference and one finished sewn board binding to use or gift as they please. Those considering registering for this workshop need to be able to identify grain direction, sew up to eight signatures together into a text block, and adhere paper onto book covers using PVA and a brush.
Copyright 101: Rights & Permissions for Artists (Minnesota Center for Book Arts)
Publishing is essentially the activity of making information available to the public, whether for sale or free of charge. Depending on their context, art practices like printing and calligraphy can be considered forms of publishing. Because of copyright, artists working in these techniques are responsible for securing formal permission to use and work with text and/or images not originally their own.
In this virtual workshop, we’ll dig into copyright as it works in the US, what it protects, and when artists need to obtain permissions from copyright owners. We’ll cover the public domain, the fair use doctrine, and unusual cases like song lyrics and epigraphs. We’ll also walk through how to request permission for copyrighted material from authors or publishers. Participants will come away from this session with a base of knowledge and resources towards addressing copyright in their future projects.
This workshop does not constitute legal advice, but participants are welcome to bring their general or project-specific questions to the session for discussion. Important links and slides presented in the session will be shared following the workshop, and participants are also encouraged to take notes.
Copyright Primer: Rights & Permissions for Visual Art (Maine Media Workshop)
Have you ever wondered whether you could use a found image in one of your projects? Or asked yourself, “can I reprint this this poem without getting into trouble?”
In this virtual workshop, we’ll dig into the basics of copyright, what it protects, and when permission needs to be granted by copyright owners for you to work with material (e.g., images and texts) not originally your own. We’ll cover the public domain, fair use, and special cases like epigraphs and lyrics. We’ll also walk through how to request permission for copyrighted material from authors or publishers. Participants will come away from this session with a base of knowledge and resources for working with copyright in their future projects.
This workshop does not constitute legal advice, but participants are welcome to bring their general or project-specific questions to the session for discussion. Important links and slides presented in the session will be shared following the workshop, and participants are also encouraged to take notes.