Member Exhibits
2023 Member Exhibit
Hi everyone! I am excited to be the new Exhibits Chair for San Diego Book Arts. One of my first tasks was to design the SDBA Members Exhibit catalog. The show was from March 26-May 13, 2023 at the Front Porch Gallery in Carlsbad, CA. It is presented here as a gift to our participating artists and all of our members along with our SDBA friends. I invite you to peruse this pdf file and join me in celebrating the creative achievements of all the artists. A big thank you to Julie Weaverling, Director at the Front Porch Gallery, and Gretchen Hiegel, past President of SDBA, for organizing this wonderful show. More information about 2024 SDBA shows will be coming soon but in the meantime, I hope this showcase inspires you to explore the boundless potential of the contemporary artist book.
—Rosemary Rae
SDBA Artist Book Exhibitions, BC (Before Covid)
Exhibitions serve a dual purpose of presenting art works to the community and offering a means of opening a conversation between the artist and the audience. Since its inaugural exhibition in 2003, San Diego Book Arts has presented nearly 40 exhibitions in various locations in Southern California, including five national juried exhibitions and a traveling series of displays that visited community libraries throughout San Diego County.
SDBA Members Show:
Louder than Words
By Invitation of Francis Parker School
James Alan Rose Gallery
6501 Linda Vista Road San Diego, CA 92111
Show Dates: January 20 - February 28, 2020
Opening Reception: Jan. 30, 2020, 5:00pm to 7:00 pm
Each year Francis Parker School celebrates Poetry Week, February 3 – 7, 2020, with all types of coordinated activities. This year the school has invited San Diego Book Arts to be involved by creating and submitting pieces to a Members’ Exhibit entitled Louder Than Words which will be displayed at the beautiful James Alan Rose Gallery on their campus in Linda Vista. The art show and reception will provide another media for examining the word, in poetry, prose or storytelling. SDBA will also be providing gallery walks and docent tours for the students.
In Nov – Dec 2016 SDBA enjoyed our “If I Call It A Book” Members show at Francis Parker, and we look forward to working with them again. This opportunity of combining the two art forms of Artist Books and Poetry will be a great challenge to our creative spirits! If you haven’t been to the Rose Gallery, check out the website.
SDBA MEMBERS EXHIBITION 2018
California Natives
Exhibition Dates: Nov. 11, 2018 – Jan. 5, 2019
Location: Front Porch Gallery
Carlsbad, CA
Exhibition Dates: March 2020
Location: Escondido Arts Partnership
Escondido, CA
2017-2018 COLLABORATIVE ART PROJECT (CAP) EXHIBITION
Postmark, San Diego
A Collection of 29 postcards created, mailed and recreated into artist books by members of San Diego Book Arts
Celebrating art, creativity, book making and San Diego!
2018 San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery
7250 Mesa College
2019 Point Loma Library
2020 Postal History Foundation Library
in collaboration with PaperWorks Project: What I Love About Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
A new home for the SDBA 2015 Over the Moon Collaborative art project!
Jane Carlin, Director of The Collins Memorial Library, University of Puget Sound writes:
The Collins Memorial Library was pleased to showcase the Over the Moon portfolio this semester. One of the only silver linings of COVID was the opportunity to repurpose some of the screens used in classrooms as display boards. We were able to use these boards to display the beautiful individuual collage/prints that are part of this project. It was especially nice and notable that when the Board of Trustees had their first in person meeting this past February, they were seated right in front of the images and were suitably impressed by the work and the spirit of collaboration between our two organizations. Honestly, as we took time to look at each and every one, it was impossible to select a "favorite" - each one is a unique and beautiful work of art, and it is a privilege to have these in our Library. I hope PSBA can arrange a program on this collaborative project as it is a great model to emulate.
SDBA note: The Over the Moon Collaborative Art Project was donated to the Collins Library in 2021. Image courtesy of Jane Carlin/Library Director
Return Appearance
Over the Moon was on display at Escondido Arts Partnership from April 7 to May 6, 2017. The original pages in their elegant clam shell will be shown along with other artist’s books in an exhibition titled All About the Book, juried by SDBA member Viviana Lombrozo. Also showing will be works by SDBA members Yvonne Perez-Collins, Helen Shafer Garcia, Viviana Lombrozo and Barbara Ruys.
Opening reception:
Saturday, May 8, 2017 at 5:30 pm
Escondido Arts Partnership
Collaborative Book Project
The extraordinary exhibition of Over the Moon, a collaborative effort spanned 2 years and involved 40 SDBA book makers. Responding to a selection of haiku by SDBA member Diane Gage, the participating artists each created a unique page, which conformed to size, paper, and some content guidelines. These works were photographed, reduced, and printed, giving each member the materials to create a unique binding of the images. Original artwork was showcased as well as individual hand-bound artists’ books.
The exhibition had its inaugural showing at the Mission Valley Library from July 5 to September 29, 2016.
Over the Moon
Opening Night at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, January 6, 2017
Annual Members' Exhibition
30 SDBA members showcased their work at the James Alan Rose Gallery of Frances Parker School in an exhibition titled If I Call It a Book.
The question:
If I call it a book, does that mean it is a book? What makes it so? Does it need to have pages? And what, exactly, counts as a page? Is it a piece of paper or can it be a piece of glass? A board? A box? Some other found object? To be a book, must it have text? Does it need images? Must there be a narrative?
The works in this exhibit reflected a plurality of contemporary methods and attitudes towards the question of what makes a book. Ultimately, a bookwork is judged by the vision it presents through its content, its physical presence, and how they interact to create meaning. Each of the artworks binds together ideas, images, and structure to present the artist’s unique perspective. At its core, the book arts movement is about making books by hand.
Participating artists included Rhiannon Alpers, Elaine Antoniuk, Charlotte Bird, Britta Brice, Lark Burkhart, Linda Bussell, Judith Christensen, Mary Lynn Dominguez, Nancy L. Fisher, Gretchen Hiegel, Christina Larkin, Evelyn La Rosa, Viviana Lombrozo, Rhonda Luongo, Bhavna Mehta, Pamela Marrett, Laurel Moorhead, Yvonne Perez-Collins, Helen Petre, Gina Pisello, Kathy Przekopp, Janis Reeser, Al Rodriguez, Josie Rodriguez, Sibyl Rubottom, Barbara Ruys, Jim Stiven, Nancy Walter, and Shelley Watkins.
Exhibitions
2023 Members’ Exhibit, Front Porch Gallery, Carlsbad, CA
2022 Shelter in Place, Bonita Museum and Cultural Center, Bonita Museum and Cultural Center, Bonita, CA
2020 Louder than Words, Francis Parker Rose Gallery, San Diego, CA
2019 California Natives, Front Porch Gallery, Carlsbad, CA; Escondido Arts Partnership, Escondido, CA
2018-19 PostMark, San Diego CAP Mesa College Art Gallery, San Diego, Ca; Point Loma Library, San Diego, Ca
traveling to Postal History Foundation Library, Tucson, AZ
2016 If I Call It a Book, Members’ Exhibition, Rose Gallery at Francis Parker School, San Diego, CA
2016 Over the Moon, SDBA Collaborative Art Project, Mission Valley Library, San Diego, CA; Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, CA
2015 Cherchez La Femme, Members’ Exhibition, Women’s Museum of California, San Diego, CA
2014 SDBA Fifth National Juried Exhibition, UC San Diego Geisel Library, La Jolla, CA, Juror: Sue Ann Robinson, book artist and educator
2013 SDBA Members’ Exhibition, Cerritos Library, Cerritos, CA
2013 SDBA Members’ Exhibition, Front Porch Gallery, Carlsbad, CA
2012 SDBA Fourth National Juried Exhibition, UC San Diego Geisel Library, La Jolla, CA, Juror: Carolee Campbell, Ninja Press
2011 SDBA Members’ Exhibition, Mission Valley Library, San Diego, CA
2011 An Artist Trading Card ABC: A Collaborative Project, Dove Library, Carlsbad, CA
2010 Edge to Edge: Artists’ Books at the Japanese Friendship Garden, Japanese Friendship Garden, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
2010 SDBA Third National Juried Exhibition, UC San Diego Geisel Library, La Jolla, CA, Juror: Kitty Maryatt, Director of the Scripps College Press
2009-12 LinC (Look in the Community) Traveling Exhibition, Benjamin/Allied Gardens, Cardiff by-the-Sea, Carmel Valley, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Central Library, Clairemont, College-Rolando, North Clairemont, North University, Oceanside, Point Loma, Rancho Penasquitos, Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa, and Tierrasanta Branch Libraries, San Diego County, CA
2008 SDBA Second National Juried Exhibition, UC San Diego Geisel Library, La Jolla, CA, Juror: Erika Torri, Joan & Irwin Jacobs Executive Director Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, CA
2008-09 SDBA Miniature Books, a traveling exhibition: Miniature Book Society Conclave, University of San Diego, Kensington Branch Library, San Diego and the International Printing Museum, Carson, CA
2007-08 cARTalog, a traveling exhibition: San Diego Public Library, Dove Library, Carlsbad, Love Library, San Diego State University
2006 SDBA First National Juried Exhibition, UC San Diego Geisel Library, La Jolla, CA, Juror: Lynda Claassen, director of UCSD’s Mandeville Special Collections Library
2006 SDBA Members’ Exhibition, Mission Valley Library, San Diego, CA
2005-06 Artists’ Books on a Japanese Theme, Japanese Friendship Garden, San Diego, CA
2004 San Diego to Santa Fe, Mission Valley Library, San Diego, CA and Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM
2003 The River, members’ exhibition at the Mission Valley Library, San Diego, CA and traveling to the Durango Arts Center, CO