Daniel Kelm

Daniel E. Kelm was awarded the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Guild of Book Workers.

Kelm is a book artist who enjoys expanding the concept of the book. He is known for his innovative structures as well as his traditional work.

His expression as an artist emerges from the integration of work in science and the arts. Alchemy is a common theme in his bookwork.

Before Daniel began his career in the book arts he taught chemistry at the University of Minnesota. He is known for his extensive knowledge of materials.

Kelm’s experience with bookbinding began in 1978 with employment in the first of several production studios where he learned progressively more specialized traditional techniques. In 1983 he opened his studio in Easthampton, MA, U.S.A., called The Wide Awake Garage, where he designs and produces artist’s books, interpretive fine bindings, and book sculptures.

He invented a style of bookbinding called “wire edge binding” in the mid-1980s to explore the nature of the book as articulated sculpture. In close cooperation with Daniel, la reliure wire edge de Daniel E. Kelm was authored by Benjamin Elbel and Kieke Schaaper and published in 2023. The exhaustive tutorial is in both French and English and is available from benelbel.com.

Daniel lectured and taught widely and founded the Garage Annex School for Book Arts in 1990 which offered an extensive schedule of workshops for 20 years. Now he teaches in his studio in Easthampton, MA, as well as on Zoom. He also enjoys consulting with book artists, binders, and publishers.

Please visit Daniel’s website, DanielKelm.com, to see galleries of his work, many of which utilize wire edge bindings.