Book Print Collective Member Grants

BACKGROUND

Founded in 2019 by book artist/printmaker/educator Tia Blassingame, the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color Collective, brings Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) book artists, papermakers, curators, letterpress printers, printmakers into conversation and collaboration with Book History and Print Culture scholars to build community, support systems.

Our shared passion for book arts and the unique potential of artists’ books as vehicles for social change and racial unity grounds us. Our current and future collaborations across media and disciplines will continue to morph as our group grows and our connections shift and deepen. Our membership consists of 40+ emerging and established artists, scholars, librarians, educators, and phD candidates.

RECENT ACTIVITIES

In 2022, images from artists’ books by five collective members were utilized to create a collaborative window piece for the Troubling: Artists’ Books that enlighten and disrupt old ways of being and seeing exhibition curated by Blassingame and Ellen Sheffield at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. Tia Blassingame, Ben Blount and Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty gave Penn State University Libraries’ 2022 Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts.

MEMBER PROJECT GRANTS

Our goal with this fundraiser is to continue funding small project grants to assist at least five collective members in bringing new work- artwork, exhibit, scholarship- to life or completing existing projects. While the subject matter will not be limited, we hope this project support will aid our members in expanding dialogue related to race, ethnicity, identity, and cultural histories.

PREVIOUS FUNDRAISER UPDATE: AWARDED MEMBER PROJECT GRANTS

Thanks to support from our previous GoFundMe fundraiser, six collective members were awarded member project grants in Spring 2022:

Alisa Banks: Archived Books is a collection of models containing ephemera from previous projects.

Ashley Doughty: Namesake will contain stories, comparisons, and connections between the artist's father, father-in-law, and son.

Colette Gaiter: Graphic Terms for the Revolutionary Artist is an homage to obsolete methods of typesetting and mechanical layout preparation—processes on paper manipulated by hand and the remarkable men and women of the Black Panther Party.

Radha Pandey: Flora of Mughal India addresses the two very different ways of seeing and treating nature that emerged with colonial rule, specifically how colonial interests in the commercialization of plants impacted floral portraiture in the Mughal miniature tradition.

Steph Rue: Hanji Edition: Limited Edition Print is a planned collaboration between Hanji Edition, a publisher of limited edition works featuring hanji (Korean handmade paper) and a Korean American artist to produce a limited edition print on hanji.

Skye Tafoya: The Grandma in Indigenous highlights the importance of cultural sharing, such as art, craft, knowledge, storytelling, skillsets that many grandmothers gift to their communities and families.

MEMBER EMERGENCY GRANTS

Funds will also enable the creation of a $250 unrestricted emergency grant to support collective members who may experience a sudden financial hardship. Our initial goal is to be able to support at least two collective members as needed.

PROJECT AND EMERGENCY GRANTS

$500 grants x 5 collective members $2500

$250 grants x 2 collective members $500

TOTAL $3000

Members will complete a brief application, and awardees will be selected from all complete applications. Preference will be given to projects that will be completed in 2023-4. Grant funding will be sent to awardees by July 31, 2023, to aid projects in-process next summer. Emergency grant funds and applications once established, will

be available throughout the year until all funds are awarded.

Support of this fundraiser will aid collective members who may not otherwise be able to launch or complete new work. It will also support collective members who may

experience sudden financial hardships.

The support you can give to this fundraiser may include extending our reach by sharing it and donating. All support is greatly appreciated. Your support will help us continue to grow the depth and reach of our community of artists and scholars.

Tia Blassingame

Founder, Book/Print Artist/Scholar Collective

www.bookprintcollective.com

www.instagram.com/bookprintcollective