UAFS Center for Book Arts Opens

Written By: Rachel Putman

At the new Center for Book Arts at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, centuries-old practices feel newly alive as students, faculty, and local artists set type, pull prints, fold paper, stitch pages, and explore what a book can become. 

Enrolling its first class of students this fall, the center is one of the flagship spaces in the 15,000-square-foot Windgate Art & Design Building expansion. The purpose-built facility will support letterpress printing, papermaking, bookbinding, artist books, and works on paper, giving students – and the broader community – a dedicated place to work with the materials and methods behind book arts. 

"The Center for Book Arts is poised to assume a leadership position in this growing field, with programming and vision that formalizes the strong legacy of Book Arts at UAFS,” said Katie Waugh, Department Head of the Department of Art and Design. “With excellent facilities and expertise, this Center will provide resources and opportunities for beginners and UAFS students, as well as established professionals in the field. Creative disciplines rooted in histories of Craft are well-suited to speak meaningfully to this region’s history of manufacture and making. Together we share a deep appreciation for the intelligence found in a skilled hand, and take pride in the well-made object.” 

Although the center and the accompanying nine-hour Certificate of Proficiency in Book Arts are new, the Book Arts discipline is already well established at UAFS, with renowned book artist and printmaker K. Nelson Harper, professor emeritus of UAFS, having established Underground Ink in the UAFS campus in 2009, and taught its first book arts classes shortly after.

Beyond the classroom, the new center will serve as a central hub for community-based arts workshops. “Book arts is a communal practice. This space provides a studio to share ideas and presses,” said Jay Fox, director of book arts and assistant professor of art and design. “We hope the community can come to participate in events, attend a workshop, enjoy our fiber garden, or share a cup of coffee in the Windgate Building’s new cafe.” 

 A special book arts collection also will be developed in collaboration with the UAFS Gallery of Art and Design, housed in the University’s permanent art collection and co-managed by the director of book arts and the gallery director with support from foundation funds. 

This fall, the center will host Katie Baldwin and Sarah Bryant as visiting artists September 30 through October 3. This visit will include public talks, an exhibition of their work including the newest edition of "Small Patches of Land", and spaces available to participate in a workshop lead by the artists.  

A public open house will be held for the new spaces Thursday, August 20, from 4–6 p.m. Guests are invited to drop in any time during the event to tour the new spaces, visit with students and faculty, and see the studios and classrooms in use.  

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Made possible by an $8.8 million gift from the Windgate Foundation, the Windgate Expansion and new Center for Book Arts add nearly 19,000 square feet of new and renovated space to the Windgate Art & Design Building. 

Designed by MAHG Architecture in close collaboration with UAFS Art & Design faculty and constructed by Clark Contractors, the expansion carries forward the building’s original vision while creating more room for the students, faculty, and the entire River Valley to make, gather, study, and engage with the arts.