About
The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (KBAC) practices, teaches, and promotes the collaborative arts of the book: papermaking, printmaking, letterpress, bookbinding, and creative writing, through preserving and employing traditional technologies and combining them with contemporary ideas and techniques to reinvigorate the collaborative arts of the book.
The KBAC was founded in 2005 by artists and writers with a passion for book arts. Their vision is now a creative public space where artists and book enthusiasts of all kinds gather to collaborate and celebrate books and the many arts that inform them.
The KBAC, its Board of Directors, and staff are committed to inclusion of all members of the community regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, age, or ability.
If you love books—in any form—we have something for you: events and exhibits, classes for all ages and abilities, presentations, guest and resident artists, a book arts store, library, and regular celebrations of the book.
Cultural Data Project Strategic Plan GuideStar Profile
Facility
Location
The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center is located in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the historic Park Trade Center Building, 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave., STE 103A. The Park Trade Center, originally a manufacturing facility that produced ledgers and waxed paper, currently houses a creative community of over 100 artists, artisans, designers, entrepreneurs, and small business people. Enter our studio though the central door on Kalamazoo Ave. to participate in a class, see an exhibit, or shop in our store. On-street metered parking is available.
Gallery
Our gallery has ample wall space to accommodate large and small work, and gallery-quality directional lighting. Additional movable display panels, pedestals, and wall-mounted shelving are also available. The space doubles as a presentation area, with seating for Poets in Print readings and other events.
Store
The KBAC Book Arts Store, overlooking the gallery, stocks book arts supplies, paper, journals, broadsides, cards, gifts and more for sale.
Library
The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center has a reference library focusing on book arts, papermaking, printmaking, print history, type and letterpress. Please visit our LibraryThing page to view our collection.
Equipment
Letterpress:
Chandler Price new style platen press 8 x 12 (ca 1913)
Vandercook sp15 (ca 1963)
Vandercook Universal III (1964)
Wessel Iron Hand Press
Kelsey platen press 5 x 8
Platen press 6 x 8.5
Proofing press (galley height)
20 cabinets of lead and wooden type
Printmaking:
2 Dickerson combination presses
Litho press and rollers
Papermaking:
2 1.5 pound valley beaters
Hydraulic and pump paper presses
Drying press
Box molds
Multiple sizes and shapes of molds and deckles
Bookbinding:
Book presses
Sewing frames
Board Shear
Foil Stamps
Guillotine
Highlights
Over the years the KBAC has hosted many nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and writers, often in collaboration with Western Michigan University’s Waldo Library Special Collections, and Visiting Scholars and Artists Program. These creative individuals present their work in our gallery, participate in our Poets in Print reading series, and teach workshops in our studio. Some of the special guests have included:
Featured Events
Poets in Print
Staff
Executive Director
Jeff Abshear
Jeff was a Fulbright Research Scholar in Venice, Italy, where he worked at the Accademia di Belle Arti and Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione to study the history of Italian printing and book arts. He has returned to Europe each summer to conduct the Western Michigan University study abroad trip Book Arts in Europe, working in traditional letterpress, printing, and papermaking studios in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He also teaches book arts each summer to children in public schools in Sardinia, Italy. He has a Master of Fine Arts from WMU’s Frostic School of Art, where he has taught as adjunct faculty for 22 years. He is a founding member of the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.
Administrative Manager
Cathy Feeman
Cathy is a teaching visual artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Arts from Indiana University. Prior to moving to Kalamazoo in 2022, she was the Exhibitions and Project Coordinator for IU Northwest’s School of the Arts where she was involved in creating and implementing various campus and community engagement programming. While her primary medium is painting, she gained a love for book and paper arts during her seven-year tenure as the Exhibitions Director for the Chicago Calligraphy Collective. Her teaching experience includes developing and teaching an elementary/middle school art curriculum, teaching university art courses, youth and adult community workshops, and leading docent tours at various arts organizations.
![katie[1].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a1ee4099f8dceae758047ca/1528748519649-P1W5DSUNQ9WUFG7R4Y9X/katie%5B1%5D.jpg)
Studio Manager
Katie Platte
Katie is a graduate of the Studio Art program at Grand Valley State University. She completed an internship at the Women’s Studio Workshop, an arts organization specializing in printmaking and book arts in Rosendale, New York. Katie manages the KBAC studio, supervises interns and volunteers, manages the website, and installs exhibitions in the KBAC Gallery. She has supervised the printing of over 100 KBAC Poets in Print broadsides, working with writers and artists to facilitate the collaborations.
Instructors
The KBAC works with local and national artists to teach our classes and workshops.
KBAC Instructors
Board of Directors
President
Rozlin Opolka
Vice President
Josie Richards
Treasurer
Scott MacCallum
Secretary
Marissa Chupp
Board Members
Lorrie Grainger Abdo
Jacob Converse
Tami Fauver
Tonia Gonzalez
Katie Mumby
Amy Naugle
Josie Richards
Rosemary Willey
In Memoriam
Founding member of the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center
Paul Alvin Robbert
July 2, 1928 - September 22, 2008
Papermaker and Professor of Art; MA in Fine Arts specializing in painting and printmaking, Michigan State University. Paul served on the faculty of Western Michigan University for more than forty years. Following his retirement he remained active in the arts, continuing to produce his own work and was also known as a dedicated mentor and advisor to other artists. As an artist, he was nationally and internationally recognized. His affinity for materials and color eventually led to his exploration of paper as an art form, which he pursued for 30 years. As a faculty member at Western Michigan University he established the papermaking curriculum. Paul inspired many young artists with his experimental approach and spirit. The papermaking area at KBAC is dedicated to him containing much equipment he built himself and used in his studio at Park Trades Center. Please visit paul-robbert.com to find out more about Paul’s work.
Gallery Hours
Monday - Friday10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
or by appointment
The KBAC is committed to inclusion of all members of the community regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, age, or ability.
Thank You!
KBAC’s educational and artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of these organizations, other private funders, and people like you.
