Standards of Excellence Seminar Iowa Tours, October 9, 2025
All tours are free of charge unless noted. Tour fees cover administrative costs, transportation for attendees requiring special considerations for accessibility, admissions to institutions, and/or tour expenses for scholars and volunteers.
Please meet your tour group in the lobby of Graduate Iowa City 15 minutes before departure. Unless indicated in the description, participants will travel on foot to tour locations, attendees who are unable to do so may make alternate arrangements by emailing standards@guildofbookworkers.org.
Amana Colonies: Folk Art Museum visit and Print Shop and Bindery with Gary Frost
Time: 12:30pm to 5:00pm
Cost per participant: $70
Maximum number of participants: 25
Join Gary Frost for an Iowa bookmaking experience! The Amana Colonies are seven villages on 26,000 acres located about 20 miles from downtown Iowa City. Participants will travel by bus to the newly opened Folk Art Museum followed by a visit to the reconstructed print shop and hand bindery. Gary will offer interpretations of local German/American bookmaking of the communal era.
Come One, Come All: A Tour of the Night Circus
Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm
Cost per participant: None
Maximum number of participants: 15
This fall, the Guild of Book Workers’ Travelling Exhibition will be hosted at Iowa City’s Old Capitol Museum. Join Jeanne Goodman for an in-depth look at the works on display. Night Circus invites curiosity with its Spectacle, fascinates with Artistry and Performance, explores the Mysterious and Luminous, investigates Clandestine actions and Secret knowledge, and embraces Chaos and Otherness.
Pre-registration is required for this tour. To view Night Circus on your own, please visit Pentacrest Museum for hours and information.
Gallery Tour and Talk with the Curators: Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education at University of Iowa Libraries Main Library Gallery
Time: 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Cost per participant: None
Maximum number of participants: 30
Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education showcases the fascinating world of movable books and paper technologies. Curated by Giselle Simón, Damien Ihrig, and Elizabeth Yale, this interactive exhibition will invite visitors to explore flap books, pop-ups, scrolls, volvelles, and books that use paper to make sounds while learning about their historical and contemporary significance. Paper has long held a crucial role in communicating information to artists, scientists, and students. Medical flap books from the 16th to the 19th centuries provided an affordable way for physicians to gain hands-on knowledge about the body. Children’s books from the 18th century onwards used movable elements to instruct and entertain, acting as precursors to interactive media. Artist’s books from the last century demonstrate how paper technologies can engage viewers in new and exciting ways. Through these and other rare materials from University of Iowa Libraries collections, this exhibition will celebrate the creativity, design, and ingenuity of paper engineering.
Pre-registration is required for this talk and tour. Visitors who would prefer a self-guided tour may visit on their own. Please check Iowa University Library website for visitor info and hours.
Iowa City Press Co-op: Studio Tour & Open House
Time: 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Cost per participant: None
The Iowa City Press Co-op (ICPC) is a community-access print and book arts studio, offering studio access and education in intaglio, relief, silkscreen, letterpress, and book arts. ICPC is run collectively by its members, who work to foster and develop a local community of book and print artists and enthusiasts by providing affordable access to shared equipment and creating educational and professional opportunities, projects, and collaborations. The Iowa City Press Co-op is a program of Public Space One (PS1), an artist-led, community-driven, contemporary art center with three locations in Iowa City.
Pre-registration is not required for this tour. Participants may drop by between 12–4pm for a tour of the print and book arts studio and to participate in a hands-on print activity. The co-op is located at 225 North Gilbert Street, Iowa City.
Kindred Spirits: 30 Years of University of Iowa Alumni Work, K. K. Merker Gallery, North Hall
Cost per participant: None
The University of Iowa Center for the book will host an exhibition of alumni work in the K. K. Merker Gallery, North Hall. This is a self-guided tour, and participants may visit the gallery from 9:00am to 8:00pm from October 8th – 12th.
Pre-registration is not required for this tour.
Stanley Museum of Art Tour
Time: 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Cost per participant: None
Maximum number of participants: 15
The Stanley Museum will host a guided tour of our gallery spaces with Graduate Assistant Melanie Landsittel from the Learning & Engagement Department. She will discuss the history of the 20,000 work collection as well as its current use as a teaching resource for disciplines across the university. Working with the museum’s Collections team, she will also curate a small group of unique and relevant works to pull from the archives to share with the group. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in a tour or program, please contact the Stanley in advance at 319-335-1727, or email to connect with a volunteer who can assist with planning.
Pre-registration is required for this tour. To visit the Stanley without a guide, see Stanley Museum for gallery hours and information.
University of Iowa Libraries Conservation and Collections Care Department Open House, featuring the Book Model Collection and GBW Member Contribution
Time: 10:00am - 4:30pm
Cost per participant: None
The CCC Department at the UI Libraries houses the Book Model Collection resource. The BMC has evolved from creative and skilled work of founding contributors who have a background at UIL as well as many other talented book model makers. The collection now spans forty years of development, excellent teaching work and ever improving access and curatorial organization. Peruse and handle book models and view Special Collections materials featuring the work of William Anthony, Mark Esser, Gary Frost, Pam Spitzmueller and more!
Pre-registration is not required for this tour. Participants may visit the University of Iowa Main Library, 5th floor, Conservation and Collections Care Department, 125 W Washington St, Iowa City, IA 52242, between 10:00am and 4:30pm.
University of Iowa Center for the Book Open House
Time: 10:00am - 4:30pm
Cost per participant: None
Join the UI Center for the Book for hands-on activities, demonstrations, and tours of our studios. The UICB pursues a distinctive mission, integrating practice in the art of the book with a study of the book in history and society. Our curriculum spans the arts of letterpress printing, bookbinding and conservation, papermaking, artist book work, digital book design and lettering arts. There are expansive opportunities to study the history and culture of books and the expressive power of book forms in different world traditions. We maintain dedicated studios in letterpress printing, bookbinding, papermaking, and digital print production. The heart and soul of the UICB is our dedicated and collaborative cohort of faculty, staff, artists, and scholars who together foster a rigorous student-centered learning environment. The Center allies with programs and people across the University of Iowa. Students can work with printmakers, graphic designers, photographers, painters, and sculptors in the School of Art and Art History; with conservators and special collections librarians in the UI Libraries; and with writers and scholars in the Writers’ Workshop, the School of Library and Information Science, and humanities departments such as English and History. These studios and alliances embody a larger ethic: through them, the UICB fosters a collaborative, dynamic environment in which we consider and enact the creative power of word and image in the book format.
Pre-registration is not required for this tour. Participants may visit the Center in North Hall between 10:00am and 4:30pm.