The Board of Directors welcomes you to the Guild of Book Workers Horizon Exhibition: a showcase of the extraordinary talents of its members. This exhibit shows not only the dedication and talent of the book workers whose work is exhibited, but the commitment of members of the Board of Directors and the many volunteers who helped organize it.

The Guild was established in 1906 in New York City with 126 members with small exhibits in the New York area. Membership has spread across the country and now includes ten regional chapters that organize local workshops, regional exhibitions, and meetings for the members, in addition to the national activities, our annual Standards of Excellence Seminar, a peer-reviewed journal, a newsletter, and a lending library for the membership. The organization has gathered together practitioners and fans in all of the book arts including bookbinding, hand papermaking, printing, calligraphy, marbling, conservation and restoration of older materials, and more recently, artists’ books. In 2012 membership includes 915 members from the U.S. and abroad.

The Guild has a long tradition of hosting exhibits, from the first one in 1907 at the “old Tiffany Studios”, followed by exhibits in a small gallery at the AIGA offices, to venues across the country. It is exciting to spread the good work of Guild members across the country to libraries and arts centers to present to the public. I would especially like to thank Amy LeePard, the GBW Exhibitions Chair, for her diligence and versatility in producing this wonderful exhibit. Jurors had to narrow the field from 108 entries down to 46 works for inclusion in the show. The time and efforts of jurors Jana Pullman, Emily Tipps, and Rutherford Witthus cannot be appreciated more.

Andrew Huot
President