Jury Selection

Jury selection for the 2003 In Flight exhibition took place on a long day and a half, July 26 & 27, 2003, at the Bookworks studio of Laura Wait, in Denver, Colorado. Three jurors chose the works for this exhibition: Madelyn Garrett, curator of rare books at the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah ; Craig Jensen, proprietor of BookLab II, San Marcos, Texas; and Daniel Tucker, co-proprietor of the Turtle Island Press, and founder of the Ah Haa School of the Arts and The American Academy of Bookbinding, both in Telluride, Colorado.

To best represent our membership, three categories were created for In Flight: Fine Binding, Artists' Books, and Broadsides (calligraphy and letterpress). The response from GBW members submitting work for the show was tremendous. 103 entries were received for a traveling show originally planned for 40 book works. This made the job as juror, a difficult one. A criteria worksheet for each category was designed to assist them in making their decisions. As the day progressed, In Flight began to form its own character and shape, thanks to all the Guild members who participated in the process of creating this exhibit.

The Jurors, In Their Own Words

MADELYN GARRETT "As jurors, we three had the enjoyable and difficult task of selecting individual books that would become the magical, new exhibition, In Flight. The process was approached with seriousness. It was a time to reiterate some very thorny questions: What is a book? What are the relationships between form and content? How do design and craftsmanship rank within this scheme and does either take precedence? These questions and many more consumed us for the long hours spent jurying the 103 entries. Each juror came to the process with opinions about the book and bookmaking. Ultimately, I believe each of us went away with an expanded and more comprehensive understanding of the current state of both."

CRAIG JENSEN "Going into my assignment, I was unsure what to expect and what I discovered was both a surprise and a revelation. The surprise was the level of quality and craft exhibited in the artist book category. I remember, in the not too distant past, when execution and craft seemed as after thoughts in artist book production. The revelation was how deep and rich the art form has become, with the creator often standing out as the author, artist, designer, papermaker, printer, binder and overall engineer ---and taking each to a very high level, indeed."

DANIEL TUCKER "One knows the jewel by the light it gives. And these jewels revealed themselves to each of the jurors almost unanimously! I was particularly focused on the quality of thought and feeling demonstrated by each work as it related to the theme of the show, In Flight. Wherever a juror chooses to look, this is apparent -- especially in the relationship between form and content."

September, 2003