2018 Conference

A joint annual conference with the Friends of Dard Hunter (FDH)
University of Iowa Center for the Book (UICB)
Iowa City, Iowa, October 25–27, 2018
Pre- and post-conference tours are available on October 24 & October 28.

Please join us as we explore the technological and cultural matrices connecting print and paper. Today’s practitioners and scholars have a rich archive of historical production methods and societal uses of art on paper to draw from in their work and research. Be it decorative, instructional, devotional, or functional artwork, we consider how this matrix of origins and innovations is retrieved, shared, and developed.

Registration*

** Registration is now full and we are no longer adding to our waiting list. Questions? Please write matricesiowacity@gmail.com.

Registration is limited to 160 participants, and early registration is strongly encouraged. The registration fee includes admission to plenary and panel sessions, demonstrations, receptions, the trade fair, and local tours. The fee is $190 until September 10, when it increases to $250. Student registration is $150 and requires a valid student ID. ALL registrants must be current members of either APHA or FDH.
(APHA membership information | FDH membership information.)

During registration you will have the opportunity to sign up for the Saturday night banquet & silent auction fundraiser, trade fair vendor tables, and tours that require a fee and reservation. Where space is limited, all signups will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Please add the options you would like when you register.

*Registration, with a means to pay securely, is here. No refunds will be given for cancellations made within the 30 days prior to the conference.

Travel

Iowa City is served by national and regional airlines flying into the Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, about 20 miles north of Iowa City. Ground transportation options from Eastern Iowa Airport to Iowa City include taxis, shuttles, Uber, Lyft, and rental cars (details). Iowa City is approximately a 3.5-hour drive from O’Hare Airport and a 1-hour drive from the Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois.

Accommodations

A block of rooms has been set aside through September 10, 2018, at the Graduate Iowa City Hotel, 210 S. Dubuque Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52240. The rate is $139 per night for a room with two queen beds or a single king bed. The conference rate is available for the nights of October 23–27. It’s a ten-minute walk (.5 mile) from the hotel to the conference events at the Iowa Memorial Union and just a bit farther to the UICB. Online reservation is available here, or call (319) 337-4058 and request room block 181024APHA. You are encouraged to make your reservations early.

Additional downtown Iowa City and campus hotels within walking distance of the main conference venues include:
Hilton Garden Inn Downtown / University, 328 S. Clinton St., Iowa City IA 52240
Hotel Vetro, 201 S. Linn Street, Iowa City IA 52240
Iowa House Hotel, Iowa Memorial Union, 125 N. Madison Street, Iowa City, IA 52242
(The Iowa House Hotel is in the IMU, the main conference and trade fair location.)

Program

Wednesday, october 24, pre-conference

8:30 am [new start time!]–4:00 pm (includes travel time)
Tour: Iowa Historical Printing, led by Gary Frost and Rich Dana. $10, reservation required, van transportation included. (Details in Tours.)

1:00–5:00 pm (four 1-hour tours)
Tour: UICB Paper Research and Production Facility / Make Paper at the 2000 Sheets-Per-Day Rate. Choose one 1-hour tour, no charge, reservation required, van transportation included. This tour is also offered Thursday morning. (Registration for this tour is via email, details in Tours.)

thursday, october 25

9:30 am–5:30 pm
Registration, IMU Ballroom

9:30 am–noon
Trade Fair setup, IMU Ballroom

9:00 am–noon (three 1-hour tours)
Tour: UICB Paper Research and Production Facility / Make Paper at the 2000 Sheets-Per-Day Rate. Choose one 1-hour tour, no charge, reservation required, van transportation included. This tour is also offered Wednesday morning. (Registration for this tour is via email, details in Tours.)

1:00–8:00 pm
Trade Fair, IMU Ballroom. Open to the public from 1–4 pm.

1:00–5:00 pm
Iowa City Community Book Art Tours. No charge, ongoing van transportation available, or self-guided. (Details in Tours.)

5:30–8:00 pm
Welcome Reception with hors d’oeuvres, hosted bar, and Goosetown String Band!

friday, october 26

9:30 am–4:30 pm
Registration continues, IMU

8:30–11:30 am (includes travel time)
Tour: Route 3 Press / Wapsipinicon Almanac, led by Tim Fay. $10, reservation required, van transportation included. (Details in Tours.)

9:00 am–5:00 pm
Trade Fair II, IMU meeting rooms: Open between sessions, during lunch, or by appointment with vendors.

9:30–11:15 am
APHA Board Meeting

9:30–11:15 am
FDH Annual Business Meeting

9:30–11:15 am
UICB K.K. Merker Gallery and North Hall studios open

11:30 am–Noon
Giant Paper, a group sheet-forming event with Tim Barrett & team, North Hall (outdoors).

Noon–1:30 pm
Lunch on your own, IMU and downtown Iowa City options

1:30–2:45 pm: Session 1 (5 concurrent options)

join the gang

Defining Collaborative Authorship in Book Arts, Katharine DeLamater
Papermaking as a Socially Engaged Art Practice, Drew Cameron
Survey of Modern Korean Print and Papermaking, Steph Rue and Lars Kim

young americans

Teaching Materials: Book Arts, Card Games, & the Social Life of Early Modern Texts, Margaret Sheppard
Youth Voices and Printing at the Phoenix Indian School, E. Haven Hawley
Presence, Intimacy, and Rag Paper in 19th-Century America, Jonathan Senchyne

ballad of the adventurers / i took a trip on a gemini spaceship

Papermaking by Hand in India, Radha Pandey
Daluang Beaten Bark Paper and Contemporary Artists in Indonesia, Lisa Miles
Traditional Japanese Kites and their Influence of 21st-Century Kite Makers, Scott Skinner & Ali Fujino

Wishful Beginnings

The Hand Papermaker’s Database, Nicole Donnelly
The Revival of Hand Papermaking in the USA in Late 20th Century, Peter Thomas
Order in the Stacks: Organization of a Paper Library, Virginia Howell

Demonstration: Printmaking with Natural Dyes on a Vandercook Proof Press

Catherine Liu (space is limited)

2:45–3:15 | Refreshment Break, Trade Fair II

3:15–4:30 pm | Session 2 (5 concurrent choices)

life on Mars?

Imperfect Iterations: Duplicate Iconography in Wood Engraving Block, Todd Samuelson
Postage Stamps on Handmade Paper: An Early Collaboration of Function and Necessity, Robert Cagna
Resisting Paradise: The Craftsman Press Archive, Sonia Farmer

New Definitions for “Watermark” and “Paper”?

Timothy Barrett (moderator), Cathleen A. Baker, Lisa Miles

Paper in the Big, Small, and Wild:
How Businesses and Artists Purchase and Use Fine Papers in Their Work

Sarah McCoy (moderator), Amy Leners, Kseniya Thomas

Support Interruptus: The Shifting Roles Between Surface and Substrate

Laura Post (moderator), Daniel Heyman, Orit Hofshi, Vanessa Nieto

Demonstration: Kite Making

Scott Skinner and Ali Fujino (space is limited)

5:00–6:15 pm
Anita Lynn Forgach Keynote Address, room 240 Art Building West (ABW)

Ruth Lingen, Papermaking & Printmaking Collaborations

6:15–8:00 pm
Opening Reception for Matrices Members’ Exhibit, ABW

6:15–8:00 pm
UI MFA Print Portfolio Exhibit, Visual Arts Building (VAB), next to ABW

8:30–9:30 pm
Keepsake Collation (all welcome), Graduate Hotel, O’Connor Board Room

saturday, october 27

9:00 am–5:00 pm
Trade Fair II, IMU meeting rooms: Open between sessions, during lunch, or by appointment with vendors.

8:30–9:30 am
Continental Breakfast, Art Building West (ABW) Lobby

9:30–10:45 am
Keynote, room 240 ABW

Printing the Renaissance Pop-Up Book, Suzanne Karr Schmidt

11:15 am–12:30 pm: Session 3 (4 concurrent choices)

Art, Science, and the Book: Historical Books as Matrices for New Works of Art

Elizabeth Yale (moderator), Julia Leonard, Robert Riter

Changes

Renaissance Paper Texture, Donald Farnsworth
Typographical Variants on Wove and Laid Papers in Baskerville’s Virgil, Cathleen A. Baker

Looking for Satellites

The Nexus of Being and Place: Interpreting Human Origins in Handmade Paper, Lynn Sures
The Driving Force of the Universe Made Visible, Heather Peters
Printmaking with Dirca Bark Paper, Zachary Hudson and Andrew Zandt

Demonstration: Editioning Special Effects with Stencils

Ruth Lingen (space is limited)

12:30–2:15 pm
Lunch on your own, IMU and downtown options. Trade Fair II.

12:30–1:15 pm
FDH Board Meeting

1:15–2:00 pm
FDH Advisory Board Meeting

2:15–3:30 pm | Session 4 (5 concurrent choices)

Under Pressure / It Ain’t Easy

Why the Whole Book Matters: Making Books the Hard Way in 21st Century America, Katherine Ruffin
Chasing the Ideal Book, Carolee Campbell
Designing Printing History, Michael Russem

Fast Friends: A Discussion by Hand Papermaking, Inc. on the
Collaborative Relationship Between Printmakers and Papermakers

Michael Fallon (moderator), Mina Takahashi, and others

Brilliant Adventure

The Papermaking Tradition in Central Asia, Johan Solberg
An Enduring Master and a New Generation of Traditional Japanese Papermakers, Rie Hachiyanagi

Beat of Your Drum

The Craft of Handmade Paper Moulds, Serge Pirard
Medieval to Digital: The Papermaking Mould, Brian Queen
Book Commodity: A Useful Complement to Papermaking and Printing, Gary Frost

Demonstration: Yoga for Papermakers

Nicole Donnelly (space is limited)

3:30–4:30 pm
FDH Open Planning Meeting (all welcome)

6:30–9:00 pm
Silent Auction Student Scholarship Fundraiser and Hors D’oeuvres Banquet, Graduate Iowa City. $50, registration required.

sunday, october 28, post-conference

9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Lettering in the Urban Environment: A Walk around Iowa City, led by Paul Shaw, $20, reservation required. (Details in Tours.)

Closing Banquet &
Silent Auction Student Scholarship Fundraiser

Saturday, October 27, 6:30–9:00 pm, Graduate Iowa City Hotel ballroom, $50, reservation required
Join in on Saturday evening for a silent auction fundraiser accompanied by a tasty assortment of hors d’oeuvres, dessert, and a cash bar. Funds raised support the Friends of Dard Hunter student scholarships. You can support this valuable program by bidding on items and with a donation of items to be auctioned.

Donating auction items

Each year FDH distributes scholarships for conference registration through proceeds from the auction at the previous conference. This year we invite donations from FDH and APHA members. All items are welcome, they need not be paper related and they can even be hands-on learning experiences. Bring your item to the conference and drop it off at registration. If possible, please register your auction donation here, or with FDH Executive Director Paul Romaine to help us keep track of auction items at friendsofdardhunter@gmail.com.

Trade Fair

Vendors have the option to participate on Thursday only (Trade Fair I, 1:00 to 8:00 pm), on Friday and Saturday only (Trade Fair II, 9:00 to 5:00 pm between conference sessions and during lunch), or on all three days. Tables are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Vendors must be current members of FDH or APHA but do not need to register for the conference. Vendors who want to attend conference sessions must register for both the conference and a Trade Fair table.

Forty 3 x 6 foot tables are available Thursday at $40 per table
Nineteen 2 x 6 foot tables are available Friday and Saturday at $20 per table

We will open the conference at Trade Fair I in the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU) ballroom at 1 pm Thursday, October 24th. Registration, a chance to meet up with friends, and the Thursday trade fair will all be in the same location. At 5:30 we will have an official welcome followed by hors d’oeuvres, beverages, and music by the Goosetown Stringband from 6 to 8 pm.

The Thursday Trade Fair I will end at 8 pm and all wares must be packed up. On Friday and Saturday there are 19 tables available in a cluster of three rooms at the IMU for vendors who would like to display for the duration of the conference, Trade Fair II. These rooms will be open during session breaks and over the lunch hour but can otherwise be locked. (Overnight storage is available in the IMU on Thursday and Friday nights for vendors continuing on to Friday and Saturday.)

Volunteers will be available to assist with set up and break down on Thursday, and during transfer and set up on Friday and Saturday. Vendors will need to staff their tables and watch over their wares for the duration. The building has a loading dock for heavy equipment (such as beaters and presses) but please be directly in touch with Tim Barrett regarding any heavy equipment access needs (timothy-barrett@uiowa.edu).

Shipping and arrival details will be provided later to confirmed vendors. Tables will be dressed in black tablecloths, but you are welcome to bring your own. We will have name cards for each table but other signage is welcome.

Trade fair, scheduled exhibitors

Thomas Bannister

Cathleen A. Baker

Pamela Barrie

The Caxton Club

Carriage Paper, Donna Koretsky

Cave Paper, Amanda Degener

Cave Paper Editions, Amanda Degener

College Book Art Association

Donald Farnsworth, Magnolia Editions

Flying Paper Press, Jody Williams

Hand Papermaking, Michael Fallon

Helen Hiebert Studios, Helen Hiebert

Hook Pottery Paper, Andrea Peterson

Shanna Leino

Logos Graphics, John Sullivan

Sarah Luko

Russell Maret

The Morgan Conservancy, Tom Balbo

Ninja Press, Carolee Campbell

Steph Rue

Sherwin Beach Press, Robert McCamant

Peter Thomas

Traditional Hand Craft, Jim Croft

Vintage Paper Company, William McCracken

American Printing History Association

Friends of Dard Hunter

University of Iowa Center for the Book

Tours

Iowa Historical Printing Field Trip

Wednesday, October 24, 8:30 am [NEW START TIME]– 4:00 pm (includes travel time), led by Gary Frost and Rich Dana,
$10, limited to 14 participants. Round-trip van transportation from the Graduate Iowa City Hotel is provided.

We invite you to experience printing history in the Amana Colonies and Grinnell, Iowa. A fully conducted field trip will include legendary presenters, astounding printing archives, and curious survivals of letterpress operations. The role of printing in a devotional community and in a small town newspaper will be vividly experienced.

A morning session at the Amana Colonies will include a visit to the research library of the Amana Heritage Society. There we will enjoy a guided tour of collections by Lanny Haldy, Emeritus Director, who will provide a synopsis of the role of print in building devotional and communal solidarity. We will also stop at the Homestead print shop and post office, offering a glimpse of print production and letter delivery in the 1950s.

We will continue to Grinnell, Iowa, with a stop for lunch on Main Street of this classic Iowa town. After lunch we will walk around the corner to the historic Grinnell Herald-Register. We will be treated to a brief history of the newspaper presented by Martha Pinder, third-generation editor and publisher of the twice-weekly independent small-town newspaper. We will tour the 1916 neo-classical Herald building, and spend time in the original early twentieth-century letterpress operation, long unused but almost entirely intact, and which is now being restored.

Make Paper at the 2000 Sheets-Per-Day Rate | UICB Research and Production Paper Facility

Wednesday at noon, 1:00, 2:00, or 3:00 pm
Thursday at 9:00, 10:00, or 11:00 am
No charge. Limited to eleven participants in each of the five 1-hour sessions. Round-trip van transportation from the IMU is provided. Reservation required. To reserve, choose your preferred 1-hour session and write matricesiowacity@gmail.com with the subject line “2000 Sheets.” Reservations will be accepted in the order they are received and you will receive confirmation by email.

Join Tim Barrett and UICB graduate student co-workers at the UICB Research and Production Paper Facility and take your turn forming sheets at the vat, couching, and laying. Each one-hour session includes travel and a half-hour of making paper and touring the facility. No experience necessary! Additional information about the 2000 sheets-per-day project is available here.

Iowa City Community Book Arts Tour

Thursday, October 25, 1–5 pm (ongoing)
No charge, but let us know at registration if you are interested so we can plan transportation. Ongoing, approximately two-hour tours of local book artist and community studios and of some of our favorite book arts friendly Iowa City merchants. Van transportation will depart regularly from the IMU. Van seating is limited. Parts of this tour are in the downtown area and accessible on foot. Maps will provided for those who prefer a self-guided tour. (photo courtesy PS1)

Tour of Route 3 Press & the Wapsipinicon Almanac, Anamosa, Iowa

Friday, October 26, 8:30 – 11:30 am (includes travel time)
$10, led by Tim Fay, limited to 7 participants, registration required. Round trip van transportation will be provided.

Tim Fay, printer & publisher extraordinaire, has operated his printing business, the Route 3 Press, since 1977 and has graciously allowed time for a small group to tour his one-of-a-kind shop. Since 1988 he has edited and printed the much-anticipated, nearly-annual, Wapsipinicon Almanac, a regional collection of essays, fiction, reviews, and “various tidbits.” Tim’s shop includes a Model 8 Linotype; a Miehle Vertical V45; his Almanac workhorse, a 21 x 28 inch Miller 2-color flatbed cylinder press; and assorted folding, stapling, and other bindery equipment. (photo courtesy Linzee McCray)

Lettering in the Urban Environment: A Walk around Iowa City

Sunday October 28, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
$20, led by Paul Shaw, limited to 20 participants. Registration required.

Paul Shaw has been conducting urban lettering walks for over ten years in cities throughout the United States and Canada. He has done two walks per year in New York since 2005 for the Type Directors Club, a walk for TypeCon every year (in Buffalo, Atlanta, Boston, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver), and walks for universities and other organizations. The walks look at a wide range of lettering styles and materials, depending on the history of each city and neighborhood. Lettering is linked to architecture, politics, literature, and historical and social events. Ideally, each walk ends with a group lunch.

This walk will start at the Graduate Iowa City Hotel and search out surviving examples of architectural, institutional, and commercial lettering in the center of Iowa City that predate the graphic homogenization that began to take place in the 1970s.

Keepsake Exchange

We encourage members of FDH and APHA to participate in the Keepsake Exchange. Members may bring their keepsakes to the conference and drop them off when they register. All contributors will receive a keepsake packet, as will those who attend the conference. Please note, however, that in the event that we have more attendees than keepsakes those who contributed will receive their keepsakes first followed by those who registered first.

Members are encouraged to register for MATRICES 2018 early to ensure that they will receive a keepsake packet. Those who wish to participate, but not attend the meeting, must mail their contributions to the University of Iowa Center for the Book (FDH Keepsake, UI Center for the Book, 216 North Hall, 20 West Davenport, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242) to arrive no later than the week of October 15th. They will receive their keepsake packet by mail after the Conference.

Eligibility: You must be a current member of FDH or APHA.

Size: The work can be no larger than letter size (8.5″ x 11″) or A4 (210 mm x 297 mm) and should be as flat as possible.

Amount: 180 pieces. Please count them carefully or supply a few extra.

Identification: Identify yourself and the materials used to create your keepsake directly on the piece or on a securely attached label. Your name (and business name if applicable) will be included in the Keepsake Table of Contents.

List: When you have created your keepsake, email Winnie Radolan (winnie.r@verizon.net) and send her your name and where you are from to be included in the contents page of the keepsakes.

Delivery: Conference attendees may bring their contributions to the conference and drop them off at the Registration Table.

Mail: Mail your keepsakes directly to the University of Iowa Center for the Book (FDH Keepsake, UI Center for the Book, 216 North Hall, 20 West Davenport, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242) to arrive the week of October 15th. Questions regarding shipping can be directed to Tim Barrett at timothy-barrett@uiowa.edu, subject line “KEEPSAKES”.

About Iowa City & the UI Center for the Book

“Iowa City. All our creativity went into the name”—RAYGUN
IOWA CITY, a UNESCO City of Literature, is a college town of 75,000 people, nearly half of them students. Located in the heart of Iowa City, the University of Iowa (founded 1847) was the first U.S. public university to admit women and men on an equal basis, the first to admit students regardless of race, and the first to confer the MFA degree (in 1940). The Iowa Writers’ Workshop (founded 1936) is one of the world’s most distinguished creative writing programs, and is joined at the UI by the International Writing Program and the Nonfiction Writing Program. And by a hospital and football team, etc. uiowa.edu

“You actually make paper by hand?!”—UICB Visitor
FOUNDED in 1986 by printer/publisher Kim Merker (Stone Wall Press, Windhover Press), the UICB has grown into a distinctive degree-granting program that integrates training in book arts practice with research into the history and culture of books. With top-notch facilities, expert faculty, and courses in printing, lettering arts, bookbinding, artist bookwork, conservation, and papermaking, complemented by book studies classes dedicated to scholarly inquiry and material analysis, the UICB serves graduate and undergraduate students from a number of disciplines.

Contact

Questions?
Jesse Erickson, APHA VP for Programs
Anne Covell, FDH Vice President of Annual Meeting
UICB conference co-chairs: Tim Barrett and Sara T. Sauers