In true liberal arts fashion, ART-W40, taught by professor Anna Greidanus, allowed students to explore narrative and art through bookmaking.

This is the third year the interim class, titled “Artist Book Making – A Mixed Media Exploration,” has been offered.

During most of the class time, students constructed the books and thought about how content and structure worked hand in hand in the books they were making. The students each made about nine books, which included both imagery and text for content.

Micaela Seazzu, a senior who participated in the course, commented on the impact it had on her:

“I found it to be an excellent course that really allows students to develop and explore their own creative processes. I think it’s a great opportunity to experience a different medium of art outside of painting, drawing and sculpting.”

The students, along with Greidanus and Paula Manni, the arts programming assistant at Calvin, will host a closing reception on Feb. 22, which is open to the public. In previous years, the reception was hosted in Calvin’s downtown art gallery, which has since moved to the Center Gallery in the Covenant Fine Arts Center. This year, the reception will be held in the Lower Gezon Gallery in the Spoelhof Center on Calvin’s campus.

This year’s event is called “XHIBITION”. Students chose “X” as their theme for its symbolism. The letter X stands for things such as a treasure map location, X-rays, a sign of hope in the crucifix or the Red Cross and the Roman numeral for 10.

“Students work[ed] collaboratively to choose the title and plan the exhibition,” said Greidanus.

Every year the class chooses a theme for their collaborative book project in which all of the students contribute a few pages. The students were able to reflect the theme through the pages and content of the collaborative book.

Greidanus stressed the importance of content of this book and many of the others on display:

“We tend to only think about simply the structure of books, but they’re also really about the content.”

Manni believes that books are not only covers, pages and text; they are also a form of art which can come in many forms, sizes and styles.

“Artistry can come with books, and the students have really exhibited that.”

During the closing reception, the public will be able to meet the artists and talk with them about their art, as well as enjoy the art and refreshments offered. According to Manni, the event last year consisted of about 70 to 80 people, most of whom knew the artists personally. By attending this event, the guests are able to expand the way in which they think about books. The purpose of this event is to broaden people’s perspectives on books and how they’re made, meet the students who spent many hours on these works of art and connect people to both the past and future of art and books.

“As much as handmade books connect us to a legacy of the past, there is a very significant movement in the world of contemporary art related to the production and distribution of artist books,” Greidanus remarked. “The contemporary artist book movement, rooted in the 20th century, is flourishing in the 21st century.”

In this bookmaking class and the pieces on display at XHIBITION, the students show that books can take many different forms, and Manni commented that they are able to “go beyond what typical books tend to be in people’s minds.”

Some of those works are currently on display in the Lower Gezon Gallery on Calvin’s campus in preparation for the upcoming reception.