It’s been quite a year! Let's wrangle some of the craziness into a scary little book.

Learn how to create a “haunted village” using an accordion book structure with some playful pop-ups. This format is ideal for incorporating Halloween or Dia de los Muertos imagery which can be added with collage, stamping, ink, paint and cut outs. Make it as scary, funny, political or dystopian as you like!

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring: 

- magazines/postcards/paper ephemera for collage

- any fun art supplies you like to use: decorative scissors, gel pens, etc.

About the Instructor: Stephanie Jucker (she/her) is an exhibiting artist who uses mixed media and printing techniques in her paintings, books, and art installations. Originally from London where she earned her BFA, Stephanie has an MFA from Syracuse in painting, printmaking, and ceramics. With 25 years of teaching experience, she currently runs art classes at College of Marin, Kala, and Art Works Downtown in San Rafael.

In this introductory class, students will gain a basic understanding of the history, techniques, tools and styles of European marbling.

Students will get hands-on experience of all aspects of Western marbling techniques from paper priming and preparatory mixing of water medium and paints, to the creation of classical patterns. Specific attention will be given to learning how to obtain particular designs using a diverse array of rakes and combs. Students will have ample time for experimentation with guidance from the instructor and will leave with a sampling of papers they've marbled themselves.  

*Please note that paper marbling is a wet process and papers made in the workshop may not be dry at the end of class. Students may return to SFCB after the workshop to retrieve any papers left to dry at the of the day or request mailed returns. 

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring: All tools and materials will be provided. Please wear comfortable shoes for standing that you don't mind getting wet.

About the Instructor: Pietro Accardi (he/him) owned a Bookbindery in Turin (Italy) for 12 years. He worked for Turin’s main Library, Municipal Archives, and University Libraries restoring and binding documents and books. He also runs his own paper marbling and decorative box making business. Now he lives near Lake Tahoe with wife, cats and a studio. He is currently working for the library of special collections of University of Reno doing restoration work and teaches workshops.

This hands-on introductory workshop provides participants with a foundation in basic book and paper repair techniques commonly used to stabilize damaged collection materials. Designed for librarians, archivists, collectors, and anyone interested in the care of books, the course introduces participants to conservation-minded approaches that prioritize the long-term preservation of materials.

Participants will learn how to prepare wheat starch paste, one of the most widely used adhesives in paper and book conservation, and gain an understanding of its properties and applications. Additional topics include surface cleaning techniques for removing loose dirt and debris, localized humidification and flattening of creased or distorted paper, and basic paper repair using Japanese tissues.

Through demonstrations and guided hands-on practice, students will develop practical skills while learning to evaluate when treatment is appropriate and when an item may require the attention of a professional conservator. By the end of the class, participants will have completed several repair exercises and gained confidence in carrying out simple stabilization treatments on books and paper-based materials.

Please note that this workshop provides an introduction to fundamental repair techniques and collections care concepts. It is not a substitute for formal conservation training or graduate-level conservation education, and completion of the course does not confer professional certification or conservator status. Reusable materials provided in this class should be retained for Repair Core’s II-III.

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite: Bookbinding Core 1-4 certificate. Interested students who do not meet this prerequisite may consider the Basic Repairs on Hardbound Books workshop instead.

Materials to bring: All tools and materials will be provided. 

About the Instructor: Clair Emma Smith (she/her) is a bookbinder specializing in repair located in Oakland, California. She found her love of bookbinding during an art conservation internship at a historical society in Indiana, and she has been setting up her dream home studio ever since. Clair Emma relocated to the Bay Area after graduating from North Bennet Street School's bookbinding program in 2019 and works in private practice for both herself and other conservators as Bouguereau Bindery. 

Handmade boxes are not only lovely, they are also quite useful and can be used to store a range of objects, not just books.

Using hard board and marbled fabric, the instructor will walk students through the basics of creating decorative boxes. Expanding on these primary box building skills, students will learn about more complex functions by adding a hatch-top and bottom drawer.

This particular structure also features rounded corners, giving a pleasing twist to the standard pointed corner. Everyone will leave with a multi-purpose box that is ready to use.

Students will select their marbled fabric from a selection marbled by Pietro.

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring: All tools and materials will be provided. 

About the Instructor: Pietro Accardi (he/him) owned a Bookbindery in Turin (Italy) for 12 years. He worked for Turin’s main Library, Municipal Archives, and University Libraries restoring and binding documents and books. He also runs his own paper marbling and decorative box making business. Now he lives near Lake Tahoe with wife, cats and a studio. He is currently working for the library of special collections of University of Reno doing restoration work and teaches workshops.

There are myriad instances where forms require special packing and pressure manipulation to achieve even printing. We will print the notorious pointed-flap envelope, a poem with varying line lengths, and images or ornaments within a text field. Situations where the form includes elements that need a generous amount of ink on the press, and/or a lot of packing, as well as elements with the opposite needs, will be addressed.

The class will use both Vandercook and platen presses; students who are only experienced on the Vandercook presses are welcome.

Ample time will be given to questions and show and tell from both the students and the instructors.

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite: Students must have completed the Cylinder Core certificate program, or have equivalent printing experience. Please email us with your qualifications if you are new to SFCB.

Materials to bring: All tools and materials will be provided.

About the Instructors: Alan Hillesheim (he/him) and Lisa Rappoport (she/her) will team-teach this new series of workshops for intermediate printers.

For centuries, traditional Vietnamese papermaking communities have depended on various plant materials local to their region for making handmade paper for spiritual and utilitarian uses. Handmade paper was a way of life connecting ancestral and ecological knowledge together.

While papermaking is still practiced in Vietnam, the history of colonization, war, and rapid industrialization have changed the landscape of traditional practices. Vietnamese papermaking is only practiced within a few communities and is quickly disappearing from generation to generation.

In this workshop, participants will learn traditional Vietnamese papermaking techniques using the liềm seo (bamboo woven screen) and khung seo (two-part wooden frame) to make paper. We will work with dó (pronounced zaw), a perennial tree shrub growing in only Northern Vietnam specifically used for traditional handmade paper unique for its lustrous sheen and durability.

We will work in various sizes—9 x 12’’ and 12 x 18’’—and everyone will have a chance to build their own unique library sample of dó paper. Instruction will cover fiber preparation, hand beating, sheet formation, pressing, drying using traditional equipment, and demos of bark manipulation like bark lace and making thread. Expect to gain knowledge on traditional Vietnamese papermaking techniques and its history to craft related artforms while also expanding your own papermaking studio practice.

Four 50% scholarships are available for people of the Vietnamese diaspora. Please fill out our scholarship application form; tell us a bit about you and how this class would impact you and/or your art practice. Selected recipients will be notified by September 15. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite:
None

Materials to bring:
All tools and materials will be provided.

About the Instructor:
Veronica Y Pham works primarily in papermaking and fiber arts in her studio practice. Her work focuses on traditional craft specific to Vietnamese and Chinese histories to connect ideas of process, knowledge through generational labor, and questions of identity.

The materials in her work often become environmental investigations containing a visual and kinetic language, repeated based on interlacements, linear elements and ecological spatial relationships. Pham continues to work with traditional and contemporary papermakers in Vietnam with a focus on collaborative projects and research. Her favorite materials to work with are milkweed and hemp. 

Bookbinding Core Certificate Program

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking. It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them to rent studio time in our bindery. Core classes must be taken in order, 1 through 4.

Click here to learn more about the Bookbinding Core Certificate Program and how to receive a discount!

Bookbinding Core 1: Coptic Binding

This class introduces students to the craft with the Coptic stitch, one of the earliest structures in binding. Students will spend the morning making their own decorative pastepapers, then use them in the afternoon when binding their book.

In addition to coming away with a finished book made by hand, students will also be introduced to the tools and terms of bookbinding. Basic practices and equipment will be discussed as students familiarize themselves with both skills and safety measures needed for working in a bindery.

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite: None. Beginners are welcome. 

Materials to bring: None. All tools and materials will be provided.

About the Instructor: Madison Halaby Gordon (she/they) is a bookbinder and conservator-in-training living in Oakland, CA, currently working at Zukor Art Conservation and the Walt Disney Family Museum. She is fascinated by paper, and loves making and repairing practical, fun, accessible, and well-made structures for the use and enjoyment of everyday people. Madison is also trained in letterpress printing and has worked previously with the Key Printing & Binding (Oakland, CA) and Small Editions (Brooklyn, NY).

Learn how to print on the Risograph, a machine that combines the ease of a photocopier with the stencil concept of silkscreen. A Risograph creates a stencil for each layer, printing a single color at a time. Inks are semi-opaque, so when layered two colors can create a third overlay.

In this class you’ll create two image layers by hand, and each student will print a 2-color poster in an edition of 20. Come ready to turn sketches or drawings into your poster. If you would prefer not to draw, consider bringing clip art, traced designs, stamps, or collage elements to make your design.

This workshop focuses on the analog approach to printing with a Risograph. The Introduction to Digital Risograph Printing workshop focuses on preparing files and printing via digital transmission. Either class will suffice as the prerequisite for the Risograph Certification workshop, though students are welcome to take both. Successful completion of the certification allows students to rent time on SFCB's Risograph. 

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply. 

Prerequisite: None

Materials to bring:

• Sketches, drawings, photographs, or collage imagery no larger than 10” x 16” on paper or clear acetate (spot imagery smaller than 10” x 16” will work as well).
• Pens: black ink, all kinds of tips/types (sharpies, markers, brush pens, felt tip, different sized nibs, etc.) Faber Castell's PITT pens or Micron's are examples where you have different sized nibs. You can also bring pencils (especially softer/darker ones if you want more hand-drawn imagery). Essentially anything to make a drawn mark with! Colored markers in yellows and pinks won't work well, though.
• Photos can be fun. Make sure they aren't precious in case you want to cut them up. Grayscale with a wide value range work the best, rather than color photos. You can print out or photocopy what you want to play with and bring that, rather than the original.
• Collage materials: papers with patterns, tapes like washi, templates or stencils for making shapes, black or dark construction paper for cutting out shapes.
• Stamps/stamp pad and letter/number stickers are great if you want to work with text.
• Scissors or X-acto knife; glue stick or clear tape; eraser.
• Please print out any digital imagery before class, no larger than 11" x 17", with a 1/2" border all around.

About the Instructor: Nathalie Roland (she/her) is a San Francisco-based printmaker and painter who has been creating woodcut prints since 1991. Working from her Sunset district garage studio known as Sunset Paperworks, she specializes in woodcut reduction prints using pine or mulberry wood blocks that transform through multiple stages of carving and printing. She has studied relief printing under Zarina Hashmi, screen printing at Ape Do Good, worked as a bookbinder at the Arion Press and was formerly the in-house Riso printer for Yellow Owl workshop.