San Francisco Center for the Book

This is a two-session online workshop. All times are Pacific.

Does glue stress you out? Does thread tangle at your touch? Then these no-glue/no-thread structures are for you!

This exploration of non-adhesive assembly and binding features three structures: a multi-spread pop-up book, a blank accordion book with a slipcase, and a formal codex bound and cased with tabs alone. All of these structures will be assembled and bound using a kit of pre-cut pieces and a set of simple hand tools.

This workshop is great for all levels; the omission of glue reduces stress for beginners, while the technical features surrounding non-adhesive joins appeal especially to more experienced book artists.

This workshop uses a mailed kit of pre-cut pieces. Students will be required to provide a USPS-friendly mailing address for their kit. No international students, please, due to high kit shipping costs and transit times.

All SFCB online workshops are recorded. Video links will be available for eight weeks after class.

Tools/Materials to Bring:

- mailed kit of pieces provided by instructor

AND

- bone folder
- microspatula
- tweezers
- self-healing mat
- x-acto knife

About the Instructor:
Shawn Sheehy has been teaching book arts courses and workshops since 2001. His broadsides and artist book editions have been collected by such institutions as Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, University of Chicago, Library of Congress, UCLA, and Harvard. Sheehy’s trade pop-up books Welcome to the Neighborwood and Beyond the Sixth Extinction (both mass-market versions of previous artist books) were published by Candlewick and have won numerous awards. Sheehy served as director of The Movable Book Society from 2018 to 2023. He holds an MFA in Book Arts from Columbia College Chicago.