The Floodplain Belongs to the River  MFA Thesis Exhibition by Tegan Daly May 5-15, 2024 K.K. Merker Gallery, UI Center for the Book Opening Receptions on Tuesday, May 7 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Join the UI Center for the Book on Friday, May 3 as we proudly celebrate our graduating MFA students, Jamie Capps and Tegan Daly!  From 4–6 p.m. stop by the K.K. Merker Gallery in the B Level of North Hallce to see Tegan and Jamie's work and head into our UICB Studios to see work from our 1st year MFA Students. Remarks will begin at 5:15 p.m. Hope to see you there! 

Join co-curators Eric Ensley and Emily Martin for a special guided tour of the Making the Book, Past and Present exhibition in the Main Library Gallery! All are welcome to attend this free event.    About the exhibit:    Making the Book, Past and Present explores the intersections of history, art, and practicality. What can we learn by placing books, materials, and makers from the Middle Ages through today in conversation with one another? Many techniques and materials common centuries ago...

April 8–12 K. K. Merker Gallery, North Hall Closing Reception on Friday, April 12 from 5 to 7 p.m. Currently, my work explores the connections between past and present, tradition and modernity, and the timeless relevance and evolution of folklore narratives. Inspired by stories of the Japanese yōkai, kaiju, and American monster culture, this work responds to how myths and fables reflect the fears of a society at a given time. My medium of choice is handmade paper pulp and handmade paper...

A Virtual Curator Talk with Eric Ensley and Emily Martin Join Eric Ensley and Emily Martin, co-curators of Making the Book, Past and Present, for a behind-the-scenes look at their Main Library Gallery exhibition. Find out how they decided which Special Collections & Archives materials to share with visitors, discover more about some of the curators' favorite items, and learn why it is so important to show modern book art in conversation with historic books.  Registration is required to attend...

Come get a close look at unique items joining collections at Special Collections and Archives.

English graduate students are hosting the 23rd annual Craft Critique Culture interdisciplinary graduate conference on the University of Iowa campus. Dr. Lena Hill, Provost at Washington and Lee University, will join the conference as the Keynote Speaker on April 5 at 4 p.m. in the Academics Room of the Iowa Memorial Union (Room 256).

This lecture looks at the continuing life and uses of some very old books in and outside of the Making the Book, Past and Present exhibition. Starting from one of the biggest in both scale and edition size, the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, which was printed from hundreds of woodcut blocks, to others containing mystical puzzles or movable parts, no two copies of a pre-modern book were ever the same. This look at annotating, collecting, and censoring them, as well as keeping things in them will show...

Join the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives and the Main Library Gallery for a chance to interact with historic books and the materials that make them. From parchment and papyrus samples to real medieval manuscripts, learn more about these types of items and how to handle them during this pop-up event. Drop in any time between 1-3 p.m. at Group Area D in the Main Library's Learning Commons. After spending some time with historic materials at this event, stop over to...

Join co-curators Eric Ensley and Emily Martin for a special guided tour of the Making the Book, Past and Present exhibition in the Main Library Gallery! All are welcome to attend this free event.    About the exhibit:    Making the Book, Past and Present explores the intersections of history, art, and practicality. What can we learn by placing books, materials, and makers from the Middle Ages through today in conversation with one another? Many techniques and materials common centuries ago...

Enjoy refreshments, curator remarks, and an open house in recognition of the spring 2024 Main Library Gallery exhibit, Making the Book, Past and Present, curated by Eric Ensley and Emily Martin. Event Schedule  4–6 p.m.: Reception and open house with curators Eric Ensley and Emily Martin 4:30 p.m.: Brief remarks from Ensley and Martin in the Main Library Gallery  6 p.m.: Opening event ends 8 p.m.: Main Library Gallery closes (open late on Tuesdays) Admission to the gallery is always free...

Exhibits from UICB studio classes in lettering arts, papermaking, bookbinding, artist books, and letterpress printing will be on display. MFA Thesis work will be on display in the K.K. Merker Gallery. Food and drink will be served—all are welcome!

The UICB will hold an information session about the program on November 10, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. CT via teleconference. Videos and slides, faculty and students: we’ll describe the program, answer questions, and welcome anyone (from the curious to the already-committed applicant) who would like to participate.

Join us Nov. 3 from 2 to 5 p.m. as we explore themes of water through the creative lenses of six talented University of Iowa graduate students in the arts and humanities. This exhibition promises an enlightening and thought-provoking experience that will engage your senses and your mind. Scheduled remarks will begin at 3 p.m. Our students have poured passion and creativity into their productions, delving deep into the important issues surrounding water quality and watersheds and their...

Please join us for our annual invited Iowa Bibliophiles lecture as we study Shakespeare’s world through a unique lens.

What might 19th-century print practices teach us about large language models like ChatGPT? This talk will address that question from several angles. First, the talk will draw on research from the Viral Texts digital humanities project (https://viraltexts.org) to consider how historical practices of text reuse, such as the reprinting that undergirded American newspapers in the 19th century, might help scholars situate 21st-century language models in a long tradition of "unoriginal" writing...

 my hands remind me of yours  This talk will explore Skye Tafoya’s relationship to basket-weaving and motherhood, and how it informs the way they approach their art research and practice.  Rhiannon ‘Skye’ Tafoya (Eastern Band Cherokee and Santa Clara Pueblo) employs printmaking, digital design, and basketry techniques in creating her artist’s books, prints, and paper weavings. Both of her Tribal heritages, cultures, and lineages are manifested in her two- and three-dimensional artworks that...