Artist Talk | Catenary Books: The Making of a Narrative Bookplate Series

Illustrator Kristy Caldwell will share the process of creating Catenary Books, a series of six narratively connected bookplates developed during her 2025 William H. Helfand Fellowship at the Grolier Club Library.

Kristy Caldwell is a New York-based illustrator and an assistant professor of illustration at Queens College, CUNY. She has illustrated more than a dozen children’s books, including Flowers for Sarajevo, a 2017 New York Public Library Best Book for Kids, and co-founded the experimental journal Carrier Pigeon: Illustrated Fiction and Fine Art. Previously, she served as archivist at Castelli Gallery; recently, she wrote an essay for the gallery remembering appropriation artist Richard Pettibone. Her illustration work often combines digital tools with eclectic art supplies such as vintage fountain pens, conical nibs, mouth atomizers, and rainbow pencils. For more information: kristycaldwell.com

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