Sculptural Artist's Books Workshop with Mare Blocker

Join award-winning artist Mare Blocker for a hands-on workshop focused on sculptural artist’s books, inspired by her piece Coral Reef from BIMA’s current exhibition Storytime with Mare. Participants will learn a variety of non-adhesive bookbinding techniques, including suture joining stitches, slot-and-tab construction, and simple pop-up devices.

Designed for all skill levels, the workshop encourages creativity and exploration. Throughout the day, Mare will provide personalized guidance as participants experiment with materials and techniques. By the end, each student will have completed a unique sculptural artist’s book to take home.

A complete materials kit—including collage and construction supplies, needles, and thread—is provided and included in the workshop fee. The workshop runs from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with a one-hour lunch break. Bring your creativity and enthusiasm for a day of artistic discovery.

Guest name:

Mare Blocker

Guest bio:

Currently featured in a solo retrospective exhibition here at BIMA, Storytime with Mare, Seattle native Mare Blocker comes from a family of artists and makers. Her first job, at age five, was painting trees in the backgrounds of her grandfather’s landscape paintings, which they sold at the Seattle Center and Pike Place Market. She likes to say she grew up in the Seattle Center's Fun Forest. She had a little bed under the platform of the Bubbleator where she napped in the afternoons while "working" in her grandparents' shop.

She’s had many adventures—coaching a swim team, owning a biker bar in Arizona, and running a small rural library in a log cabin in the mountains of Idaho. Now, she’s back in Seattle, working in the studio she and her dad built. Mare has been making books since 1976 and founded The MKimberly Press in 1984. She has published 69 limited edition titles, over five hundred unique artist’s books, and numerous broadsides and prints. Her work is included in more than 100 museums, libraries, and public collections internationally, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the University of Washington Special Collections, the Library of Congress, and The Cynthia Sears Artists' Book Collection at BIMA. Mare has received numerous publication awards, including commissions from the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Center for Book Arts in NYC.

Guest website/social:

Insta: mareblocker

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Host or Publisher Bainbridge Island Museum of Art