The public is invited to dive into Bibliophoria, a two-month
show built around books, for the love of books, happening now
throughout the month of July in Sebastopol.
If the event was an actual manuscript, it might be described as
an easy read with multiple chapters, as it offers a variety of
events suitable for just about everyone.
For example, “Hand-Made Art Books” – an exhibit at the
Sebastopol Library – runs through June 19, and an opening reception
for Bibliophoria II: Art of the Book National Juried Exhibition and
companion exhibits, Art of the Picture Book: Behind the Covers, and
From the Endpapers will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m., June 16, at
Sebastopol Center for the Arts (The exhibits run through July
23).
Author talks, a Saturday morning walk, a book camp for youth,
workshops, tours, music and much more are also slated for the
summertime event. Activities will center in the downtown area,
extend south on Highway 116 to Iota Letterpress and north to
O’Reilly Media.
“We are showcasing the uniqueness of our community and using the
theme of the books as a way to tie it all together,” Sebastopol
Center for the Arts Executive Director Linda Galletta said, noting
Iota Press (which does traditional letterpress printing) on the
south end of town; O’Reily Media (which does electronic publishing)
on the north end of town; and Copperfield’s, which is an
independent bookseller are all involved in the event.
“We have never done this before. We have never built a show like
this before around books,” Galletta said. “It’s for the love of
books.”
Bibliophoria is an important event because it highlights the
value of books, Galletta said.
“And, it questions the future of the book as we know it. Ten
years from now will there still be books? Will there still be
newspapers? And what we are trying to do is highlight the
importance of the books,” she said.
While at the Economic Summit in October of 2009, City Planning
Director Kenyon Webster challenged the audience to think about what
they as individuals could do to stimulate the local economy.
“I was walking back from that and thought, what could I do? I
could teach writing workshops at Copperfield Books … so I did,”
said Christine Walker, volunteer creative director of the
Bibliophoria event.
Walker said she also envisioned an event that would center on
celebrating books and art.
So she met with Galletta, Center for the Arts Exhibition
Director Satri Pencak, Copperfield’s Marketing Director Vicki
DeArmon, and Teri Sloat, children’s author, illustrator and visual
artist.
“Immediately there seemed to be an interest in this thing,” she
said. “Initially when we started talking about his event we were
thinking of a weekend, something in the square, the Art Center,
that would bring people to Sebastopol for the weekend.
“About the same time,” Vicki said, “2011 is Copperfield’s 30th
anniversary, so all of a sudden we went from it being a weekend
event, to being in tandem with the Bibliophoria Juried show, which
is six weeks long. And we also wanted to incorporate the
Copperfield’s anniversary date. It was like a snowball effect. The
energy just grew and attracted more energy … and we have a very
lively community full of artists, writers, people who do book
binding, print books, love books, and also people who are thinking
about the bigger picture of the future of the book, without letting
go of the traditional books.”
For a complete listing of events go to www.bibliophoria.com.
Laura McCutcheon can be reached at
la***@so********.com
.
