Tacoma Arts in Review: The Future of Tacoma’s Letterpress and Book Arts

As its title implies, last Tuesday’s panel discussion “Future Bound: Letterpress & Book Arts in Tacoma” was more than simply an introduction to the much-anticipated seventh annual Wayzgoose festival taking place Sunday at King’s Books.

The letterpress and book arts extravaganza known as Wayzgoose is an important hallmark of the Tacoma paper arts community, but is only one of many knots that bind Tacoma’s paper arts contributors. This was clear in the interactions of the discussion panelists: Jessica Spring of Springtide Press; Lance Kagey of Beautiful Angle; sweet pea, owner of Kings Books and Wayzgoose organizer; Jane Carlin, University of Puget Sound Librarian and book arts curator; and Rochelle Monner, Tacoma Book Arts Group organizer.

Though the panelists represented different institutions and perspectives, their interconnectedness and familiarity with each other (and many of those in the audience) facilitated a dynamic conversation about the current state and future of letterpress and book arts in Tacoma. The energy emitted in this meeting of the minds felt like it could be a catalyst for growth and change.

Letterpress and book arts have a blossoming national following which led the discussion moderator, Audra Laymon, to ask the question: “Why Tacoma?” In addition to the wealth of resources in the Northwest—from the support of the Tacoma Arts Commission to the willingness of local mentors—Lance Kagey astutely pointed out that Tacomans are specially attuned to the manual and creative aspects of these mediums because of our industrial and artisan roots; the very foundation that has supported the studio glass movement in Tacoma.

Unafraid of working with our hands and hungry for ways to create, Tacoma is primed for letterpress and book arts to explode into a defining characteristic of our culture. However, to nurture further advancement, the panelists agreed that this movement needs more opportunities for education, increased funding, the rise of more leaders, and a space for the equipment now hidden away in basements to come out and be used by more people.

Possibly, these elements could combine in a book arts center similar to the Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland, where artists collaborate, take and teach classes, and use tools and materials that can’t be found elsewhere. Though cooperative art spaces such as Tacoma Art Place and the 253 Collective exist, they do not yet satisfy the growing needs of the paper arts community.

Come learn more for yourself: If you have plans on Sunday, cancel them and come to Wayzgoose. Where else are you going to see steamroller printing? Come see the Tacoma letterpress and book arts community in action at Wayzgoose, April 17, 2011 from 11am to 4pm at King’s Books.

The panel discussion “Future Bound: Letterpress and Book Arts in Tacoma” was organized by the Tacoma Arts Leadership Lab, which is a program of the administrative arts organization Shunpike. If you are interested in learning about upcoming Arts Leadership Lab events, check out their facebook page and the Shunpike website.

Article by Kate Albert Ward

Wayzgoose Page at Kings Books

Arts Leadership Lab Tacoma website

Arts Leadership Lab on Facebook

Photo credits from 2010 Wayzgoose: Artist Chandler O’Leary’s blog and The Paper Studio blog.

ABOUT TACOMA ARTS IN REVIEW
Tacoma Arts In Review, a new column on Exit 133, regularly shares timely reviews and stories on art happenings in Tacoma written by local college students and community members. For more information and application details, go here.