Bookbinding I: Introduction to Softcover Binding – Fall 2023

Event Info

This five-week in-person workshop takes place at CBA on Thursdays, October 12 –  November 9, 2023 from 6:00pm–9:00pm.

  • Thursday, October 12, 6:00pm–9:00pm
  • Thursday, October 19, 6:00pm–9:00pm
  • Thursday, October 26, 6:00pm–9:00pm
  • Thursday, November 2, 6:00pm–9:00pm
  • Thursday, November 9, 6:00pm–9:00pm

Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on October 5 at 11:59 pm.


About the Workshop:

This in-person class at Center for Book Arts is taught by instructor Chang Yuchen. In this introductory class you will learn the basic use of bookbinding tools and materials, along with bookbinding structures.

Students will learn about non-adhesive structures, bindings for single sheets, and other bindings that can be made with little specialized equipment. Accordions, pamphlets, drum leaf books, and a variety of softcover bindings will be taught during the course.

This class is ideal for those who wish to learn simple forms for presenting work, or for building fundamental knowledge on bookbinding.


Required Materials:

  • Pencil and paper for note-taking
  • Bookbinding awl
  • Bone folder
  • Olfa silver knife and blades, or exact-o knife

All other materials will be provided by Center for Book Arts at no additional cost.


About the Instructor

Chang Yuchen works in an interdisciplinary manner – writing as weaving, drawing as translation, teaching as hospitality, commerce as social experiment (see Use Value) and publishing as a dandelion spreading its seeds. By constantly entering and exiting each medium, she strolls against the category of things, the labor division among people.

Yuchen was a recipient of Kahn Mason SIP Fellowship, Poetry Project Curatorial Fellowship, Huayu Youth Award Grand Jury Prize, Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Grant and Lumiarts Fellowship. She has shown/performed her work at UCCA, Para Site, Taikwun Contemporary, Abrons Art Center, Artists Space, Assembly Room, etc. She was an artist in residence at NARS x Governors Island Satellite Residency, MASS MoCA, Museum of Art and Design, Textile Art Center, among others. Yuchen has written for publications including Randian, Heichi Magazine, Press and Fold, Art in Print and more.


All images courtesy of the instructor.

The registration fee for this class is $525 tuition plus a $25 materials fee. Looking forward to seeing you soon at Center for Book Arts! If you cannot comfortably pay tuition but are interested in taking this class, please consider filling out our financial assistance application here. We will notify you if you are selected to receive a scholarship before the start date of the class. To view more information about our current scholarship opportunities, please visit this link. Covid Policy: Masks recommended for in-person classes at CBA.

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