The Carousel Book

Event Info

This one-day, in-person workshop takes place at CBA on Saturday, July 20 from 11:00 am—5:00pm.

  • Saturday, July 20, 11:00am — 5:00pm

Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on July 13, at 11:59pm.


About the Workshop:

This in-person workshop is taught by instructor Maria G Pisano.

A carousel book is an ingenious structure, containing three-dimensional panoramic scenes that are revealed in multilayered openings that recede into space. Its seductiveness comes as a result of its construction, a series of five scenes, which when taken together are a play in five acts. Viewed through windows or other intricate openings, they take the viewer into their world, beckoning with surprises of creative multidimensional visual experiences. When fully opened it creates a full 180 degrees stage, which from an aerial perspective can be seen as a complex star, with the viewer performing a dance around it.

Participants in this workshop will learn how to conceptualize a 3D structure where all the parts relate to one another to tell a story; will come away with a working knowledge of binding methodology for a carousel book, including covers and pages; will learn proper cutting for this book form; and will learn the history of this movable structure.


About Maria G. Pisano

Maria G. Pisano (she/her) is a book artist, printmaker, curator and educator. Memory Press works are represented in The Library of Congress, 9-11 Memorial Museum, National Library of Medicine, Columbia University, NY Public Library and many more. Currently her book Caudex Folium is in the exhibit “Towers Rising, at the 9-11 Memorial Museum in NYC, and in 2022 her work was in “And Yet We Rise: A Retrospect of the Days and Times Surrounding 9/11″ at the American Consulate in London. She has curated a number exhibits including Book as Witness: The Artist’s Response at CBA in NYC and Crossroads: Book Artists’ Impassioned Responses to Immigration, Human Rights and Our Environment, at the Hunterdon Museum of Art, NJ. Ms. Pisano contributes to book arts publications and has presented lectures at the Library of Congress, College Book Arts Association and the Art Libraries Society of North America. Her article “Mark To Impress” was published in California Society of Printmakers and The Blue Notebook in the UK. She continuously gives workshops nationally and internationally, at her studio, libraries and institutions such as Bridwell Library, TX, CBBAG and Center for Book Arts in NYC.


All images courtesy of the instructor.

Registration for this workshop includes $210 tuition and $25 materials fee. Sign up soon as space is limited and registration closes on July 13 at 11:59pm.

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