Center for Book Arts 2021 Virtual Benefit
A Celebration of Connections Ignited by the Book Arts
Our 2021 benefit celebrates books as communal objects–all of us at CBA play a role in turning ideas, feelings, and actions into books. We’ll come together as a community of all kinds of makers for this event. The evening includes VIP artists’ salons prior to the main program, a reading and performance by CBA artists, and book art inspired drink recipes for your enjoyment wherever you tune in from. Join us for a spectacular night with a vibrant group of artists, curators, poets, performers, gallerists to enjoy the book arts together and to honor visual artist Alison Knowles; known for her book objects, soundworks, installations, performances, publications and association with Fluxus. We also present a stunning benefit print commissioned from artist, teacher, researcher and curator Faride Mereb, which comes with every ticket purchased for $200 and above.
The Program
- Poetry Reading by John Yau
- Featuring Buzz Spector, Vincent Chong, and Richard Minsky
- Music by Sandbox Percussion
Meet our Honoree:
Alison Knowles is a visual artist known for her soundworks, installations, performances, publications and association with Fluxus. As a founding member of Fluxus, Knowles produced what may be the earliest book object, a can of texts and beans called the Bean Rolls, in 1963. In 1967, she produced the Big Book, an eight foot tall book of environments organized around a spine. It opened at the Frankfurter Buchmesse and toured through Europe. After the first Big Book was destroyed, Knowles produced a second large-scale book, The Book of Bean in 1982 with the help of Franklin Furnace. Some pages of it can be found at Museo Bostell in Spain. The smaller A Finger Book of Ancient Language followed in 1985 with seven 11 inch high pages in braille, shown at the Lighthouse for the Blind in New York. Knowles has also written several books of experimental text and poetry.
We are grateful for the support of our Benefit Committee, the Board of Directors, our donors and sponsors.
CBA Benefit Committee:
- Stephen Bury
- Roberta Brody
- Gail Coleman
- Maria Fredericks
- Tom Freudenheim
- Nancy Macomber
- Asher Schlusselberg
- Kenneth Soehner
- Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum
View sponsor opportunities for our leading event of 2021, the annual benefit, a great way to make a meaningful and lasting impression on the thousands of people worldwide we serve. Sponsorship at any level demonstrates your company’s commitment to diversity, education, and creativity.
Sponsors:
Photograph of Alison Knowles by Janette Beckman (2015)
