Lettered & Bound

submissions accepted October 1 - December 6, 2021

Curated by Abecedarian Artists’ Books, Lettered & Bound will be on view at Dayton Memorial Library, Regis University, Denver, Colorado in February 2022 and Tallyn's Reach Public Library in Aurora, Colorado in March 2022.

online submission form

email me to receive Prospectus PDF

Timeline:

October 1, 2021

Submission period begins

December 6, 2021
Submission deadline

January 2, 2022
Announcement of accepted works via email

January 24, 2022
deadline to deliver work to Abecedarian Artists’ Books*

February 1-28, 2022
work on view at Regis University

March 1-31, 2022

work on view at Tallyn's Reach Library

Week of April 11, 2022

unsold works returned to artists.

*delivery details will be sent to included artists at time of notification of acceptance.

PLEASE NOTE:

detail: A Book of Pandemic Days by Jan Owen

Onsite exhibit is planned, however should COVID-19 make that impossible, the exhibition will shift to a virtual platform.

Eligibility and Media

This exhibition is open to any artist 18 years of age or older. If you live outside the United States, please contact curator for additional submission guidelines.

Eligible are book works that include calligraphy (the art of beautiful writing) as a primary element. Book works can be unique, editioned, traditionally bound, created using experimental forms (e.g. folded forms), wall mounted (e.g. scrolls) or loose sheets presented in a portfolio or box. Calligraphy is here defined as human mark making that draws upon traditional forms of calligraphy or modern, gestural, or abstract forms. While artists may incorporate reproductive technologies such as photopolymer plates and printing press or digital manipulation and reproduction, the work should incorporate or originate in human-made calligraphic mark making, gestures, or tools. Work submitted for this exhibition must be a physical manifestation rather than a digital or virtual experience. Before submitting, please note that works that are larger than 14 inches in any dimension when closed are challenging to display in this venue and may not be accepted on the basis of size alone.

Fees/Submission
Entry fee for this exhibit is $15 for each submission. There is a discounted fee ($10 per submission) for full-time students and artists identifying as BIPOC or LGBTQ.

You needn’t enter your submissions all at the same time. Submission for this exhibition is by file upload only. For each submission you can include up to six (minimum of two) images and a link to a publicly viewable video of no more than 90 seconds. Please send gallery quality images without background clutter or text. DO NOT send composite images or images with embedded text.

If your work is accepted for exhibition, the images you submit, along with the text you provide will be used for print & digital publicity. As you prepare your submissions, keep in mind that videos, while not required, are a great tool for both jurying and marketing books.

To upload your entries please click here.

Submission fees are not refundable.

Please send gallery quality images without background clutter or text. DO NOT send composite images or images with embedded text. If your work is accepted for exhibition, the images you submit, along with the text you provide will be used for print & digital publicity.

Please note that you will not be able to change any information submitted at time of entry, including the price, after the submission process.

Selection Process
Selections will be made by Sha Towers, who is the founder and curator of the Baylor Book Arts Collection, which includes one of the largest calligraphic book arts collections in the US. Sha is the Associate Dean for Research and Engagement and the librarian for art and theatre at Baylor University.

Sales
It is required that all work exhibited be for sale. The prices you submit during the submission process are the retail prices Abecedarian Artists’ Books will adhere to throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Abecedarian retains a 40% commission on works sold by Abecedarian during and following the exhibit.

Catalogs
There will be an online catalog which will remain online during and after the exhibition.

Insurance/Display
All works will be exhibited in glass cases. Works valued at $1000 or less will be insured for 50% of the stated retail value during the course of the exhibit. Artists sending works valued at more than $1000 are advised to provide their own insurance coverage and are required to complete and return an insurance waiver. Insurance in transit to and from Abecedarian Artists’ Books is the responsibility of the artist. On acceptance to the exhibition, a consignment agreement, insurance agreement and delivery guidelines will be sent to each participating artist, along with any additional information or updates.

Accepted Entries
Works must be delivered ready for installation/display. Curator reserves the right not to exhibit any work inaccurately represented by the digital entry, that arrives damaged, is not properly prepared for exhibition or is deemed too fragile for effective display.

Shipping
All shipping & shipping insurance costs to & from Abecedarian Artists’ Books are the responsibility of the artist. Shipping instructions will be sent to accepted artists at time of notification of acceptance.

Conditions
It is expected that submitting artists are not violating any stated or implied relationship with another gallery or dealer by submitting work for this exhibiton and that the artist/creator of the work is not in violation of any copyright laws.

Agreement
Submission of entry constitutes agreement to all conditions in this prospectus.

The artist agrees that images of selected artwork and the submitted text can be used by Abecedarian Artists’ Books for marketing and publicity purposes.