& IN THE MORNING THE AIR IS BRILLIANT & AS THE DAY EXTENDS WE EXPAND

& now another week, another morning, and things settling back down a bit, at least for now.

This past weekend brought a tremendous amount of excitement. The trick is to see if it goes anywhere. At least I can say that I learned a lot, at least I can say that I sit here this morning with a renewed conviction. Regardless of how things go, there is always much work to be done, and it is in this quiet work that we will be realized.

I was very pleased and very excited to see this Printeresting post yesterday. It’s about the now forming Baltimore Print Studios, a community access print studio in Baltimore. The whole thing is being run by Kyle Van Horn, a printer and artist that I went to school with at MICA. Last time I was in Baltimore, this whole project was still in the early planning stages. Kyle had already amassed a fair amount of equipment, and had begun to think about a space and funding. It is hard for me to express how happy I am to see that it’s getting off the ground.

I know from personal experience the transformative, revelatory power of printing and bookmaking, and I know that once this studio opens up that same power will be broadly accessible to the Baltimore community. The boldness and generosity of the work that Kyle is doing will change that community for the better.

The image above shows posters that they are selling to help raise money. Buy some. Tell everyone you know to buy some. This project, this place, the activities that it will teach, and the welcome that it will extend, are absolutely critical to the continued vitality of the field and to the larger book arts and literary community. Many of us already know places and institutions like this that we are deeply committed to, that have played a positive role in the lives of so many people. Let’s do what we can to see that another such place opens its doors.