art

SABF Celebrates Creativity in May

The Seattle Art Book Fair (SABF) returns May 10 and 11, 2025, to Washington Hall. This free festival features artists and their books, book design, and independent publishing. This year’s fair will include more than 85 exhibitors, classes and presentations, and book-inspired art on display.

SABF defines art books, also known as artist books, as creations which use the medium of publishing or manufacturing a book as an artistic practice. Volumes seen at SABF can be handmade, offset-printed, letterpressed, photocopied, screen printed, or risographed.

The event celebrates creativity on many levels, with artists and their books using narrative, poetry, photography, and illustration to convey their message. Talks, activities, and installations from members of the arts community will take place throughout the weekend. A “launch party” will be held on Friday, May 9. To learn more, check SABF’s website at https://www.seattleartbookfair.org/ (home page of website shown below).

SABF is held at Washington Hall, 153 14th Avenue, in Seattle.

Additional West Coast art book fairs in 2025 include the LA Art Book Fair (May 15-18, 2025), Vancouver Art Book Fair (July 4-5, 2025) and the San Francisco Art Book Fair (July 11-13, 2025).

Book Publishers Northwest News is an indie news site devoted to the publishing scene in the Pacific Northwest. We welcome story suggestions! Use the contact form on the website https://bookpublishersnw.com/contact/.

2025 BRAVA Awards Include Children’s Book Illustrator Category

The BRAVA Awards from the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) return in 2025. The biennial BRAVA (BIMA Recognizes Achievement in the Visual Arts) honor outstanding contemporary artists, craftspeople, and makers.

Two categories related to the Pacific Northwest book scene are Artist’s Books Artists Award, which recognizes contemporary visual artists and craftspeople working in the genre of Artists’ Books, and 2025 Special Choice Award: Children’s Book Illustrator Award, which supports the work of contemporary visual artists from the Puget Sound region who specialize in children’s book illustration. For the Children’s Book Illustrator Award, an independent jury will consider original illustrations created for books aimed at readers 16 years or younger. This can encompass book covers, interior illustrations, and complete book designs, including but not limited to graphic novels, e-books, interactive books, picture books, chapter books, works of fiction and non-fiction, zines, reference books, artist books, and pop-up books.

BRAVA awardees will receive an unrestricted award of $15,000. In addition to the cash prize, the recipient of each award receives: 

  • Recognition in BIMA media, including website, print and online publications, and social media, and provided a template press release to distribute to their media outlets;
  • Participation in an online or live event featuring the awardees;
  • A short video to be produced about the recipient;
  • Invitation to participate in an Award Ceremony, likely held at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art on September 20, 2025
  • Invitation to serve as one of the jurors on the review panel of the next biennial award process.

For complete information on all award categories, including application requirements, visit BIMA’s website at https://www.biartmuseum.org/the-brava-awards/. Applications open in April.

The recipients of the first-ever BRAVA Awards in 2023 were Kamari Bright (Emerging Artist), Julie Chen (Artists’ Books Artist), Julie Paschkis (Children’s Book Illustrator), and Betty Pasco (Native American and First Nations Artist). 

Partners in Print Plans For New Seattle Space

Partners in Print (PIP), a nonprofit devoted to the art of letterpress, is planning a move into a physical space in downtown Seattle, Washington.

Starting in 2020, the organization received equipment from School of Visual Concepts (SVC) when they closed their school print shop. Since then, PIP has maintained storage for the equipment. The group has organized Zoom events and pop-ups to introduce people to the joys of letterpress printing.

On October 22, PIP announced that they had signed a lease for a new physical space to house their equipment and serve as a cultural center for letterpress printing. On their Facebook page, they posted “In the coming months, we’ll be fundraising, engaging with designers, contractors, and the larger community to build on everything we’ve learned over the last four years. Together, we’ll reinvent a vibrant new cultural space for letterpress printing in Seattle at 402 Cedar!”

The Belltown location will house PIP’s equipment and give them a space for on-site classes. The organization also plans to continue its community outreach and online activities. “By furthering the 19-year legacy of the SVC Letterpress Program, Partners in Print continues to wield the power of print for the greater good,” states their website.

To learn more about PIP and their plans, visit their website at https://partnersinprint.org/.

Top: New home for PIP in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle (photo top left and top right from PIP Facebook page). Former SVC workshop and letterpress from PIP. For more information see: https://partnersinprint.org/.

Seattle Art Book Fair Returns in May

May’s sunshine not only brings out the flowers, it also marks the start of festival season in the Northwest. The 2024 Seattle Art Book Fair recently announced their lineup of 80+ artists, designers, publishers, and for their May 11-12 event at Washington Hall in Seattle.

This free annual festival celebrates independent publishing, book design, and books-as-art. Check their website or follow them on Instagram for more information on the 2024 programs and exhibits at https://www.seattleartbookfair.org/.

Seattle Art Book Fair

SABF’s published list of exhibitors and participants reads as follows:
51 Personae // A is A // A. T. Pratt // Adelaide Blair // afterhours // Alder & Frankia / Impractical Labor (ILSSA) // Amalgam // ANEMONE // Anna Moore // Are Not Books // & Publications // Awkward // Ladies Club // Bad Student / Future Fellow // Robert Baxter & Co. // Benschop Books // Berm // BEST KEPT SECRET // Body&Forma // Bored Wolves // Broccoli // Carletta Carrington Wilson // The Cauldron Press // Chin Music Press // Cold Cube Press // The Corners of Their Mouth Press // Cornish College of the Arts, Design Department // Crackling.Co // Crow Design Studio // Curious Publishing // Current Editions // Ediciones Concordia Mx // Editions // Erika Rier // Errant Press // Fillip // G.U.P.I. // Gelkheht (Yewon Kwon & Benjamin Kraco) // Girl Noise Press // Historical Seditions // HOMOCATS // horse gurl press // Insert Press // Irrelevant Press // Issue Press // Jason Hendardy // Keep On! Creative // Late Night Copies Press // Leobardo Bañuelos Jr // Living Room Press // Mara Gervais // michelle ho // Mirrored Society Books // Moniker Press // Monograph Bookwerks // National Monument Press // NEOGLYPHIC MEDIA // New Documents // Nick Thompson // NIGHTED // Ouroboros Press // Paper Press Punch // Photoverge Studios // play.ground // PM Press // pocket press // Popla1000 // PrintED Studio 印得物工作室 // Raspberry Bow Press // Risolana // RITE Editions // self.img // Set Margins’ // sick sad trans fags // Skylark Editions // Snack Break Studio // Siempre Snack Time & Slow Nights Studio // Sybil Press // Taxonomy Press // Temporary Services / Half Letter Press // Tiny Splendor // Track and Field // UW Division of Design // Wave Books // Winter texts // Wonderfolio // Zine Hug // Zines4Queers // Community Tables: ARCADE Magazine // Books to Prisoners // Center for Contemporary Art // Folio Seattle // The Garfield Messenger // Puget Sound Book Artists // Real Change Newspaper // SPL ZAPP Zine Archive