Community Artmaking
Kicking off our Artist Residency “We Write The Book” at the Canoga Park Library!
JOIN US JULY 198th at 2PM!!!
Kicking off our Artist Residency “We Write The Book” at the Canoga Park Library!
West Valley Regional Branch Library Bookmaking Residency CULMINATION Event!!!!!
Welcome to the culmination of our “We Write The Book” artist residency in bookmaking at the West Valley Regional Branch Library, supported by The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
We hope you enjoy seeing this overview of our bookmaking program workshops and Culmination Event for our 2022-2023 Residency!
“WE WRITE THE BOOK”
Artist Residency at the
West Valley Regional Branch Library
Debra Disman – Artist in Residence
Supported by
The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs
This offering was part of my Artist Residency in Bookmaking, “We Write the Book” at the West Valley Regional Branch Library of the Los Angeles Public Library, through the Los Angeles City Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Residency was comprised of a series of bookmaking workshops presented at the Library, planned in close coordination with Library Staff.
The Big Read in LA 2023 at Craft Contemporary!
In conjunction with this year’s NEA Big Read: Los Angeles, Craft Contemporary dedicated a very special Family Craft Lab workshop to celebrating the art of bookmaking in Using gluing and folding techniques participants created their own flag books, a unique and sculptural book with moving parts. Inspired by this years Big Read novel, Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu, attendees developed each flag “page” with symbols, words, patterns and images to tell a story about their identity and culture. Craft Lab is for all ages, everyone is welcome!
Fearless leader BILLIE RAE VINSON, Director of School and Family Programs, planned and promoted the program, and matched her clothes to our materials, and PRIDE Month!
She and her devoted volunteers prepared the materials for our flag book project.
I brought in my own flag book samples for inspiration.
There was something for everyone on the table,
including samples of “Interior Chinatown” and the graphic novel “American Born Chinese” , a tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang,
in specialized Big Read tote bags!
The wonderful Craft Contemporary volunteers were able to exert their maker energy along with the participants.
Families, individuals, old friends and new joined together to create, and
Love…Life.
Rainbow Butterfly Bookmaking at the West Valley Regional Branch Library Honors Pride Month!
The Residency is comprised of a series of bookmaking workshops presented at the Library, planned in close coordination with Library Staff.
Flower-fold Bookmaking Honors Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at the West Valley Regional Branch Library!
I was thrilled to lead a bookmaking workshop, (called a “program” in Library parlance!) on May 11, 2023, celebrating the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (of May) with a “Flower-Fold” Bookmaking program using origami paper and folding techniques.
Participants of a range of ages learned to make the flower fold structure, then linked together several “flowers” into chains, added covers and ribbons. Some participants went on to develop their books with assorted materials including decorative papers, stickers and magazines.
The results were beautiful, and filled participants with pride as they navigated the trickier aspects of the process.