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Fresh paint and new carpet are the only 21st-century materials in USC’s new Studio for Book Arts.
Thanks to several generous donors, thousands of pieces of vintage metal type fill old cabinet drawers. Wood type used long ago to print posters is stacked in boxes. Two 19th century cast iron presses sit in an adjacent room. A linotype, circa 1900, has been promised by a donor.
Though the muted scent and stain of old ink clings to these things, they bring an instant smile to Scott Gwara’s face. The letterpress technology that will be learned and used in the studio has fascinated him for years.
“When you print your own words on a letterpress, you haven’t just printed a book, you’ve created a work of art,” said Gwara, English, who founded The Maxcy Press for the Honors College in 2000. “One artistic component is the high quality that can be achieved on letterpress, rather than on a computer, and there is no comparison. Anything printed on letterpress is a limited edition and can potentially have a huge value.”
The Studio for Book Arts is housed in the lobby of McBryde, a residence hall on the quadrangle behind Thomas Cooper Library. The idea for the studio, which held its grand opening April 1, is to bring all the things related to book arts in one place. In addition to letterpress, the studio will have the resources for papermaking, silk screening, and bookbinding. At the studio’s grand opening, David Shields, the McClintock Professor of Southern Letters at USC, spoke on art printing in the United States to an audience of about 100 deans, faculty, and students.
“The technology we have in the studio is being immediately lost and I believe we are on the cutting edge of reviving it,” Gwara said. “Letterpress printing is 500-year-old technology. This is Gutenberg’s technology, so there is a great historical dimension to letterpress printing. Now in the digital age, we have lost that mechanical print focus. So this is all about extending a tradition, preserving a history, and that’s what I’m trying to do with the studio.”
Opening the studio to the entire USC community will go far in preserving this technology. The studio, which now includes all items previously in The Maxcy Press, will be open to anyone at USC who first takes a one-hour training session. It will also regularly be used by several classes, including those in English and journalism.
Although Scott has been the driving force behind the studio, his campus partners include the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, the departments of art and English in the College of Liberal Arts, the Honors College, and housing.
“We’ve donated 1,700 square feet to the effort,” said Demetrius Johnson, assistant director for residence life. “We also provided all of the renovation in house, labor, and crews, and some of the more physical aspects in renovating the space from a fraternity lounge to a working studio.
“We are excited about the addition of the studio to McBryde, which has become a very rich residential living environment for different kinds of activities,” Johnson continued. “Next year we will make it coed, we will have the book arts studio, and we will locate pre-medical students there, as well as some music fraternity students. The studio is a great, great addition to this living and learning environment.”
5/04
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