ARLIS/NA 53rd Annual Conference

Since their inception, ARLIS/NA Conferences have offered more than just professional development—they provide a unique opportunity to connect with colleagues one might not typically meet. Serendipitous encounters and connections at workshops, social gatherings, or lectures and the professional and personal relationships that develop are part of the magic of these conferences. While the 53rd annual ARLIS/NA Conference increases its accessibility and audience through the virtual setting, this modality risks losing the benefits and joy of face-to-face socializing and networking.

In the interest of the conference retaining opportunities for serendipitous meetings, ArLiSNAP is pleased to organize a pre-conference Mail Art chain. Attendees have the chance to find unexpected connection, while expressing their creativity. Mail art, with its roots in conceptual art and Fluxus, is anything sent through the mail that is deemed to be art by its creator. Mail art has the potential to facilitate long-term, long-distance connections through remote but haptic first meetings. Since its inception, mail art remains one of the most accessible forms of art. It can be created using found materials and can be sent for the price of a stamp.

Prior to the conference, ArLiSNAP will match participants with a partner from a different institution. Participants will then receive the contact information of their partner as well as guidelines to create their mail art. Attendees will create and send their correspondence according to size restraints and a deadline before the conference. During the conference session , participants will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with other colleagues, present the art they received, reflect on the experience, and participate in zoom breakout rooms. For perpetuity, participants will document any mail art they receive. Documentation will be compiled into an interactive ArcGIS StoryMap showcasing participant art and illustrating the wide-reaching networks of ARLIS/NA. The results will also be posted to the ArLiSNAP website and Instagram. The ArLiSNAP Mail Art Network adds a creative and tactile element to the virtual conference setting and restores the chance encounters that make ARLIS/NA conferences memorable.

Neurodiversity is a framework that recognizes people have neurobiological and developmental differences which impact how they experience and interact with the world; thus, there is no “right” way to think or behave. Although this term encompasses the neurodiversity of all people, it is usually used to describe people who have conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mental illnesses/madness, and learning disabilities such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. Many conditions can impact one’s physical health and lead to other disabilities. These conditions often create stressors and barriers for success in the workplace, especially those designed for neurotypical individuals who are often in a position of power or authority. Fortunately, small adjustments such as sensory-friendly spaces, flexibility in where and how work is done, clear expectations, and establishing communication preferences can make a big impact and create a healthier working environment for everyone.

This workshop is open to anyone who is interested in fostering a more inclusive working environment for neurodiverse individuals, and is open to information professionals at any workplace type and within any role, whether that be managerial or non-managerial. Workshop content will include a brief presentation to provide context about working experiences for neurodiverse individuals, but will mainly focus on active work amongst the participants, who will help shape the direction that the workshop will take. Workshop attendees will work both independently and collaboratively with other participants to ideate and brainstorm concrete strategies aimed at making the workplace more accessible and accommodating for neurodiverse individuals, coming away with a toolbox of tips and ideas to exercise in their own individual workplaces.

This workshop is sponsored by the Neurodiversity + Invisible Disabilities Special Interest Group and serves as a continuation of the “Please Don’t Pop! Near Me: Neurodiversity and Library Work” session presented at the ARLIS/NA 2024 conference in Pittsburgh. In that session, panelists who identified as neurodivergent or neurodiverse shared how their careers in art librarianship were impacted by their neurological and development conditions. In this workshop, participants will learn best practices for building inclusive work environments that allow all employees to thrive and develop a toolkit for making their workplaces more accessible for neurodiverse employees. The workshop will be led by librarians from multiple library types, including academic libraries and museum libraries, sharing perspectives from both types of work environments, and is open to all ARLIS/NA conference attendees.

During the Middle Ages, the long stitch technique was employed for hand binding blank books and stationery bindings. By the 1480s, this binding method made its way into the production of printed books in Italy, offering an affordable and practical means to safeguard and secure printed pages as they transitioned through the book trade to their initial owners. This binding method has rows of decorative sewing on the spine that connect the pages to the cover.

In this workshop we will construct a modern variation using the long stitch method with multiple folded paper sections and a stiff paper cover to make a blank long stitch book that participants can use as journals, notebooks, sketchbooks or gifts. Participants will complete a book during the workshop. Necessary materials will be easily gathered by participants from items they have at home, or supplies that can be found at local art or craft stores.

Taking Space & Making Space for BIPOC Book Arts, Cultures, Histories, and Futures - Tia Blassingame 

Proprietor of Primrose Press, Tia Blassingame is a book artist, printmaker, curator, educator exploring the intersection of race, history, and perception. Utilizing printmaking and book arts techniques, she renders racially-charged images and histories for a nuanced discussion on issues of race and racism. Blassingame holds a B.A. in Architecture from Princeton University, M.A. in Book Arts from Corcoran College of Art + Design, and M.F.A. in Printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design. She has been an artist-in-residence at Yaddo, Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI), the Andy Warhol Preserve, the International Print Center New York (IPCNY), and MacDowell Colony. Her artist's books and prints can be found in library and museum collections around the world including British Library, Library of Congress, Rijksmuseum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Britain, National Museum of Women in the Arts, and State Library of Queensland. In 2019, Blassingame founded the Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color collective, which has over 40 members, to bring Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) book artists, papermakers, paper engineers, letterpress printers, printmakers, children’s book illustrators into conversation and collaboration with scholars of their cultures’ Book History and Print Culture, to build community and support systems.

Blassingame co-curated the NEA and Center for Craft grants-awarded Paper Is People: Decolonizing Global Paper Cultures, a travelling exhibit, at Minnesota Center for Book Arts (2023), San Francisco Center for the Book (2023), and
at Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking this spring with writer/publisher Stephanie Sauer. In 2022 she co-curated the Troubling: artists’ books that enlighten and disrupt old ways of being and seeing exhibit at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art with book artist/educator Ellen Sheffield.

Blassingame is an Associate Professor of Art at Scripps College, where she teaches Book Arts and Letterpress Printing, and serves as the Director of Scripps College Press.