The Seattle Art Book Fair includes talks, activities, and installations from members of our extended arts community.

All programs are free and open to the public!

TALKS & ETC

All talks take place in the first floor Classroom of Washington Hall unless otherwise noted.

SATURDAY, MAY 9
12:00 pm
Tania Colette B., Rosa Novak, Brendan Page, and others:
Clay in Print: A Conversation about Ceramics and Publishing →

1:15 pm 
Zach Clark & Lynne Yun: 
Type Design for Publications →

2:30 pm 
Heather Corcoran:
The Sentence Project →

2:30 pm
Taha Ebrahimi:
Guided Street Tree Walk of Cherry Hill →

3:45 pm
A. T. Pratt:
Professor Pratt's Pop-up Foldout Comics Cut & Fold →

SUNDAY, MAY 10
12:00 pm
Vivian Li & Abby Bass: Libraries, Zines, and Archival Things →

1:15 pm

For the Birds Trapped in Airports & WORK/PLAY: 
Representation in Publishing →

2:30 pm
Taxonomy Press:
Nourishing a Publishing Ecosystem →

3:45 pm
Sarah Maker, Editions Studio:
Inks in Your Backyard →

INSTALLATIONS

ONGOING
Fort Warm
Ben Barber & Sam Guccione →

ACTIVITIES

Activities & installations take place on the third floor of Washington Hall unless otherwise noted.

SATURDAY, MAY 9
12:00 – 4:00 pm
Press Power:
Letterpress printing with Partners in Print →

SUNDAY, MAY 10
11:00–5:00 pm
Bring It! Screen It!:
Screen Printing with the Vera Project →

ONGOING
The following activities are available throughout the weekend!

You As An Animal:
Michelle Lassaline →

Rainy Day Book Exchange →

Book Fort →

SATELLITE PROGRAMS

ONGOING
In Circulation: Artist Publishing in Seattle
Columbia City Gallery →

SATURDAY, MAY 9
Architects Without Borders Annual Used Book & Art Sale →

SATURDAY, MAY 9
SABF Afterparty
Humble Pie
6–9pm


SUNDAY, MAY 10
Seattle Printers Guild
1200 5th Ave, Seattle
Paper Pushers is hosting an after-party downtown for anyone looking to mingle with exhibitors and keep browsing art books! 7–9pm

Clay in Print: A Conversation about Ceramics and Publishing
Tania Colette B., Rosa Novak, Brendan Page, and others

SATURDAY, MAY 9
12:00 pm (60 min)

This conversation explores the relationship between ceramics and the form of the printed publication. From histories of clay workers’ collective publishing practices, to artist-run spaces marrying ceramics and Risograph printing, to the translation of bricks into books, we will talk through processes past and present of clay moving into print. You will have the chance to hear from artists and designers working across ceramics and publishing including Rosa Novak, Brendan Page, Tania Colette B., and others. 

Rosa Novak works across ceramic practice, archival research, and art book publishing. She co-runs Each and Every Press and is writing a dissertation on histories of clay workers’ labor organizing, their strikes, and the radical social forms they produced.

Brendan Page is an assistant professor in the Art, Art History and Design department at Wayne State University whose work largely centers on Risograph printing. He is the founder of Each and Every Press. In his books, he mixes contemporary design with photography and an experimental 3D practice.

Tania Colette B. is an artist based in Seattle. Her work explores the sculptural byproducts of political capitalism and state power. Her current projects center on tactics of “sculptural resistance”: barriers and monuments built by protestors in order to circumvent, resist, and critique state violence. She is a member of SOIL and Specialist in Seattle.

Type Design for Publications
Zach Clark & Lynne Yun

SATURDAY, MAY 9
1:15 pm (60 min)

Every book designer, publisher, and zinester is eventually confronted with the same question in the creation of their books: “What font should I use?”. For art books, this problem can seem even more significant, even when there are fewer words on the page than most publications. Every once in a while, the only answer is to make it yourself.

In this talk, Lynne Yun of Space Type and Zach Clark of National Monument Press will share their processes for creating new typefaces for their publications, from traditional approaches to type design to the experimental and found.

Zach Clark is an Oakland, CA based artist, educator, and publisher. He publishes as National Monument Press, a publishing project focused on supporting uniquely American stories through small edition printed matter and curatorial projects, completed largely through collaboration with other artists. He is one half of Chute Studio, an Oakland based Risograph publishing studio.

Lynne Yun is a typeface designer, illustrator, and educator. From crafting woven calligraphic pieces to designing type for screens and publications, Lynne's work spans an evolving set of multimedia to bring a personal touch to everyday interactions. She co-runs Space Type, a type foundry, design studio, and risograph press based in Brooklyn, NY where she designs original typefaces, illustrates across mediums, and produces risograph prints and art books.

The Sentence Project
Heather Corcoran

SATURDAY, MAY 9
2:30 pm (60 min)
Note: This workshop is limited to 15 participants. Registration required.

Reserve tickets (Note: registration opens April 21 at noon PST) →

In this personal writing workshop focused on fueling creative practices, we will flex our words. There will be a series of prompts. All participants will receive a 16-page journal to respond and collect their work. The writing is individual, but our experience will be collective—and supportive and relaxed.

Heather Corcoran is a designer and a writer whose work explores data, place, and belonging. She makes books, posters, and maps. Her essays examine isolation and connection in the visual landscape. She teaches design at Washington University in St. Louis.

Guided Street Tree Walk of Cherry Hill
Taha Ebrahimi

SATURDAY, MAY 9
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm (90 min)
Note: This guided walking tour takes place outdoors. Limited to 20 participants. Registration required.

Reserve tickets (Note: registration opens April 21 at noon PST) →

Seattle has one of the most diverse collections of street trees in the country (double the East Coast and triple the Midwest!). Join the author of Street Trees of Seattle on a guided walk of the neighborhood exploring both its history and its street trees. We will travel through the southern part of Cherry Hill and past what remains of the old Black Panther headquarters, stopping at notable street trees to learn more about them.

Taha Ebrahimi is the author and illustrator of Street Trees of Seattle: An Illustrated Walking Guide (Sasquatch Books, 2024). She serves as a member of the council for Historic Seattle and has been named “Seattle’s Coolest Street Tree Expert” by The Stranger.

Professor Pratt’s Pop-up Foldout Comics Cut & Fold
A. T. Pratt

SATURDAY, MAY 9
3:45 pm (60 min)

In this installment of Professor Pratt's Comics & Constructions Creations & Completions, take a deep dive through the decade plus length oeuvre of pop-up foldout comics by known innovator A. T. Pratt, learn some basic cuts and folds, and experiment with how you could use these to create your very own formally ambitious pop-up, foldout, or pop-up foldout comic. Scissors are provided, beginner level paper engineering will be practiced, and the power of comics will unfold into 3 dimensions and beyond.

A. T. Pratt is an artist, self-publisher, and paper engineer from NYC who makes comics, zines, art books and paper crafts, often including handmade special features like pop-ups, fold-outs and innovative binding techniques. He teaches comics and self-publishing at Montclair State University and School of Visual Arts.

Libraries, Zines, and Archival things
Vivian Li and Abby Bass

SUNDAY, MAY 10
12:00 pm (60 min)

Archives, special collections, and doing research can feel really intimidating, but you don't need a degree or fancy training to use them! Come see how people have used archival or library materials to create zines and how you can get started doing research to find knowledge that doesn't exist on the Internet.

Vivian Li is a comics artist based in Seattle, Washington. She is currently serving as the 2025 Innovator in Residence at the Library of Congress.

Abby Bass is a librarian at Seattle Public Library who works closely with the ZAPP zine collection. She made her first zine when she was 13. 

Representation in Publishing
For the Birds Trapped in Airports and WORK/PLAY 

SUNDAY, MAY 10
1:15 pm (60 min)

Each bookmaker will highlight experiences working in industries that normalize artist exploitation and monetize from those efforts. We will explore the historical and contemporary perceptions at the intersections of race, gender, class, and labor in and around art institutions and publishing as a whole. Further discussing our experimentation with materials, structure, and typography, pushing the boundaries of contemporary book design through our artistry and creativity. Our intention is to provide an outline for a new narrative on the thematics of diversity in publishing and design, all the while working to de-center notions of white supremacy, to bring together an inclusive dialogue to the arts community at large.

For the Birds Trapped in Airports
Kiki Lechuga-Dupont (she/they)
Matthew Austin (he/him)

For the Birds Trapped in Airports is an imprint, bindery, and space where learning happens. We provide resources and guidance for those designing, making and publishing books. Publishing within our studio is structurally designed to foster long-term care and mutual support systems between the artists we work with.

WORK/PLAY
Danielle McCoy (she/her)
Kevin McCoy (he/him)

WORK/PLAY is an interdisciplinary studio in Illinois. Their studio collaborates with forward-thinking artists while self-publishing their own exploratory artists’ books oftentimes exploring themes of identity, cultural modernity, history, political upheaval, and redaction. Their ethos is simple. They will construct their own table in order to offer seats for others.

Nourishing a Publishing
Ecosystem
Rachel Hays of Taxonomy Press 

SUNDAY, MAY 10
2:30 pm (60 min)

A creative pep talk on founding and sustaining a small press. Rachel will discuss fostering connections between a zine's audience and collaborators and the importance of creating our own containers for ideas in a world of tech oligarchy.

Rachel Hays operates Taxonomy Press, a risograph micropress in Detroit, Michigan. She prints the collaborative quarterly Floral Observer, a newspaper about interacting with nature. https://taxonomypress.com/

Inks in Your Backyard
Sarah Maker, Editions Studio

SUNDAY, MAY 10
3:45 pm (60 min)

Discover the vibrant colors hiding in Pacific Northwest plants and learn to transform them into functional inks. This will be a talk with demonstration, showing the extraction process and the shift in colors that come with adjusting the pH. Artist Sarah Maker will demonstrate the whole process à la Julia Child through fresh plant samples as well as extracted inks prior to modifications. Guests will also be provided with a handout of foraging tips and a list of plants that yield good results for inkmaking.

About the artist: “My early explorations in book art were about documenting my daughter’s life and linguistic development, but I didn’t consider myself an artist until years later. Now the stories I’m compelled to tell are about light and dark, division and inclusion, self and other, and alternative ways of seeing. I love distilling books to their elemental forms and augmenting my stories with structure, scale, materials, and interaction. My most fundamental guiding principle is that everyone has a story to tell, and I live that every day running Editions, Seattle's center for book arts.” — Sarah Maker (https://www.editions.studio/)

Fort Warm Benjamin Barber and Sam Guccione

ALL WEEKEND
Second floor, Washington Hall

Fort Warm provides an opportunity to reconnect with your childhood imagination, harkening back to the days where couch cushions and blankets could create a whole world. It’s an invitation to remember the makeshift architecture and autonomy that was equal parts play and practice for the real world. Fort Warm is welcoming, a safe fortress for everyone, and a nudge to consider how we can continue playful thinking.

Thank you Claire, Colin, Katie, Liv, Scott, Sinéad, and Tom for fabric donations. Thank you Stitches for discounted fabric.

Ben Barber (he/they)
In 2004, Mama Barber made tween Ben learn to knit from a neighborhood gran. That was a good bit of parenting. Ben is a fiber artist and painter who works during the day as Elementary Visual Art teacher for Seattle Public Schools.

Sam Guccione (he/him)
Raised by a family of artists, Sam started creating at a young age. After moving between painting and sculpting and zine making, Sam learned how to sew from his friend Ben. This mutual love for textiles has shifted Sam’s artistic focus to the fiber arts. 

You As An Animal Michelle Lassaline

SATURDAY, MAY 9
& SUNDAY, MAY 10
11:00 - 5:00 pm

Artist Michelle Lassaline paints portraits of people as any animal they choose. With watercolor and ink on paper, Michelle creates these personal, whimsical works of art in just a few minutes. Lassaline started the project in 2014 and has since performed for the City of Seattle, Artist Trust, 4Culture, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Northwest Public Art Conference, Pike Place Market, Fremont Market, Vashon Strawberry Festival, and numerous weddings, celebrations, and gatherings of all kinds.

Michelle Lassaline received an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from the Maine College of Art & Design in 2022. In addition to watercolor, Lassaline works in paper mache and textiles.
www.youasananimal.com

Press Power
Letterpress printing with Partners in Print

SATURDAY, MAY 9
12:00 – 4:00 pm

Drop in anytime Saturday afternoon for free, family-friendly letterpress poster printing. Partners in Print is bringing their presses, paper, and ink to the Seattle Art Book Fair—what message will you print and share with your community?

PiP brings people together by using old printing presses to amplify new voices, share knowledge, and spark creativity. Learn more at partnersinprint.org and on Instagram: @pipletterpress.

Bring It! Screen It!
The Vera Project

SUNDAY, MAY 10
11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Bring It! Screen It! is a live on-site screen printing demonstration organized by The Vera Project Screen Printing Studio that allows attendees the opportunity to up-cycle their used cotton t-shirts and totes while learning the screen printing process with hands-on interactivity.

The Vera Project is an all-ages nonprofit space dedicated to fostering personal and community transformation through collaborative, youth-driven engagement in music and art. A music venue, screen print shop, recording studio, art gallery, and safe space for radical self-expression, VERA is a home to Seattle’s creative community. Learn more at theveraproject.org.

Rainy Day Book Exchange
Seattle Art Book Fair

Bring a book you want to pass along (handmade book arts, zines, art/design books, publications — all types are welcome), and take a new book home with you. The book exchange is open to anyone who wants to participate. Special thanks to this year’s book donations from Marquand Books. Ongoing throughout the weekend.

Book Fort!
Seattle Art Book Fair

An activity table for kids and kids at heart, with book making instructions and supplies. Follow one of the provided book construction methods, or invent your own!

In Circulation: Artist Publishing in Seattle

@ Columbia City Gallery
4864 Rainier Ave S, Seattle

ON VIEW
APRIL 22 – MAY 31, 2026

ARTISTS’ RECEPTION
APR 22, 5:00–7:00 pm

In Circulation highlights the dynamic ecosystem of artist publishing in Seattle, bringing together artists whose practices move between print, object, and installation. Featuring artist books, zines, prints, original works, and functional objects, the exhibition explores how ideas circulate through independent publishing, shared creative spaces, and community exchange.

The exhibition also incorporates chairs created by artists and presented at last year’s Seattle Art Book Fair—functional works that once held readers, conversations, and exchange. By bringing these pieces into the gallery, In Circulation extends their life as both artwork and gathering place, creating a comfortable environment where visitors are invited to sit, linger, and engage with the work and with one another.

Together, the exhibition considers circulation not only as the movement of printed matter, but as the flow of ideas, people, and creative energy across Seattle’s artist publishing community.
https://columbiacitygallery.com/

Architects Without Borders Annual Used Book & Art Sale

@ Mutuus Studio
6118 12th Ave South


MAY 9, 10:00am–6:00pm

Architects Without Borders Annual Used Book & Art Sale is Saturday, May 9 as part of the Georgetown Art Attack.

There will be hundreds of books on architecture, design, art, urbanism, food, beauty, and success. This year there will also be art in various sizes and styles. All at bargain prices and with proceeds benefiting our work here at Architects Without Borders Seattle. AWB volunteers collaborate with underserved communities to design and implement ecologically sensitive, culturally appropriate, life-changing projects. Bring a friend, buy a book, and support a good cause.

https://www.awb-seattle.org/