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DESIGN BINDING |
BOOK ART |
FINE BINDING |
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A bench-trained bookbinder, James Reid-Cunningham studied history and art history at Johns Hopkins University and Tufts University before beginning his career in book conservation at Harvard University. He studied bookbinding with Mark Esser at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, and was the President of the Guild of Book Workers from 2006 to 2010. Following twelve years as the conservator of the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, in 2003 he was named chief conservator of the Boston Athenaeum, a private membership library founded in 1807. After two years as associate director for digital programs and preservation at the Athenaeum, he was appointed deputy director in 2013. He is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, and has conserved books from the libraries of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the North Bennet Street School. |
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Recent lectures and publications: "Roll to Codex to Kindle: Books and Libraries in the Age of Digitization," lecture at the Boston Athenaeum, February 7, 2012. "Surface Gilding,” in The Bonefolder, vol. 6, no. 1, 2009. “The Book Protector: a Novel Conservation Innovation of the 1960s”, (with Rebecca Smyrl), Guild of Book Workers Newsletter, February 2011. "Pierced Vellum Bindings," Guild of Book Workers blog. “Eye, Hand, Tool: The Collision of Art, Craft and Conservation in Contemporary Book Art,” Miniature Book News, no. 142 (86), March 2011, p. 11-17.
Recent exhbtions: Locating Boccaccio, 2013-2014 (upcoming) Designer Bookbinders International Exhibition, 2013-2014 (upcoming) Brush Up Your Shakespeare, John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester, U.K., 2012 An Evening of Traditional Craft, Boston, MA., 2012 6th DeGoyler Triennial Exhibition and Competition for American Bookbinding, Bridwell Library, Dallas, 2012 No Library Card Required: An Invitational Exhibition of Book Art, Santa Fe School of Art and Design, Center for Book Art and Printmaking, 2012 Time Travelers/ Historical Book Structures, Asheville BookWorks, 2012 Art of Discovery: Boston Book Art, Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery, 2010 Art in Small Packages: Miniature Artists' Books by American Artists, 4th International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Azerbaijan Museum, Baku, 2009-2010 |
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In addition to his conservation work, he is also the creator of design bindings and book objects that explore traditional bookbinding structures in conjunction with modern materials such as rubber, vinyl, tyvek and Formica. He has exhibited his books nationally and internationally. He is the proprietor of Hematite Press and Wages of Fear, small presses that publishes illustrated limited editions of modern texts, with each copy in an original design binding. |
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He was the adjunct lecturer in book conservation in the graduate art conservation department at Buffalo State College (SUNY) from 2009 to 2013. He has taught bookbinding and conservation workshops at venues across the country including: Paper and Book Intensive |
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