Looking for a book to enhance your personal library?
Have an idea for an art project using worn or outdated books as materials?
Stop by the library’s midwinter book giveaway this Wednesday through Friday (1/30 through 2/1) to see which one(s) you might want to take home!
Why is the library giving away books? Some giveaway books have been replaced with updated editions; others are duplicates of books already in the library’s collection (including a few “like new” donated books such as the two pictured); some books are outdated or no longer being used; others are worn out. But just because they’re no longer on the MW Library’s shelves, doesn’t mean there isn’t someone who’d like to give them a home, gift them to a friend, or creatively reuse them–and that someone could be you!
Curious about the concept of old books or book pages as material for art? Find sparks for your own ideas in the work of contemporary artists and makers like these:
- Juane Quick-To-See Smith who often uses newspapers or other documents in art that engages social, political, and historical themes. Want to see her layered art up close? The VMFA recently acquired one of her works.
- Samuel Levi Jones who often uses deconstructed texts as material to create art that, like Smith’s, engages social, political, and historical themes
- Etsy artisans who use book pages to create whimsical earrings
What might you make that would express an idea or theme important to you? What might you create that would delight, surprise, or engage someone else?
