2025 SFCB Book Arts Mentorship Award
2025 SFCB Book Arts Mentorship Award
San Francisco Center for the Book is proud to announce our second national mentorship award in book arts for Summer 2025. Our mentors this year are Julie Chen and Zach Clark.
With the support of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, SFCB will offer two one-on-one mentorships for experienced book artists held at SFCB’s facility in Potrero Hill. Each mentor brings a wealth of experience, expertise, and passion for their craft. They are dedicated educators who are committed to nurturing the next generation of book artists.
This program is an opportunity for mid-career and established artists from underrepresented communities to learn from skilled professionals in the bookbinding, letterpress, and artists book fields. Priority will be given to applicants who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people from other racially marginalized groups. Mentees will work closely with their mentor who will provide personalized guidance tailored to their individual artistic goals and needs.
The two selected mentees will each receive a $3000 stipend to cover program expenses, including travel, lodging, per diem, materials, and miscellaneous costs. Both mentorships will take place during the week of June 23-27, 2025.
The application is now open, and will close at 10pm on Sunday, March 2. Applicants will be notified of the results no later than Friday, March 28, 2025.
ELIGIBILITY:
Eligibility for our weeklong mentorship program extends to mid-career and established artists from underrepresented communities who possess a strong foundation in their artistic practice and demonstrate a genuine commitment to advancing their skills in book arts. Applicants must propose a project that aligns with their selected mentor's areas of interest. Proposals will be reviewed by the mentors and SFCB staff to determine feasibility. Applicants may be asked to participate in a short interview over Zoom.
Applicants must:
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Reside OUTSIDE the nine counties of the metropolitan San Francisco Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma)
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Be over 21 years old
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US citizen, permanent legal resident or O-1 visa holder to receive the stipend
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Working artist with at least 3 years of professional artistic practice
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Applicant may not be enrolled in a degree-granting program
TO APPLY:
There is no application fee to apply for this program. The application will consist of:
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An artist’s statement
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A statement of intent explaining their choice of mentor and proposing a project or skillset to pursue during the five-day mentorship
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A portfolio of ten images with corresponding image list
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A current CV
Evaluation of applications by the mentors and SFCB staff will be based on:
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Eligibility guidelines
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Whether the proposed goals align with the resources available and are compatible with the mentor’s expertise
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Quality and relevance of the portfolio
THE MENTORS:
Julie Chen
Julie would like to work with an experienced book artist who is interested in focusing on content development for artist's books in which text, image and book and box structure all contribute in meaningful ways. This would involve a deep consideration of how the book as object can be more than a beautiful container for content: The physical book should be a meaningful component of the content. While the mentoring session would most likely cover some craft and design techniques, the focus would be on content development brainstorming and the making of mock-ups and prototypes for future artist's book projects.
Zach Clark
Zach is interested in working with artists looking to create serious book works that embrace and acknowledge the quirks, limitations, and possibilities of Risograph, with a positive attitude towards experimentation with the unexpected. Applicants should either be proficient in Adobe tools or have a project idea that relies primarily on working physically with the scanner bed, with the goal of creating a project of a sizable edition. Thematically, Zach is especially drawn towards projects that are working with vulnerable and sensitive topics while maintaining approachability.
