Workshop Fee (includes materials fee): $125
Click here to apply for a Windgate scholarship

Masks are no longer required for most workshops, though anyone is welcome to wear one if they wish.

Book boxes are a classic way to store small treasures, and making boxes is great way to upcycle old books. This workshop takes students through the transformation of a basic hardcover book to a constructed box, maintaining the book’s structure while creating a secret space. You’ll learn how to collect, convert, and add new functions to hardbound tomes. 

The entire construction of gutting a book and building a box will be covered in this class as well as the elements of collage, pertaining to specific dimensions, engineering 3-D elements to include and building in secret messages. The ultimate resulting piece of work can be a curiosity box that holds one’s treasures, or can stand alone as a piece of artwork. 

Participants are encouraged to bring personal items to make their piece exclusively unique. They can be flat or 3-D, examples include: old family photos, vintage tools or rulers, fabric from a great-grandmother's wedding dress, a family heirloom brooch, keys, various objects that hold meaning… 

>> Prerequisite: None <<

Materials to Bring: 

• A new or vintage hardcover book, 5x7" to 9x6", at least one inch thick. Old cookbooks or vintage books work well. Just the cover will be used; it will be gutted and the pages removed. Molly recommends checking Community Thrift on Valencia St, SCRAP, or your own bookshelf! They don't have to be old.
• Personal items to make your piece exclusively unique. They can be flat or 3-D, examples include: old family photos, vintage tools or rulers, fabric from a great-grandmother's wedding dress, a family heirloom brooch, keys, various objects that hold meaning…

It's always a good idea to think about what this Curio Book Box might be for... will it be for inspirational quotes and pages to keep? will it hold your love letters? maybe it’s a gift for a special someone?

Date & Time:  Thursday, May 2, 2024 :: 6-9pm

Location: 375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103

NOTE: Please read over the SFCB Registration Policies before signing up for a class. Registration will close approximately three days prior to the start date of the workshop to allow the instructor time to prep materials for class. We recommend you not wait to register, as workshops that don't meet our minimum enrollment will be canceled, sometimes as much as a week in advance.
 

About the Instructor | Molly Meng (she/her)

Molly C. Meng studied literature with a personal minor in collecting other people’s lives.  An obsession with old notebooks, vintage photos, and every single discarded book that exists, her work reimagines untold stories behind the otherwise forgotten items of everyday. The medium of collage in both paper and textiles is Molly’s dominant form of communicating.  She teaches creative workshops around the U.S. Molly C. Meng is currently living and working in New Hampshire. mollycmeng.com

Past Student Reviews:

"Such a fun class. Molly is so full of energy and inspiration. So great to get a dose of a creative instructor."

"Fun project, encouraging and positive instructor, lots of inspiration for future versions."

"Molly is a gem and creating boxes just may be my new passion."