{"id":77195,"date":"2026-03-02T08:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=77195"},"modified":"2026-03-02T08:39:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:39:41","slug":"reviving-century-old-trades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/reviving-century-old-trades\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviving century-old trades in creative practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two courses at NAU are reviving century-old trades by teaching students traditional print and bookmaking practices. In one class, students learn the fundamentals of handmade book construction, including paper folding,\u00a0stitching\u00a0and binding methods rooted in a time-tested craft. In the other, students work with a letterpress, using centuries-old methods in\u00a0setting metal and wood type and\u00a0operating\u00a0specialized printing equipment to produce original, fine art prints.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Together, the courses are helping revive skills that were once essential to publishing and design and now have become an artisan craft in the digital age. The hands-on work\u00a0provides\u00a0students with a creative outlet that complements contemporary media training while preserving techniques that have shaped print culture for generations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction to Handmade Books<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\"Picture<\/a><\/p>\n

Barbara Ryan\u00a0Gartin<\/span><\/b>, associate teaching professor at the School of Art and Design, said\u00a0<\/span>ART 143-Introduction to Handmade Books<\/span>\u00a0was first offered in 2014 by\u00a0<\/span>David Williams<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0a recently retired\u00a0professor of printmaking.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0class\u00a0started\u00a0to give\u00a0students\u00a0experience in\u00a0bookbinding\u00a0but later delved\u00a0into the history of bookmaking.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents\u00a0don\u2019t just\u00a0learn how to create book structures,\u201d Ryan Gartin said. \u201cWe do a lot of what we would call maquettes, where\u00a0they’re\u00a0learning how to do book forms and\u00a0different ways\u00a0to create imagery. We work on a project where they make a page for everybody in class and do a Japanese stab-binding form, creating their own covers, so everyone gets an image and their haiku. It is a big print exchange, and each student creates a book with something from everyone in the class.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>The bookmaking class is capped at 18 students due to the applied and individualized learning that happens in the classroom. Students participate in hands-on classes, interactive critiques and discussions, and the class is composed of students from all across the university.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a lot of students in different majors who take the class,\u00a0from bio-med to engineering, anthropology,\u00a0psychology\u00a0and education,\u201d Ryan Gartin said.\u00a0\u201cOur engineering students are interested in it because of the physicality of making\u00a0something,\u00a0making a structure. It is\u00a0a\u00a0very interesting,\u00a0engaging\u00a0and full experience. I think at the end of the semester, we end up making about 12 book forms, sometimes even more.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each unit is broken down into different structures and forms. Students learn\u00a0suminagashi\u2014the\u00a0Japanese\u00a0art of\u00a0paper marbling\u2014\u00a0make books with and without covers and\u00a0learn the differences between lay-flat and leather-bound bookmaking techniques. They also learn about\u00a0sustainable practices like repurposing paper.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Letterpress<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ART 399 Special Topics: Letterpress<\/span><\/a>\u00a0goes\u00a0hand-in-hand\u00a0with bookmaking<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>\u201cLetterpress is very tied into printmaking because artists often want to make prints that are going to go into books,\u201d Ryan Gartin said. \u201cThe idea is for the students to be able to self-publish books because they can make them and then print the words, creating the full structure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The studio has a specialized motorized and manual press including a Vandercook SP15, and other smaller sign presses\u00a0on which\u00a0students\u00a0can practice. Spring 2026 is the first time the class will be offered, and it filled right after registration opened\u00a0and has\u00a0a full wait list.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The class will teach students how to use\u00a0and care for\u00a0letterpress machinery, as well as\u00a0letterpress forms, practices,\u00a0vocabulary\u00a0and history. It is project-based, and one of the assignments includes printing the lyrics of their favorite song\u00a0with only a limited typeset or alphabet.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryan Gartin is hoping to take students to see letterpress printing studios in Phoenix or Prescott\u00a0so they can explore\u00a0possible career\u00a0opportunities and\u00a0get to know\u00a0the Arizona\u00a0letterpress\u00a0community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>\u201cThe creative part of this is that they are going to learn how to use text as art, making imagery with it,\u201d Ryan Gartin said. \u201cWe’re going to look at contemporary artists and printers who make music posters for concerts, and\u00a0that’s\u00a0how they make\u00a0their\u00a0living. There are printmaking houses like\u00a0Fire Cracker\u00a0Press and printers like Dan Gibson, who makes posters for people;\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0his bread and butter. Print is not dead;\u00a0it is just going into analog, and people are being entrepreneurs about it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The classes are graded in three categories: project objectives, productivity and artisanship. They are recommended for students who are interested in creating and making things with their hands.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBoth classes are for\u00a0students who consider themselves makers, who are interested in writing, image making and structural engineering,\u201d Ryan Gartin said. \u201cThey will learn skills, practices and trades that have been around for centuries, and they will be able to carry them throughout their lives.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information, visit the\u00a0<\/span>NAU Academic Catalog website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two courses at NAU are reviving century-old trades by teaching students traditional print and bookmaking practices. In one class, students learn the fundamentals of handmade book construction, including paper folding,\u00a0stitching\u00a0and binding methods rooted in a time-tested craft. In the other, students work with a letterpress, using centuries-old methods in\u00a0setting metal and wood type and\u00a0operating\u00a0specialized printing…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":77197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics","category-student-edition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}