STAFF & INSTRUCTORS   

Chip Schilling

AAB MANAGING DIRECTOR
WILBER H. “CHIP” SCHILLING has worked as a book artist since 1992 under the imprint of Indulgence Press. His work is collected and exhibited internationally. His work is featured in many publications, including Masters: Book Arts, Major Works by Leading Artists (Sterling Publishing), and Volumes 1 & 2, Book Art Object (Codex Foundation). Schilling earned a BA in history and photography from Clark University (Worchester, MA) and an MFA in book arts and printmaking from The University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA). Schilling currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. He taught as a full-time lecturer at Columbia College Chicago in the graduate program of the Interdisciplinary Arts Department. He is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jennifer Büchi

AAB PROGRAM MANAGER
JENNIFER BÜCHI is a poet and bookbinder living in Heber City, Utah. She is a 2023 graduate of the American Academy of Bookbinding’s Fine Binding program and completed her Master’s degree in Poetry from Warren Wilson College in 2014. Her work is held in public and private collections, including the University of Utah Marriott Library and Willamette University. She is partial to calendars and publishes artist’s books under her studio name, the Cosmic Dirt Farm. She has been the Program Manager of the American Academy of Bookbinding since January 2023.

Don Glaister

DIRECTOR, FINE BINDING PROGRAM
DON GLAISTER is the Director of the Fine Binding Program at the American Academy of Bookbinding. He began his bookbinding career after taking degrees in painting and sculpture from San Jose State College in California and studying binding privately with Barbara Hiller in San Francisco and Pierre Aufschnieder and Roger Arnoult in Paris. His professional career in design bookbinding, spanning more than thirty years, has centered on exploring, developing, and using unexpected binding materials, visual humor, and spontaneous visual expression while working within the classical framework of the European binding form. Beginning in 2002, Don’s work expanded to include the design and production of editions of artist’s books that include paintings, sculptures, and poetry that Don has made. Don has taught binding and design privately and as a Professor of Book Arts at the University of Alabama. Don’s work appears in major private, public, and national collections throughout North America and Europe. Don received the Guild of Bookworkers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Visit Don’s website at http://foolsgoldstudio.com/

 Peter Geraty

DIRECTOR, COMPREHENSIVE BOOKBINDING PROGRAM
PETER GERATY began bookbinding in 1975 at Unicorn Press in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he worked as a printer, typesetter, and binder for several years. He moved to Boston in 1977 and continued working as a binder at various places including; library binding at the New England Bookbinding Company, conservation at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and over four years at Harcourt Bindery ending his time there as shop manager. In 1984 he began working as an independent binder and in 1985 moved to Easthampton, MA. As the owner of Praxis Bindery, he has focused on conservation, fine binding, and binding of editions and presentation materials for publishers and artists. Peter is intrigued by the challenge of combining design, structure, and materials to present text or art. The name he chose for his bindery, Praxis, encompasses his ongoing philosophy to continually hone one’s craftsmanship and pursue deeper knowledge. Peter received the Guild of Bookworkers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

Visit Peter’s website at https://www.praxisbindery.com/

Coleen Curry

COLEEN CURRY  is a contemporary design binder. Since she bound her first book in 2003, Coleen’s aim is to craft technically evocative bindings that provide a visual, sensual, and tactile experience. In 2009, Coleen received her Diploma in Fine Binding from the American Academy of Bookbinding (AAB). In addition to teaching at AAB, Coleen has led workshops in leather and stone bindings as well as leather dyeing and surface treatments since 2014 in the US and Australia. She is past President of the Hand Bookbinders of California and current Vice-Chair of the San Francisco Center for the Book. Her work has been widely exhibited internationally and has won several awards. Coleen’s work is held in private and public collections, such as the Bancroft Library, Boston Athenaeum, and Bainbridge Museum of Art. Coleen is Canadian and lives on the California coast where she crafts design bindings.

Visit Coleen’s website at http://www.coleencurry.com/

Lang Ingalls

LANG INGALLS began studying fine bookbinding years ago, taking private instruction with Eleanore Ramsey (San Francisco). Deep interest drove her to seek further instruction at Centro del bel Libro (Ascona), where she studied with Edwin Heim. While there, Lang met Cathy Adelman, a graduate of AAB, who suggested the Academy; Lang enrolled.

Lang graduated from the American Academy of Bookbinding in 2007 with a degree in Fine Binding. She studied under both Tini Miura and Monique Lallier. She has also studied with many other teachers at AAB — notably Don Glaister, Hélène Jolis, Gabrielle Fox, and Don Etherington — to further hone her skills. More recently, Lang has explored new structures and approaches to design and techniques through her studies with Ana Ruiz Larrea in Paris. She presently works out of her atelier in Crested Butte, making fine bindings year-round and assists Monique Lallier and Peter Geraty as needed in their classes at AAB.

Lang is a member of the boards of directors for the Ah Haa School of the Arts and the Guild of BookWorkers, acting as Newsletter Editor for the national publication of the Guild. She is exhibition coordinator for AAB’s OPEN • SET competition/exhibition. Lang is a member of several international binding groups (ARA Canada, ARA France, ARA Belgique, Society of Bookbinders, Designer Bookbinders, Miniature Book Society) and celebrates with the members of these groups the stimulating and textural aspects of creating a fine binding — Her work shows in the states and abroad, and is found in public and private collections.

Visit Lang’s website at http://langingalls.com/

Renate Mesmer

RENATE MESMER is the Head of Conservation at the Folger Shakespeare Library. She also held the position of Assistant Head of Conservation between 2004 and 2011. Renate started working as a bookbinder at the age of sixteen and earned a Masters in Bookbinding from the Chamber of Crafts of Palatinate in Germany. Before moving to the United States, she directed the Book and Paper Conservation Program at the Centro del bel Libro in Ascona, Switzerland. As Head of Conservation at the Speyer’s State Archives in Germany, she was awarded a grant to study conservation abroad. Her internships took her to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Renate has enjoyed teaching a great variety of workshops in book and paper conservation for the Guild of BookWorkers Regional Chapters, North Bennett Street School, AIC in the U.S. as well as other organizations in Australia, Canada, and Switzerland for many years. She has presented at the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), Guild of BookWorkers, and Society of Bookbinders. Her position as president of the International Association of Book and Paper Conservators (IADA) keeps her current on the field of conservation at an international level.

Visit Renate’s Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/renatemesmer/?hl=en

Anne Hillam

ANNE HILLAM is a book conservator in private practice providing conservation services for institutions and individuals in New York City and Western Massachusetts. She was previously Head of Conservation at the New York Academy of Medicine’s Gladys Brooks Book & Paper Conservation Laboratory. Anne is the Guest Lecturer for Book Conservation at the Garman Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State and a Library and Archive Conservation Education (LACE) Consortium member. She has a strong interest in historical book structures, particularly parchment bindings, and teaches these structures both nationally and internationally. Anne is a Professional Associate in the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). 

Christopher McAfee

Christopher McAfee received a BFA in printmaking in 1993 from Brigham Young University where he began learning to bind books. He went on in 1995 to receive an MFA in the book arts from the University of Alabama where he began learning book conservation. He has been conserving and preserving books, documents, photographs, and other artifacts since 1995. He currently works for the Brigham Young University Library as Head Conservator.

Rahel Scheufele

Rahel Scheufele was Born and educated in Germany, Rahel trained as a bookbinder from 2009 – 2012 and received a master’s degree in hand-bookbinding (Munich) in 2015. She continued her training during workshops with Edgard Claes, Ireen Kranz, and others. From 2016 to 2023, she headed the hand-bookbinding department at Bubu AG (Switzerland), where she oversaw more than twenty bookbinders and trained 11 young apprentices. Since 2023, she has been a teacher in Munich, where she trains apprentices and master bookbinders. Rahel is a member of the MDE (Meister der Einbandkunst), a German group of professional hand-bookbinders for fine bindings.

Visit Rahel’s website at www.rscheufele.de

Suzanne Moore

SUZANNE MOORE is a lettering artist who combines contemporary vision with traditional scribal techniques in contemporary manuscript books. Born to a family of gifted inventors/engineers, raised in post-Sputnik middle America, with aptitudes in math and science, she was channeled into those fields at an early age. She made her way into the world of art at 20-something and earned a BFA in Printmaking and Drawing (1973). Moore says: “Letters and letterforms as the subject of drawing, painting, printmaking, and lettering are the focus of my work as a book artist. The physical, sensual, and architectural aspects of books and the musical – rhythmic, sequential, unfolding narratives of bookworks – are a multi-dimensional parallel to the way letterforms move on the page. I see books as interactive places: portable spaces created to engage and offer readers new perspectives.” Recent work has included the creation of books on the concept, the tumultuous history, and the mystery of Zero and the Void and a pair of large-format manuscript books with monotype imagery presenting Bob Dylan’s song lyrics.

Visit Suzanne’s website at https://suzannemoorefolios.com/

Gabrielle Fox

Gabrielle Fox has enjoyed exploring the possibilities in miniature books and bindings since the early 1980s when she returned to England after setting up the Conservation Lab at the University of Cincinnati’s Langsam Library.

Gabrielle earned her diploma in Bookbinding from the Guildford College of Further Education in Surrey, UK, with the goal of becoming a book conservator.  Since the 1980s, she has taught throughout England and America. Now based in Cincinnati, she travels often to care for collections, teach, and make miniature books. Miniatures are a particular interest to Gabrielle. She has received many awards for her work and it is collected by private, public and academic libraries around the world. Gabrielle is active with the Miniature Book Society and has taught at the American Academy of Bookbinding for many years.

For further information about the Miniature Book Society and Gabrielle’s work: www.mbs.org and www.gabriellefox.com.

Brenda Gallagher

BRENDA GALLAGHER is a graphic designer, book artist, and fine bookbinder living in Niwot, Colorado. She has designed books and magazines professionally for over 25 years and serves on the Boulder Book Arts League board. Brenda enjoys using her experience with professional design to self-publish works with her own illustrations, which she then binds using ancient skills of fine bookbinding. She is an enthusiastic teacher of bookbinding and letterpress printing for students of all ages. Brenda graduated from the American Academy of Bookbinding in 2023 and received her diploma from the Fine Binding Program.

Visit Brenda’s website at www.brendagallagher.com