Book Arts League

THE BOOK ARTS LEAGUE is located at 1915 N. 95th St. in Lafayette, CO. For 25 years we've been teaching all ages and all backgrounds the artistic skills in bookmaking – from calligraphy & typography to printing & hand bookbinding. We reside within the historic Ewing Farm (owned by the city of Lafayette) and look after the building in exchange for the classroom space. We offer hands on instruction and guidance for students and the community at large. Our collection of historic equipment provides insights into the history of communication and is available for public use either in class or rented studio time.

Our activities are open to all persons, groups, and classes of people. We are family-friendly, and we offer classes and programs appealing to everyone from children to professional artists and typographers. And although we encourage membership, it is by no means required to participate.

Educational programming outside of our printshop classroom experience includes seasonal open houses, outreach demonstrations at various off-site venues, and other free events at our farmhouse like the monthly Type Meetup – a forum for students and professionals to learn about letterforms.

The Book Arts League all-volunteer board are recognized professionals in their respective fields:

Brenda Gallagher – Brenda graduated from Ohio University with a degree in graphic design with an emphasis on illustration. As a successful publication designer, including over two dozen titles produced in Boulder, she became interested in hand book binding. She studied with many master book binders and completed her education at the American Academy of Bookbinding in Telluride with a diploma in Design Fine Bookbinding. Brenda has been teaching bookbinding classes in the Boulder area for over a dozen years including classes for CU continuing education, The Southern Rockies Heritage School at Trinidad State, Front Range Community College, the Erie Public Library, and Chautauqua’s Re-skilling through Transition Boulder. She volunteers regularly to teach bookbinding to kids at many local schools and Girl Scout troops.

Steve Matteson – Steve is a veteran typeface designer with over 30 years of experience in typography, lettering, calligraphy and digital type design. He is also an accomplished letterpress printer and host of the Book Arts League Type Meetup – a regular 2nd-Thursday monthly event. He has designed nearly 100 typeface families including custom fonts for Microsoft, Google, Toyota and Unilever.

Greg Robl – Greg teaches letterpress printing at the University of Colorado Boulder in collaborations with instructors and classes there. He is also a book artist and his work has been featured in two exhibits in Boulder County. He learned his letterpress skills from his fellow artists at the Book Arts League and now leads occasional classes and workshops at the Book Arts League. 

Julia Seko – Julia is a letterpress printer, book artist, and proprietor of P.S. Press.  She co-founded the Book Arts League, a nonprofit letterpress and book arts organization in 1991 and has been adjunct faculty at Naropa University since 1995, where she helped set up their studio. She learned letterpress at the Women's Building in Los Angeles from instructors including Cheri Gaulke and Bonnie Thompson Norman. Most recently she worked with University of Colorado Boulder instructors on The Poetic Table, an artists’ book/installation created by a CU class. 

Brian Wood – Brian is a letterpress printer based in Old Town Lafayette. He specializes in wood type and polymer printing and has been letterpress printing since 2011. Offering a balance and combination of Luddite sensibilities and the inescapable benefits of the digital world, he mixes up styles and techniques to meet the needs and inspiration of the job at hand. Brian started printing on an 8” x 12” Showcard sign press and over the years, grew his hobby into a small business and custom prints invitations, business cards, etc. on a 10” x 15” Golding Jobber. He has been working with the Book Arts League since 2014 and helps with social media and the website, in addition to workshops.