The Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) is the largest of three book arts centers in the nation. I honestly can't believe I have lived in Minnesota for three years and haven't made the trek over there to check it out till now! The most unexpected part of our tour to me was seeing all the artists taking advantage of and working in the space.
Comic Book Creators utilizing MCBA as a meeting space.
Freshly marbled paper that is still wet.
Learning about marbling.
Marbled paper drying during our tour.
Examples of marbled patterns.
After seeing some artists in action we got to see all kinds of different book related work rooms and equipment.
Paper guillotine.
Printing press.
I loved the letter setting. Seeing how books used to be laid out was really fascinating to my graphic designer side. I found out the saying "mind you p's and q's" came from type pieces being put back in the wrong spaces. Also, the saying "out of sorts" refers to running out of a certain letter when setting a page.
Odds and ends box.
Wood type.
Specialty design blocks.
Each one of these drawers contains a different font.
Font drawers
Handmade books.
There were so many beautiful books and works to look at. If you get a chance you should check out MCBA. You won't be disappointed!