Friday, May 8, 2009

Proposal for a Book Arts Center

I've been in conversations with some Prairie Book Collaborative (PBC) members and Drake University faculty about the creation of a book arts center in Des Moines. Yesterday, I met briefly with Joe Lenz, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Drake, and asked about the possibilities to have Drake sponsor the center. He is receptive and gave me some suggestions. The key issue to stress is that the center would help Drake advance its mission of involvement and service to the community.

We basically need to write a proposal to the Drake Center for the Humanities, get approval and funding for our plan, pilot and evaluate the plan, and if successful, search for external funding. I propose we start next academic year (2009-2010) with a series of workshops lead by PCB members and Drake faculty.

I am willing to draft a proposal for a pilot that includes workshops in binding, writing, printmaking, papermaking, etc. I wonder if there are any takers.

Please write a comment and let me know what you think.

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