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UCF Student Book Arts Competition: 13 Years of UCF Student Designed Artists’ Books showcases winning entries from the UCF Libraries Special Collections & University Archives’ Annual Book Arts Competition. Artists’ books are works of art that use the structure or function of a book or book-like objects. While most artists’ books are published in limited editions, the works featured in this exhibit are one-of-a-kind objects.  The annual competition, open to all UCF undergraduate and graduate students, encourages students to explore the world of artists’ books by creating their own works. Each year’s winning entry is added to Special Collections & University Archives’ Book Arts & Typography Collection. The exhibit is located on the 5th floor of the John C. Hitt Library on UCF’s main campus.

On its 13th year, the Book Arts Competition sponsored by Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Central Florida Libraries have been recognizing the artistic works of undergraduate and graduate students in book arts. Book arts are works of art that pushes the form and reading structure of traditional books. Many artist books are handmade by the artist themselves. Each year the competition awards one student artist book to be included in the permanent Book Arts & Typography Collection at Special Collections & University Archives. A panel of judges selects the winning artist book based on creativity, craftsmanship, content, and design. This year’s judges were David Benjamin, Head of UCF Libraries’ Special Collections & University Archives, and Rachel Simmons, Professor of Art at Rollins College.

The competition had a breadth of unique entries. Each artist book submitted was distinct in both form and content, ranging from personal experiences to whimsical stories. Leaves by Jacob Wan is the 13th Annual Book Arts Winner. Wan’s artist book visually tells the longing of nostalgia; the connection and disconnection, the familiar and unfamiliar, the similarity and difference between reality and memories. Delicate sewing stitches and handmade paper interweave throughout the book as photographs recreate moments of the artist’s youth.

This exhibit runs through February which features all entries submitted as well as select past winners.

You might find them in front of the classroom or in the office down the hall and yet never suspect they make art. They are “Hidden Artists”. Hidden Artists is a group of UCF faculty and staff from various departments who create art on their own time. Founded by Judy Bragg Pardo, retired Senior Art Specialist at SDES, Hidden Artists have exhibited at the John C. Hitt Library since 2008.

Now on its 11th year, the Hidden Artists Exhibit is on display at the John C. Hitt Library Main Floor, with the assistance of Special Collections & University Archives. Artwork on display include a variety of styles, subjects, and mediums, including painting, drawing, photography, jewelry, and mixed media. The exhibit features the talents of Maribel Amaro-Garcia, Kimberly Berry, Gina Clifton, Pamela Williams Gruen, Dawn Herrod, Meredith Malkin, Russ Muller, Judy Bragg Pardo, Brian Pate, M.C. Santana, as well as library staff members Jacqui Johnson and Chris Saclolo. The exhibit will run until September 28, 2018.

There will be a reception for the exhibit that is open to the public on Thursday, September 13th from 4 pm to 6 pm in the John C. Hitt Library, room 223.

For 40 years, book artists and fine press printers Peter and Donna Thomas have been creating, printing, and publishing fine press and artist’s books. In celebration of 40 years of making books, Peter and Donna are traveling the country with their Book Arts Tiny Home lecturing about their work.

On Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at 2:00 p.m., the UCF Libraries Special Collections & University Archives, the UCF School of Visual Art and Design, and the UCF Art Gallery are hosting a talk by Peter and Donna in room 108 of the Visual Arts Building on the UCF Campus. In addition to their talk, the Thomas’ Book Arts Tiny Home will be on campus that day in the parking lot just south of the Visual Arts Building.

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“The World of Disney: Inspirations from the Baroque & Rococo” looks at the imaginative and ambitious artistic and architectural projects of two men: King Louis XIV (1683-1715) and Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966). Using a variety of materials from the UCF Libraries’ Special Collections & University Archives and the Libraries’ General Collection, this exhibit demonstrates ways Disney elevated popular entertainment by emulating the elegance and grandeur of Baroque and Rococo art and architecture of Louis XIV’s Versailles. The exhibit was curated by UCF students Madison Clyburn, Chelsea Hilding, and Shatia Gordon for their class “Art of Disney” (ARH3888) with UCF Art History professor Dr. Keri Watson. The exhibit is on view on the 5th floor of the John C. Hitt Library from April 6, 2018 through June 29, 2018.