Conservation Enclosures

Conservation EnclosuresCourse Code: 25MBM000I This one day, in person workshop takes place at CBA on Saturday, June 21st, from 11: 00AM to 5: 00PM ET. Saturday, June 21st, 11: 00 AM to 5: 00 PM ET Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on June 7th, 2025 at 11: 59 pm. About the Workshop: This in person class at Center for Book Arts is taught by instructor Maria G. Pisano. Protective enclosures are made to support and protect your books from environmental damages.

Course Code: 25MBM000I

This one-day, in-person workshop takes place at CBA on Saturday, June 21st, from 11:00AM to 5:00PM ET.

• Saturday, June 21st, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET

Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on June 7th, 2025 at 11:59 pm.

About the Workshop:

This in-person class at Center for Book Arts is taught by instructor Maria G. Pisano. 

Protective enclosures are made to support and protect your books from environmental damages.  Additionally for the artist they can also serve as an extension of their book to enhance their presentation and provide another surface where one can customize the box to reflect the contents.

Learn to make two archival enclosures that enable you to store your books in an acid free protective environment. We will make the archival phase box enclosure used by the Library of Congress, as an alternative to the clamshell box and a self-closing wrapper.  The class will cover do’s and don’ts in conservation enclosures and materials, show examples of damages from bad conservation practices along with learning to measure for custom fit, creating jigs, adhesives, and other helpful hints. For the book artist, librarian and collector. No experience necessary, just come with your books.

Required Materials:

Bring 2 books you want to make enclosures for:

1. A soft cover book (paperback) - max ¾” thick and size 5" x 8"
2. A hard cover book for the phase box, minimum of 1" thick. W and H should not be larger than 8.5”x11”

Additionally each participant should have the basic conservation tools below: 

• A small breakaway knife (I prefer the Olfa brand) 
• a bonefolder
• a self healing mat (no smaller than 12")
• a metal ruler
• small scissors
• 9" plastic or metal triangle
• a microspatula
• Pencil & eraser 
• 1” glue brush
•  

About Maria G. Pisano

Maria G. Pisano (she/her) is a book artist, printmaker, curator and educator. Memory Press works are represented in The Library of Congress, 9-11 Memorial Museum, National Library of Medicine, Columbia University, NY Public Library and many more. Her book Caudex Folium was exhibited at “Towers Rising“, the 9-11 Memorial Museum in NYC, and in 2022 her work was in “And Yet We Rise: A Retrospect of the Days and Times Surrounding 9/11″ at the American Consulate in London. She has curated a number exhibits including Book as Witness: The Artist’s Response at CBA in NYC and Crossroads: Book Artists’ Impassioned Responses to Immigration, Human Rights and Our Environment, at the Hunterdon Museum of Art, NJ. Ms. Pisano contributes to book arts publications and has presented lectures at the Library of Congress, College Book Arts Association and the Art Libraries Society of North America. Her article “Mark To Impress” was published in California Society of Printmakers and The Blue Notebook in the UK. She continuously gives workshops nationally and internationally, at her studio, libraries and institutions such as Bridwell Library, TX, CBBAG and Center for Book Arts in NYC.

All images courtesy of the instructor.