Calling all art-lovers: The Boston Art Book Fair was held at the Boston Center for the Arts Nov. 4-6 featuring local Boston artists and some who came from across the nation.
The Boston Art Book Fair is one of the largest art book fairs on the East Coast, according to the Boston Center for the Arts . The event over the past weekend featured more than 130 exhibitors, artists and publishers. That’s not all though, the event also had DJs, workshops, panels and a crowd of passionate art viewers.
The event was founded in 2017 by Randi Hopkins and Oliver Mak in alignment with the admission to support Boston’s artists and creators. It also hosts some of the most respected and international publishing houses and independent presses, and prides itself on connecting Boston with the national art community and publishing partners.
From dancing, drag queens and poetry, the fair had it all.
“A chance to mingle with truly innovative artists and creatives of our generation, this year’s fair invites audiences of all ages to engage in an art-filled weekend to expand their ideas about print,” said the Boston Center for the Arts program.
One such artist was Korynne Newville, who came to the fair from Idaho. Visiting the fair for the first time, she thought that the fair would be a good place to share her newly published book, “Indiscernible Elements: Calcium.”
The weekend-long event was exciting for artists, exhibitors and viewers alike, bringing many from previous years and some exploring the event for the first time.
“I was on the T at Downtown Crossing and saw the ad for it and said ‘that sounds fun,’” said Kaitlyn Fiery, a Boston theater graduate. “I’m still trying to figure out how to keep art a part of my life going forward, so I was excited to go to this art event.”
Her friend Erin Solomon, a Boston local, said that she was also a first-timer enjoying the event and loved watching the connections made between artists.
However, this event wasn’t just for patrons, it was also an opportunity for artists to share their hard work. Alex Kittle, a vendor at the fair, has been interested in the Boston Art Book Fair since 2019 and said it was really important for her to be able to share her art as it was something she was very passionate about.
“One of the things I’m most passionate about is making art related to under-represented filmmakers, queer films and non-male directors,” she said. “And it’s really fun for me to take the visuals from these films and translate them to my illustrative work.”
The event kicked off Friday with a preview party that ran from 6 pm to 9 pm. Friday’s event invited guests to enjoy a dance party with tunes provided by local artist DJ WhySham. That night, they also held a film screening at their Black Box Theater showing a documentary film by Adam Jason Cohen called “Leaned Back,” with a Q&A segment with Cohen following the film.
On Saturday, the program included Drag Queen Story Hour, a workshop discussing how to use graphic design to make wearable art by Mary Y. Yang and Chen Luo. Finally, the day closed down with a panel discussion among young artists and community organizers on how to create a space for young voices and creative community spaces.
The last day to enjoy the art fair was Sunday, which held public programs and workshops including Post-Pandemic Platforms, a zine-making workshop and a poetry reading.
Sponsors for the event included Massachusetts Center for the Book, WildFox, Boston Art Review, Bodega and The Beehive.
For those who missed out on the event this past weekend there are multiple exhibits at the BCA to view. The Mills Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday 1 pm to 6 pm and features current exhibits such as Anukriti: A Temple for Timeless Beasts by Jasper Sanchez. This piece is on display until Nov. 12 shows Anukriti’s reinvention of prayer in a nonconventional and unconforming recreation of myths to embody queer spirituality. Also on display until Nov. 12, is Project Room No. 2: Azadeh Tajpour. Created by Tajpour, the piece is camera footage documenting a real incident involving a meeting between a U.S. border patrolman and a Canadian woman.
For more information check out the BCA website.
Follow Emily on Twitter @EmilyRCollins7.
