Earlier this month, the printmaking, book art, and paper area of UW–Madison’s Art Department proudly hosted the 2025 national conference of CBAA: The Association for Book Art Education (formerly known as the College Book Art Association), drawing more than 200 artists, librarians, students, educators, and book art enthusiasts from across the United States to campus.
Taking place from June 5-7, the conference, titled “Embracing the Tangible: Fostering Interdisciplinary Connections in Book Art,” explored the unique capacity of book arts to bridge diverse disciplines through tactile, creative expression.
The event featured a dynamic lineup of presentations, panel discussions, demonstrations, workshops, tours, and exhibitions. Participants had the opportunity to explore UW–Madison’s renowned printmaking, book arts, and papermaking labs, as well as notable art spaces both on and off campus such as the Kohler Art Library, Chazen Museum of Art, Arts + Literature Laboratory, and Tandem Press.
A highlight of the conference was the keynote address by Stephanie Stillo, Chief of Rare Book and Special Collections at the Library of Congress. Her talk, “The Alchemy of Alliance: Interdisciplinarity in Contemporary Book Arts,” highlighted how artists’ books have long embraced collaboration among different intellectual and artistic disciplines — a tradition that continues to evolve today.
This was the first in-person gathering for the CBAA community since 2020. Attendees traveled from many states — including California, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Massachusetts, Alabama, and Florida — with a strong showing from the Midwest, particularly Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
Julie Chen, an internationally acclaimed book artist and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the Art Department, served as a lead organizer of the conference. Reflecting on the event, she shared how excited and inspired the book art education community was to be back together again.
“I believe there was a lot of pent up demand for the community to have the opportunity to share their research and practical advice with each other in person,” she said. “I’m very glad to have been instrumental in making that happen here at UW–Madison!”
Looking ahead, the next CBAA national conference is scheduled to take place in Waco, Texas, in June 2027.
See more highlights from the 2025 CBAA national conference in Madison on CBAA’s Instagram page.