Seattle Art Book Fair Celebrates Printed Media in All Its Glory

The second annual art book fair returns to Washington Hall this weekend.

by Jas Keimig

Grab your favorite tote bag and limber up your Venmo — it's time to buy some beautiful, handcrafted, and thoughtful pieces of printed media.

This weekend, the Seattle Art Book Fair (SABF) returns to Washington Hall from May 11 to 12. Now in its second year, SABF brings more than 80 talented artists and publishers from around the world to offer up their unique printed wares, like zines, art books, and elaborate, one-of-a-kind artist books, along with a program of events that brings the local community into the space.

The fair is the brainchild of Jayme Yen and Tom Eykemans, who met when Yen designed publications at the Henry Art Gallery and Eykemans was a book designer at the University of Washington Press. Though both moved on to different jobs, they remained in touch over the years because of their shared interest in graphic design and books. As art book fairs have risen in popularity over the past decade or so, Yen and Eykemans have attended and exhibited at fairs in places like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Then they got inspired.

"Everywhere we went, everyone's always asking us, 'Why isn't there an event like this in Seattle?' Because it's such a perfect fit for a literary, creative, artistic city,'' said Eykemans. "We'd be like, 'Yeah, why isn't there one?' Until, eventually, we realized that we could just start one."

Planning for the first SABF started in 2019 and began to take shape in early 2020 — then the pandemic hit, putting their ideas and plans for the fair on pause until last year. The very first SABF took place at Washington Hall, with over 60 exhibitors and over 2,000 attendees who came to flip through zines printed with risograph (a low-cost digital screenprinting process that produces vibrant, colorful prints), read from a giant book on the venue's stage, learn how to screenprint, and support independent art-makers and publishers from the region and beyond.

Now you may be thinking — what is an art book or an artist book? And how is it different from a book book? Is it like a zine?

"There's a different kind of attention to the reading experience that is more akin to an art experience versus reading a trade paperback novel or something like that," said Yen. "A lot of them are books by artists versus about artists. It's a fuzzy distinction, because there are books about artists that can also be considered art books. But I think the ones that are have that attention to materiality, to experience, to thinking about the book as a form of accessible affordable sculpture. Those are often by people who consider themselves artists and they are practicing their artwork through the form of a book."

This year, SABF is once again headquartered at Washington Hall, with over seven dozen exhibitors spread across all three floors. While you can peruse printed wares from tables like Los Angeles' indie bilingual art book press Errant Press or San Antonio's small print press and handmade print-maker Sybil Press, a good portion of the exhibitors this year are from Seattle.

A small taste: Georgetown will be well-represented by risograph print studio Paper Press Punch, which will bring its punchy, vibrant prints to the faire, and Editions, a co-working space inside Equinox Studios Seattle where printmakers, artists, and letterpress printers alike can meet and make art. Also tabling this year is Snack Break Studio, a collective of artists making zines and comics; ANEMONE and Zine Hug, who are collaborating on an installation, Climate Emergency Reading Room and Community Altar, which will be on Washington Hall's main stage; as well as the delightfully pink and "bedroom culture"-focused small press Girl Noise Press. For the organizers, getting a mix of local, national, and international exhibitors with varying labels of experience is part of the magic.

"It's really exciting to see a table of kids out of college that are making their first zines right next to a really established, well-regarded international publisher," said Eykemans. "Seeing that interspersion is really inspiring, and hopefully it helps build the community here."

The weekend will also feature several programs that are free and open to the public, such as a talk with Seattle Walk Report's Susanna Ryan; a guided street tree walk of Cherry Hill with Taha Ebrahimi, author of Street Trees of Seattle, who will give the history of the neighborhood and its trees; and a panel on resource pooling for indie publishers presented by Late Night Copies Press and friends. Visitors can also bring any kind of book for a Rainy Day Book Exchange, do some letterpress printing with Partners in Print, or get a portrait of themselves as an animal painted by Michelle Lassaline. Creative Cafe will also be on deck providing coffee and food to those who spent a lovely afternoon immersed in print media.

The Seattle Art Book Fair runs on Saturday, May 11 from 11 a.m.—6 p.m. and Sunday, May 12, from 11 a.m.—5 p.m. It's free! Find out more information on its website.

Featured Image: Over 80 exhibitors will set up shop this weekend from May 11 to 12 for the second Seattle Art Book Fair at Washington Hall. Pictured: Last year's SABF. (Photo: Michael Montoya)