Heather Buechler, a second-year MFA student in the Book + Paper program, has been awarded the Caxton Club Scholarship for her project Passing Through: Archiving the Rural. A hand bound artist book, it employs a number of printing techniques including letterpress, digital and offset; modified with the addition of artist tip-ins and inserts. Using the material history of printed ephemera as a guide, Passing Through: Archiving the Rural looks at the transformation of agriculture and its impact on small town America. Research focuses on the farming communities of Henry County, Illinois whose engagement with agriculture over the course of 175 years is reflective of the larger patterns of agricultural industrialization across the Midwest region. This work reflects Buechler’s continued interest in ecological and social issues of the rural Midwest region, and her engagement with print culture through practice and research.

The Caxton Club is an organization devoted to the literary study and promotion of the arts pertaining to the production of books. They have awarded scholarships to students enrolled in Midwest programs to pursue projects in the book arts. Previous awards winners from the program last year include Alex Borgen and Jamie Weaver.