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Hello all!

School started last week. It is my last first week of school ever (or at least that’s the plan right now). It was a bizarre feeling, kind of like starting first grade and cleaning out your high school locker at the end of senior year all at once — moving on to different things and feeling like there’s a lot left to accomplish over the next months.

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I had my first thesis class this week. All of the third year students shared the work they had completed over the summer and presented their proposed thesis ideas. It was thrilling to see all of my classmates’ proposals and be back in the swing of things with them.

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I also had the pleasure of attending the newest exhibition at the Center for Book and Paper Arts, Druckworks: 40 Years of Books and Projects by Johanna Drucker. Drucker is one of the most well-known book arts scholars and has created, in her 40+ years as a practicing book artist, some of the most significant works in the book arts world. It was incredibly inspiring to see a retrospective like this from someone involved in the book and paper arts world. Like I’ve said before, these areas of art-making are relatively new. There is a lot of theory and scholarship yet to be written about these practices. So, to be able to see the work of someone who is contributing greatly to so many areas of that world was a real treat.

Another exhibition that is currently going on (and that I unfortunately missed the opening of last night) is the Albert P. Weisman Award Exhibition. The Weisman is an award that annually funds the thesis projects of many Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts and Interdisciplinary Arts and Media students. In the fall, there is an exhibition of all the work that received this monetary award. It is a great sampling of some of the most top notch work being produced at Columbia College Chicago, and I highly suggest a visit. The show will be up until October 19 at the Arcade Gallery at 618 South Michigan.

Things are just starting to get rolling…so check back y’all!