To the Garden
Philadelphia: Alice Austin, 2019. Paperback. Number 5 of 15 copies, signed by the artist. A short history of one city block in Philadelphia - 1000 Block of Washington Avenue - which began as Mr. Parker's botanic garden in 1820, then became Machpelah Cemetery in 1830, then a factory (which burnt down in 1993), and finally, in 1995, the Bel Arbor Community Garden. The text is poetically written by the artist and illustrated with a colorful array of linoleum prints of plants from the garden. An accordion book bound in light green Twinrocker handmade paper with title to cover and linocut illustration wrapping around the binding. The text is hand-set in Cheltenham type and is printed on Somerset paper. Includes a pamphlet with linocut illustration of a maiden hair fern and computer printed text describing the history of the garden in more depth including the artist's personal involvement in starting it in 1995. Both items are housed in a grey archival box with paper title label to spine panel. Book: [12 pages], 9 x 9.75 x 1 inches. Pamphlet: [8 pages], 5.5 x 4.25 inches. Alice Austin is a printmaker, book artist and painter living and working in Philadelphia. She has been on the faculty at the University of the Arts, teaching book structures, and has also taught workshops at the Center for Book Arts in New York, Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland, The Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, and other institutions. She earned a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art and has been an active member of the Guild of Book Workers since 1998. She worked as a rare book and paper conservator for over 20 years at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Alice has also been awarded several artist residencies in Europe, and her work is widely held in private, public and special collections worldwide. ARTB/030624. Fine. More