BUFFALO, N.Y. —
The Western New York Book Art Center is an arts and cultural education nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of printing and book-related arts.
Everything from bookbinding, screen printing, origami, letterpress printing, and more is available at the center for the public to learn about.
"You don't have to be an expert," said Nicole Cooke, Executive Director of WNYBAC. "Anyone with a creative curiosity can come in and try their hand at an age-old art involved in the book."
The collection of printing presses at the Book arts center is a cavalcade of various printing technologies from multiple centuries. They even have received donations from old newspaper printing presses that feature nostalgic buffalo iconography.
"Out equipment is interesting because a lot of it comes from a previous owner, most of its not manufactured new," Cooke said. "So majority of what we have is been collected either by ads that were up on Craigslist, or people saying we're going to ditch this just come pick it up, because they weigh a literal ton."
When the owners of the WNYBAC moved into their building on East Mohawk and Washington Street, they had to carry the heavy printers down the stairs into the basement.
"We're also really lucky that a lot of times people trust us with their family heirlooms," Cooke said. "So a lot of these items are donated because maybe their father was a letterpress printer and had his own collection at home. And if that person passes away or just no longer as interested in this art form, they bring it to us because they know that we will be good stewards of that equipment."
The WNYBAC is not raking in millions by housing printing presses and offering workshops to curious would-be designers and typographers. As a nonprofit, it does need to fund-raise to keep the lights on and the printers printing.
The nonprofit was founded in 2008, and part of its mission is to bring the art of letterpress into the community.
"We're actively going out to different communities in Buffalo, like the west side, the east side, by partnering with community centers that are already there in their neighborhoods," Cooke said. "So we're partnering with places who have been serving those communities with arts programming, and we are just enriching what already exists there."
In order to execute this arts outreach, WNYBAC needs to fund-raise, and for the last five years, they've held their annual Liquors and Letterpress event.
"It is actually our premier gala type event for the year," Cooke said. "We invite folks to come in and enjoy tastings from local distilleries, and throughout the whole evening, we'll have our presses running with hands on demos."
Unlike other galas, this one isn't black tie, but there will be black in other forms.
"Rather than black tie, it's going to be inky fingers," Cooke said. "We encourage people to come in their casual clothes. It's a relaxed environment with live jazz music. We have a variety of different activities for people to participate in, and we'll have our board members on-site to engage you and help you learn more about the organization and how you can get involved."
The event takes place Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the WNY Book Arts Center. Tickets can be purchased on its website.
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