A Panel Discussion
Are you interested in pursuing bookbinding full-time?
Do you wonder about the different paths a bookbinder can take?
Interested in knowing more about what it takes to be a contemporary bookbinder?
Join the American Bookbinders Museum in a panel discussion with Fine Binder Sol Rebora, Book Conservationist Abra Mueller, and Small Business Bookbinder Chanel Ly in answering these questions and more.
Date: Saturday July 26 11am PST
Cost: $15
About the Binders:
Sol Rébora is a design binder working in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 1997. She is a well-recognized practitioner, receiving awards both in Argentina and abroad. Her work encompasses innovative and experimental work in design binding and contemporary conservation methods. She currently works and teaches courses out of her studio and gives lectures and teaches in-person and online workshops for centers and schools including the San Francisco Center for the Book, Iowa University Center for the Book, American Academy of Bookbinding, and Penland School of Craft. She participates in different group exhibitions such us Éphémère, Tomorrow’s Past, and Les Pages Bien Gardées. Sol’s work is found in many private and institutional collections in the US, Mexico and UK, like the Athenaeum Library, Miami University Special Collection, San Diego Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, the Bancroft Library and the British Library.
Abra Mueller currently works at the book lab at the New England Document Conservation Center after receiving a diploma in Bookbinding from the North Bennett Street School. In addition Mueller holds an MS in Library Science with a focus on book history and preservation from Simmons University and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern Maine where she specialized in medieval and renaissance historical performance. Abra worked in the lab at Harvard’s Widener Library and interned in the archives of the Maine Historical Society. Her special interests include folk repair and historic paper marbling techniques.
Chanel Ly is the creator behind Bitter Melon Bindery, creating and selling books out of her cozy studio in Los Angeles. There she documents the bookbinding process through her successful YouTube and social media channels. She is the author of Handmade Books at Home, a guide for beginner bookbinders. Since 2024 Ly has been taking classes at the American Academy of Bookbinding to hone her binding skills and learn more about the art of fine binding. Follow her new in-depth series: Awl About Bookbinding, where she meets inspiring artists, explores their craft, and uncovers the stories behind the hands that make the books..