Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Overview

Wells Book Arts Center is a maker space focused on the arts and crafts of the book, with an extensive collection of historical printing equipment, book binding tools, and risograph printing. This unique resource provides hands-on learning experiences for HWS students and the community.

Students learn the history of the book and graphic design, as well as artistic skills, through letterpress printing and hand bookbinding courses and workshops serving classes across the disciplines. The Center also serves the campus and community with lectures and workshops, including an annual Summer Institute. Book Arts Summer Institute’s intensive courses in letterpress printing, hand bookbinding, artist’s books, letterings arts, paper decoration, and hand papermaking are taught by some of the foremost book artists in the U.S. and Europe. Book Arts Summer Institute will relaunch in 2027.

Wells Book Arts Center currently houses three Vandercook presses, a tabletop common press, approximately 100 cases of metal and wood movable type, hand bookbinding tools, and a risograph printer. Future expansion will give HWS access to its full collection of 19 printing presses, an additional 600 cases of type and ornaments, an extensive bindery, and a papermaking studio. The Center’s collection includes type, ornaments, and equipment from Robert Greenlee of the Gay 90s Press and from Ron Gordon’s Oliphant Press in New York City. 

History

The Wells Book Arts Cener has a rich history dating back to 1993 when it was established, reviving a printing tradition that originated in 1939 with Victor Hammers Wells College Press. WBAC provides a broad learning opportunity for students and the community in the arts and crafts of the book. Its programming includes the Book Arts Summer Institute and the Susan Garrison Swartzburg lecture series, attracting students and renowned artists nationwide to study and create.