This summer, I had the privilege of interning at the Small Editions Bindery (SE) in Brooklyn, a shop that, as stated by their website, “offers services in book and print design, bookbinding, fine printing, and box making,” as well as publishing. To secure this internship, I emailed SE and after a brief email exchange and a more extensive phone interview, they agreed to take me on for the summer.During my time in this internship, I was given a wide range of tasks. I worked on every aspect of assembly throughout my internship; cutting bookboard, gluing boards down to the case material, assembling pockets & straps for the books, assembling the cases themselves, as well as the cleaning/packing process for this hefty undertaking.
Looking back on this internship, the thing that I am most proud of is the personal project that I took on to restore a very important book for my mother. My supervisor made it clear that she wanted me to have a personal project to be able to walk away from this opportunity with. Typically, SE interns produce an edition of 5 hard-cover books with a foil stamped detail. Instead, I asked my supervisor if I could bring in an old paperback piano book that my mom had asked me to repair. I got to work with the in-house binder to re-bind this book, turning it from a falling-apart softcover book into a secure, fan-bound, hardcover book with a renewed lifespan.
My biggest takeaway from this internship comes from the interviews that I completed in which I garnered a wealth of knowledge. All three of the women I interviewed were naturally drawn to book arts, all coming from self-taught beginnings and building their skills through the process of joining the book arts community. Only one of them went to a post-grad institution for bookbinding - and still, all three of them were primarily taught by the artists and makers that they were connected to. I was incredibly worried about my post-grad plans and, while I still am, I’m relieved to know that there is a wonderfully welcoming and non-competitive community out there for me to find a place within.
This internship experience has been a huge privilege, and I am incredibly grateful to my supervisor for taking me on. With this under my belt, I am even more sure of my goals to find a place within the New York/Northeast printmaking and bookbinding community.
