Hello ARLIS,
Thank you to those who have already supported this cause! As the Booklyn Decade Capital Campaign gets closer to its deadline, they only need less than $1000 to meet their goal. Please consider a small donation for this amazing artist books alliance.
Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Amber M. Billey, MLIS Pratt Institute 2009
Booklyn Board Member
===========================
Dear Friends,
On
December 1st, 1999, Marshall Weber and I walked into the Brooklyn
County Courthouse and officially registered Booklyn as a company. We'd
already been operating as a loose alliance of artist-bookmakers for a
couple years, meeting every Tuesday night in Christopher Wilde and Mark
Wagner's loft in Brooklyn. It was an exciting time. And while we had
big dreams, we were never really sure what was in store for the
organization.
Well,
ten years later, we've put thousands of books made by hundreds of
artists into the permanent collections of the best institutions around
the world. We have literally sold millions of dollars worth of books,
most of which has gone straight to the artists who made those books. We
have curated shows, served on panels, taught classes (from elementary
to graduate level), lectured, published books, subsidized studio space
for artists, and brought the world of artists books to thousands in the
general public. Some of us still meet on Tuesday nights, to make art
and talk about the world of book art. We are still engaged, still
striving to bring the best art to the public.
If
you're reading this email, it's because we see you as an important ally
in helping to keep Booklyn alive and well. Fundraising has never been
our strongest attribute. But fundraising from individuals is an
important part of paying for basic operating expenses in a non-profit
organization. The economic downturn has affected Booklyn, and we are
looking for ways to move forward into the next decade as a more mature
organization.
In
the coming years, we hope to institute more education and and
publishing programs. So we are currently trying to organize the Booklyn
Decade - our archive of invaluable material spanning the last 10 years.
It occupies over 35 cubic feet of space (and still growing), and is
being organized and databased by a team of librarians/archivists. We
plan to sell this archive next year to support the organization's
programing. In addition, we have much more in our offices that we want
to sell of to you, right now, to help the process along. Using the kickstarter.com website,
we set a goal of $10,000, because that's about what it costs to keep
the doors open each month. Using this website was a gamble, because we
have to raise the entire goal by our deadline to receive even a single
penny, so we're counting on our supporters. On Facebook,
we have over 700 fans. On our email list, we have over 2000 addresses.
So if each one of you can contribute even a few dollars, it would make
a HUGE difference. We've already met over 20% of our goal, but we need
the next wave of pledges.
While you can pledge without receiving an award, through the kickstarter.com website,
you can also request awards for your pledge - items from our inventory.
Many of these items can be had right now for less than what we
typically sell them for on our retail website.
To make a 2009 tax-deduction outside the Kickstart, go here
Thank you for your support,
Kurt Allerslev, Marshall Weber
Co-founders
BOOKLYN ARTISTS ALLIANCE
37 Greenpoint Avenue
4th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 383-9621
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