Call Description

Valentine’s Day. The classroom was buzzing with excitement as students raced past dropping the carefully selected Valentines into cut slots in the box tops. Everyone returned to their seats, carrying their full boxes. She opened her box, turned the contents out onto her desk and began sorting: friend, friend, friend, pencil, friend, friend, friend, wait…

At the bottom of the pile lay a card with a small chocolate heart taped to the front. She flipped it over and, written in blue pen, were the words, “I Like You.” They exchanged glances across the room. But there were no cards, no “I Like You” notes all week. 

Weeks later, she found another small chocolate heart secreted among the books in her desk that day, but this time there was no “I Like You” note attached. 

Memorial Day. Everyone huddled in the shade of trees trying to escape the stifling heat. There were no more chocolate hearts. No more cupcakes. No more secret messages. 
 

"Mixed Messages" draws on the layered complexities of language, saying one thing but meaning another. In a world inundated with myriad ways to communicate and connect, messages are muddled, signals crossed, meanings distorted. Ambiguity is the native tongue of nuance. The book, as both object and idea, holds space for these contradictions.

The Book As Art v.13: Mixed Messages is the thirteenth edition of an art show celebrating books: objects that, in an increasingly digital world, stubbornly survive.

The objects in this exhibition should interpret the concept of the book and invite the viewer to look beyond the printed page to where ideas, words, and symbols are transformed and transfigured. Artists are challenged to embrace the dualities and paradoxes of communication—to celebrate the static and the shifting, the familiar and the foreign, the clear and the cryptic.

The Book As Art series seeks to showcase beautifully made volumes, sculptural and conceptual interpretations, and one-of-a-kind approaches to the book format. We also encourage artists to submit wall-hung interpretations.

Please note: Shipping artwork may be more expensive than anticipated,  take longer than expected, or may not be accessible to some artists. We encourage all artists to acquire estimates of shipping costs BEFORE submitting artwork for consideration.  If your artwork is juried into the show, it is expected that you will showcase the work.  By rescinding your application after the jurying process, you steal another artist’s opportunity to participate.  No waitlist is maintained for this show,  so drop-out slots remain unfilled and diminish the quality of the exhibition.  Please be considerate and only apply if you’re certain you’ll be able to participate.
 

EVENTS
Several events are planned throughout the run of the show. The Georgia Center for the Book inaugurated a series of artist talks and discussions in 2020 that will be continued in 2025. Through these presentations, artists were able to talk in depth about their books, and lead us on virtual tours through their volumes. You can review these presentations at bookasart.com, and on the Georgia Center for the Book’s YouTube channel. We encourage exhibiting artists to volunteer for these opportunities to showcase their work.

SALE OF ART
Sales are encouraged. The DAA handles all sales and collects a 25% commission on all artwork sold as a result of this exhibition. All artwork for sale must be priced by the artist and so stated in the online entry. Please be sure to include the 25% commission for the DAA in your price. The Georgia sales tax will be added at the point of sale.

AWARDS
First Place Award -                             $1,000
Second Place Award -                         $700
Third Place Award -                             $500

Dorothy Moye Memorial Award

The Jurors:

Bryan Christopher Baker is a letterpress printmaker. He received his BFA in printmaking from Ohio University, and MFA from the University of Tennessee. He has taught classes and workshops at Arrowmont, Ox-Bow, Penland, The Center for Book Arts (NYC), UT Knoxville, Signal Return, The Arm, Clarion University, and the College for Creative Studies. Bryan moved his family and studio, Stukenborg Press, to Georgia not long ago. He is currently teaching classes at the Atlanta Printmakers Studio. He has been doing traditional letterpress work for over twenty years, specializing in the use of hand-set type to create custom posters, limited edition prints, and various other kinds of ephemera. He is known for doing projects that utilize other materials on his presses; mainly shapes cut on his table saw and actual dice. Printing directly from physical objects on the bed of the press, his designs capture the visual interactions of many simple shapes on the page.

Anne Meyers DeVine has worked with the rare book collections at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia since 2003, where she plays a central role in fostering research, teaching, and engagement with the library’s rich holdings. She collaborates closely with university faculty to create meaningful learning experiences for students through hands-on interaction with rare books and manuscripts. In addition to her outreach efforts, Anne is responsible for acquiring printed and manuscript materials that support the library’s mission and reflect the evolving needs and interests of the academic community and beyond. A particular focus of her work has been the development of Hargrett’s fine press and artists’ books collections—one of the library’s notable strengths. Under her guidance, this collection has grown not only in scope but in depth, with a concentrated effort to include a broader and more inclusive range of voices. Through her thoughtful curation and commitment to representing a wide range of perspectives, she tries to ensure that the Hargrett Library’s collections remain relevant, dynamic, and accessible to a broad audience of researchers, students, and book arts enthusiasts.

Rachel Simmons is an artist and educator in Orlando, Florida, specializing in book arts and printmaking. A Rollins College faculty member since 2000, she founded and directs the Rollins Book Arts Collection, which supports student learning and research. Simmons actively promotes artists’ books through leadership roles in the Book Arts Guild of Central Florida, Orlando Zine Fest, and CBAA The Association for Book Art Education. 

Driven by a deep curiosity about a wide range of topics including creativity, astronomy, philosophy, and nature, Simmons often ponders unanswerable questions in her work. Her artist’s books are housed in prestigious collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Newberry Library, and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, as well as numerous university collections across the United States. She enjoys curating exhibitions focused on book art. In 2024, she co-curated Critical Reading: Book Art in Dialogue with the Collection at the Rollins Museum of Art. Her current curatorial project, Printed & Bound: Contemporary Book Artists and the Press, opens at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in 2025.

The Organizers:
Decatur Arts Alliance (DAA) connects residents, businesses, tourists, and artists to increase arts access and engagement in the city of Decatur, GA. Founded in 1989, the nonprofit produces the annual Decatur Arts Festival, numerous city-wide public art programs, and in 2025 continues the success of The Book As Art that began as an event of the book festival. The DAA provides a collaborative environment to coordinate the interests of artists, gallery owners, theater groups, dance groups and performance venues within the city - helping to make Decatur home to a strong arts community. The Decatur Arts Alliance is supported by membership and sponsorship, along with proceeds from the Decatur Arts Festival and the Decatur Wine Festival. To contact the Decatur Arts Alliance call 404-371-9583, email BookArt@decaturartsalliance.org, or visit www.decaturartsalliance.org.

The Decatur Branch of the DeKalb County Public Library and the Georgia Center for the Book are located at 215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, Georgia 30030. For information, visit http://dekalblibrary.org/branches/deca, and https://georgiacenterforthebook.org/, or call 404.370.3070, ext. 2225.

The Location:
The City of Decatur, Georgia is located just east of and adjacent to the city of Atlanta’s in-town communities and near the metro area suburbs. With more than 200 shops and restaurants in commercial districts around the Square and in historic Oakhurst Village, Decatur is a popular shopping, dining, entertainment, and arts destination. Twenty-four thousand residents live in Decatur’s quiet, tree-lined neighborhoods and downtown condominiums, and as the DeKalb County seat, this thriving commercial community is the epicenter of county business. www.Decaturga.com

Application Requirements

HOW TO ENTER:
All entries will be submitted digitally through www.callforentry.org (CaFÉ).

All entries are to be submitted digitally through www.callforentry.org (CaFÉ). Please retain a copy of the information you provide on the entry form. 

If you have not registered previously with CaFÉ, setting up your portfolio is free.  For one fee of $30, artists may enter to The Book as Art up to three artworks, each on a separate entry form, and each may include up to five images. After completing the entry information, a credit card number or PayPal account will be required to confirm the entry process for the first submission. If second and third artworks (optional) are entered for consideration, the entry fee will be waived by use of a coupon code per instructions on the CaFE website.

Entries will be active on the CaFÉ website beginning April 28, 2025, and must be completed by 11:59PM MDT on June 23, 2025.

Each entry will receive the jury’s decision via a separate CaFÉ email, no later than Friday, July 18, 2025. It is the artist’s responsibility to monitor their CaFÉ account where all submissions will be listed and marked either invited or not under “My CaFÉ Entries.”

Therefore, applicants should keep a record of each artwork's application number, as this identifier will be used to announce the accepted works. Please retain a copy of the information you provide on the entry form.

CaFÉ requires that all images conform to a specific format. Before you begin the entry process, review CaFÉ’s instructions and tutorials.

For technical assistance with your entry, please see https://www.callforentry.org/cafehelp.phtml, or contact cafe@westaf.org. 

For questions about exhibition guidelines, please contact bookart@decaturartsalliance.org.

EACH SUBMISSION MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

• Contact information including mailing address, telephone number, email address, and website address (if applicable)

• Title of work submitted and year the work was completed

• Brief statement about the work.  Limit to 75 words.

• Up to five images of the work submitted for jurying. The five images may include one video. If the work is in standard book format, it must include an image of the book closed and one of the book opened. If applicable, it should include an image of how the work is presented. Other detailed images are optional, but all submitted images must be formatted to the specifications outlined on the CaFÉ website. (https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/uploading-media/). *

• *By submitting images of your work, you give permission to the Decatur Arts Alliance to use the images for publicity in the organizations’ websites, digital publications, press releases, DAA publications (both print and electronic), and an online catalogue of the exhibition.

• Information on size of the edition (i.e., whether this is a one-of-a-kind piece or one of a limited edition)

• Image list titled to correspond to the portfolio images submitted. Please include full photography credits as well as title, dimensions, and description of each work.

• Presentation/installation requirements for the work submitted, including any special fixtures required.

NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE
Each entry will receive the jury’s decision via a separate CaFÉ email, no later than Friday, July 18, 2025. At the same time, jury decisions will also be posted on CaFÉ under “My CaFÉ Entries.” Therefore, artists must monitor their CaFÉ account where entries will be listed and marked as either invited or not invited.  It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to confirm the correct corresponding application number, if multiple applications were submitted.  Applicants not chosen will also be notified. We do not provide feedback or comments on the art, both selected or rejected. No phone calls, please. Images of accepted work will be retained by the DAA for archival purposes.

Instructions for the delivery and return shipment of artwork will be included with the acceptance notifications sent via CaFÉ.  An electronic consignment form will be sent from the Decatur Arts Alliance using Adobe to the email address associated with the CaFÉ account.

Shipped artwork must be received no later than Friday, August 22, 2025. If a local artist would like to arrange an in-person drop-off of their artwork, they must coordinate a date and time directly with the gallery staff.  More information will be provided to those accepted.

Please note: All works must be delivered with all hardware/stands necessary for secure and stable display in the gallery space. In some cases, artists may be asked to personally install 3D works for display security.

Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY
Artists are invited to enter original, limited edition original, or altered books. Participating items will be selected from submitted entries by a panel of three jurors on the basis of creative excellence and quality of execution. The sponsors are the final authority on eligibility. All works must be the work of the entering artist. Artwork previously showcased in this exhibition is ineligible for inclusion again. Collaborative projects are eligible, with the names of all participating artists included in the statement or description of the work.

Artists are invited to participate in a juried exhibition of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works. Artwork will be chosen from submitted entries by a panel of three jurors on the basis of creative excellence and quality of execution.

• All works must be original and completed within the last five years.
• Works to be hung must be ready for hanging with any necessary hardware in place.
• Two-dimensional artwork should be no larger than 4 ft. tall and 5.5 ft. wide. Three-dimensional work should be no taller than 6 ft. tall and 6.5 ft. wide. NO WORK should weigh more than 50 lbs.