William Morris and his cohort of designers, printers, bookbinders, writers, and friends founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891 as a reactionary response against cheap mass printing and (to their mind) shoddy design work. Running for a short seven years but producing an intense array of beautiful objects, like most of Morris’ endeavors the Kelmscott Press was a complicated mix of aesthetic desires, a fight for workers’ rights, art for the affluent, and a celebration of the historic. This presentation will touch on the various facets of the Kelmscott Press, and its influence on American printing.

This lecture will be given by Anna Wager. Anna is the curator of exhibitions at the University at Buffalo Art Galleries, where she curates and programs UB’s two gallery spaces, works with students and faculty, and facilitates community access to research. Anna works mostly with contemporary artists, and her research interests include arts and crafts movements, contemporary craft and activist work, communal artmaking, and the inter-media connections between architecture, bookmaking, and textiles. She is on the board of the William Morris Society in the United States and co-edits their publication Useful and Beautiful.

A lunch buffet will be available during the presentation. Register for the event by 10/31.