Fine books, bound in leather with gold leaf, handmade end papers, hand-sewn silk endbands, leather-edged slipcases or hand-made boxes: These are the specialty of Jana Pullman, who has been named the 2013 Book Artist Award winner.
Pullmam lives in Minneapolis and teaches at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and is a faculty member at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul.
She is a book artist, printmaker, papermaker and book conservator, but she is best known for her exquisite bindings, which often incorporate both new materials and ancient processes.
Pullman attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the University of Iowa, earning an MFA in 1988. She moved to the Twin Cities in 1997.
Her work has been displayed in galleries for decades and has been exhibited across the United States as well as in France and England.
Earlier this year, she won the design award for the 2012 Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Competition for American Bookbinding.
The Minnesota Book Artist Award, sponsored by Lerner Publications and presented by the Minnesota Book Awards and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, recognizes a Minnesota artist for excellence of artistic work and significant contributions to the books community.
Previous winners include Bridget O'Malley and Amanda Degener of Cave Paper; Regula Russelle, and Wilber H. Schilling.
The award will be presented April 13 at the Minnesota Book Awards gala in downtown Minneapolis.
