Company Profile
Western New York Book Arts Center
Company Overview
Western New York Book Arts Center (WNYBAC) is a local, educational, 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the art of the book. The Center promotes greater understanding of printing and book-related arts through education, creation, and exhibition for a broad and diverse community.
WNYBAC is home to a working museum dedicated to the history of print and has printing studios with a wide variety of bookbinding, silkscreen, and letterpress equipment including hand-operated printing presses, hundreds of wood and metal type fonts, and thousands of cuts and ornaments.
It also has a gallery, a library, conference and event spaces, and office space for other non-profits.
To help financially support the Center, WNYBAC offers six membership levels and operates retail and online gift and art shops featuring work by members and local artists.The Center also operates Mohawk Press - a mercantile press that works with many artists, bands, businesses, non-profits, and community members to produce small, custom print jobs.
WNYBAC provides extensive arts/print programming and often partners with other community-based arts and cultural organizations. A core component of its mission is education. Staff work with college and high school students, grade school groups, teachers interested in continuing education, groups looking for a unique professional development experience, and individuals and WNYBAC members who want to learn print arts.
Opportunities include internships, apprenticeships, summer camps, and a wide variety of workshops: letterpress, screenprinting, printmaking, papermaking, and bookbinding to name a few.
WNYBAC also provides artist residencies; hosts gallery exhibitions (including an annual members show), annual community events, vendor fairs, and fundraisers; and regulary offers open studio sessions and printing demonstrations.
Company History
The Western New York Books Arts Center was founded in 2007 by Rich Kegler (Artistic Director Emeritus), Carima El-Behairy, and two board members, all with a desire to preserve the art and craft of manual printing along with Buffalo’s storied printing history.
In 2008, Rich and Carima renovated the former Slotkin’s department store building at the intersection of Washington and East Mohawk streets in the heart of downtown Buffalo. WNYBAC moved into its new, permanent home and opened to the public in July of that year during Typecon 2008, an international typography conference.
Since that time, the staff and board have grown along with the organization. Together, they nurtured WNYBAC’s community-based model and postioned the organization as a vital center of cultural production. They’ve established connections with artists, students, teachers, schools, other non-profits, and many dedicated volunteers to foster a strong, diverse, vibrant, and creative community that extends far beyond its walls.
Along with its upstairs neighbor, Just Buffalo Literary Center, and the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, located just over a block away, WNYBAC has helped its downtown neighborhood become recognized as Buffalo’s Literary Corridor.
Today, thanks to WNYBAC and all its wonderful supporters, the book arts are thriving in Buffalo!
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
The Western New York Book Arts Center promotes greater understanding of printing and book-related arts through education, creation, and exhibition for a broad and diverse community.