NYPL Spencer Collection includes project created at Grand Valley

The Spencer Collection of the New York Public Library has purchased a collaborative project created by two Grand Valley State University faculty members.

T(here), is a collection of poems by Patricia Clark and images by Steven Sorman, published in a limited edition in 2009. The 31 loose leaves are unnumbered but identified by a small colored triangle that matches each poem with the accompanying print. Text and images are printed on 9-by-13-inch sheets of handmade Amalfi paper. Each print includes hand painting combined with one or more printmaking techniques.

Clark is poet-in-residence at Grand Valley and a professor in the Department of Writing. Her poetry has appeared extensively in national publications and in her own four published books. Sorman, an internationally known and accomplished printmaker and painter now from Ancram, New York, was the first artist to hold the university’s Stuart and Barbara Padnos Chair in the Department of Art and Design. Named in 2007, Sorman held the position for three years.

“Steven not only brought his years of expertise as an artist to share with our students, but also a fascination with combining a wide variety of media,” said Clark, who served as interim chair of the Department of Art and Design in 2007. “Steven and I found a way to respond to each other’s work – a very gratifying experience for both of us. I’m thrilled our project will be in the New York Public Library.”

The Spencer Collection of Illustrated Books and Manuscripts and Fine Bindings surveys the illustrated word and book bindings of all periods and all countries and cultures, from medieval manuscripts, Japanese scrolls, and Indian miniatures to monuments in Renaissance printing, illustration and binding to contemporary livres d’artistes.