Each year, Special Collections at RISD Library hosts a juried student artists' book contest to promote engagement with the book arts, investigation of the Library's artists' book collection, and creative production in the book form at RISD. The contest and accompanying exhibition attract on average 45 submissions from RISD undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students. All of the entries are displayed in the annual Library exhibit. A team of RISD faculty members and professional artists serves as juror(s), selecting prize winners from the submissions. All purchase prizes receive a cash reward, and the selected student-made artists' books become part of the Library's collection. This year is the 8th installment of this program.

In 2014 when I first started in Special Collections we began conversations about outreach and the idea of an artists’ book contest was born. The late Jan Baker, Graphic Design Professor was one of the first jurors for the original contest in 2015. After the contest we debriefed and Jan asked what was the greatest obstacle for this contest to continue. I said money. A few months pasted and I was informed that we had received an anonymous gift so that we could continue the contest. I would find out later, it was Jan’s gift.

In Jan’s words “The aim of this competition is to encourage faculty in all mediums at RISD to use the Artists’ Book Collection as inspiration for their classes; in addition, for students to be stimulated by the collection to create their own Artists’ Books.” 

Starting with the 5th year, the contest is named for Jan Baker and Laurie Whitehill, the former Special Collections Librarian. Recognizing their legacy and their combined 60 years of dedication and passion in the field of Book Arts.

Claudia Covert, Special Collections Librarian

Claudia Covert

Special Collections

Fleet Library, 2nd Floor, Room 201

risdspecial@risd.edu

401-709-5923

Purchase Prizes:

• Grand Purchase Prize ($500) My Grandmother by Jinghong Chen 2023 Illustration 
• Laurie Whitehill Purchase Prize ($375) Clocks in Space by Pei-Jung Hsieh 2025 EFS
• American Printing History Association - New England Chapter Purchase Prize ($375) Ghost Bikes by Elizabeth Long 2024 Illustration 
• Librarian's Choice Purchase Prize ($250) A Modern Retelling of Little Red Riding Hood by Robbie Li MADE 2022 + Kennice Pan 2023 Illustration 

Honorable Mentions:

• Honorable Mention ($100) How does it feel to have clouds swoop in your face by Zimu Fang 2025 EFS
• Honorable Mention ($100) Zone: Apollinaire, Simpson, Chang by Naya Lee Chang BRDD 2024 Furniture, History
• Honorable Mention ($100) February 14, 2018 by Yadelis Gomez 2025 EFS

We are very happy to announce that Lois Harada is this year's juror.  

Lois Harada is an artist and printmaker working in Providence. She studied traditional printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and settled in Rhode Island after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2010. She works at DWRI Letterpress, a commercial letterpress printshop where she also prints her own work. Harada utilizes text and the medium of the poster to tell her family’s story of incarceration — her paternal grandmother was interned in Poston, Arizona from 1942 -1945. She takes inspiration from propaganda printed and distributed by the United States government and prints with type and equipment similar to that which would have created the original works.

Harada has exhibited her work across the United States and internationally. Her work is included in private collections as well as the RISD Museum. Her practice is bolstered by residencies and she is preparing for a five-week residency at Anderson Ranch in Colorado in the spring of 2022. She recently finished a seven year term on the board of New Urban Arts, a nationally recognized free, arts drop-in program and a term as a city commissioner on the Art in City Life Commission serving the city of Providence.

RISD undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students are

invited to enter an artists' book they have completed in the past year

(December 2020 - December 2021).

The winning purchase prizes will be added to the

Fleet Library at RISD's Artists' Book collection.

Purchase prizes will be announced in February 2022.

• All entries must be original work by the artist.
• Only one entry per student.
• Due to the size of our exhibit cases, if we receive more than 50 entries, the exhibit will be curated by the library staff.

Items not added to the Fleet Library at RISD collection can be picked by May 18, 2022 at noon. If this is not possible please contact us to make arrangements.

 Look for the next call in Fall 2022.   Thank you!