KALLIGRAPHIA 13: AN EXHIBITION OF HANDWRITING AS ART

This summer, the San Francisco Public Library welcomes Kalligraphia 13, an exhibition of contemporary calligraphy featuring work by members of the Friends of Calligraphy (FOC), a non-profit Bay Area group founded in 1975. Kalligraphia 13 will be on display in the Skylight Gallery from June 16 through August 26, 2012.

You are cordially invited to the Opening Reception on Saturday, June 16 in the Skylight Gallery, from 2-4pm.  Join us again on Saturday, July 21, when FOC members Georgianna Greenwood, Thomas Ingmire and Chris McDonald will lead a Gallery Walk & Talk from 2 to 4 p.m.

Additionally, a series of programs featuring noted Bay Area scribes, who will share their expertise with demonstrations of the art and craft of calligraphy, are planned for Saturdays in June, July and August in the Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting room at the Main Library from 2 to 4pm:

June 23:  Georgianna Greenwood: Italic calligraphy

June 30:  Antonia Smith: Edward Johnston’s Foundational script

July 7:  Sara Loesch Frank: Decorated & illuminated initials

July 14:  Ward Dunham: Blackletter written with bamboo pens

July 28:  Melissa Titone: Pointed pen calligraphy

August 4:  Carl Rohrs: Brush writing

August 11:  Monico Dengo: Improvised compositions

August 18:  Judy Detrick: Uncial & Rustic scripts

Kalligraphia was first organized in 1976. This year marks the thirteenth time that the FOC has produced the triennial, non-juried membership exhibition and the thirteenth time that the library has been its venue. It promises to be a colorful show, highlighting a wide range of calligraphic techniques, from traditional methods dating back to the Middle Ages to contemporary pen and abstract brushwork. On view will be original works including broadsides, manuscript books and three-dimensional pieces.

Friends of Calligraphy is an internationally known guild whose membership of more than 450 includes some of the most highly regarded lettering artists in the world. Committed to furthering the art of beautiful writing, FOC sponsors a year-round program of workshops and lectures for its members, as well as classes for beginners, which are held at Fort Mason and are open to the public. The guild also publishes an illustrated journal, Alphabet, and a quarterly newsletter for its members.

Kalligraphia 13 is co-sponsored by the Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts and Special Collections Center of the San Francisco Public Library. The Center houses highly esteemed collections, including the Robert Grabhorn Collection on the History of Printing and the Development of the Book, The Richard Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering, and the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit and Humor. For viewing hours and more information about the exhibition and demonstrations, please contact the Book Arts and Special Collections Center at (415) 557-4560.