Artist and educator Jody Williams (1956-2023, Carleton class of 1978) specialized in miniature artists’ books, many of which are held in Gould Library’s Special Collections. This display honors her memory. Williams’ work celebrates the beauty, wonder, and fragility of life, while maintaining a spirit of play, whimsy, and delight. Her books often include unexpected and natural elements that relate to and amplify her messages; her mastery of the craft of bookmaking earned her accolades and admiration far and wide. Beyond Carleton, her work lives on in collections at the Walker Art Center, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Minnesota Historical Society, as well as in the University of Minnesota Libraries, which hold her full archive.
Williams published her books under the imprint Flying Paper Press, which she founded and ran alongside her prolific creative practice and career as an educator. In 2008, Williams received the inaugural Minnesota Book Artist Award, and she won it again in 2019 for her book For Now. Her influence is hard to overstate: in addition to teaching countless students of book arts and printmaking at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts , she served on the faculty of Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and gave lectures at museums and universities across the United States and Europe.
Currently on display in the East Wing. If you’d like to see more of Williams’ work, be sure to visit The Nancy Gast Riss ‘77 Carleton Cabinet of Wonders in the northeast corner of Gould Library’s reference room.
If you have questions or would like to see any of these books up close during normal business hours, contact specialcollections@carleton.edu to make an appointment.
