Oakland, CA–October 1, 2009. Mills College assistant professor and book artist Julie Chen will be featured in Craft in America, a two-part television series premiering nationwide on PBS on Wed. Oct. 7, 2009.

To highlight Chen’s work, the Mills College Book Art Program is hosting a special advance screening of the episode on Sunday, Oct. 4. All members of the public are invited to attend this free event at 3:00 pm in the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business Gathering Hall. Refreshments in the Heller Room, F.W. Olin Library, will follow the screening.

Chen has been teaching in the College’s Book Art Program since 1996, the first program in the country to offer an MFA in book art and creative writing. Chen also received her MA in book art from Mills in 1989.

“I am very proud to be a part of the Mills College Book Art Program,” said Chen. “My approach to artists’ books combines personal narratives with book forms that present the reader with intimate reading experiences. I have become increasingly interested in exploring the time-based aspects inherent in the book form—the turning of the page is an enduring fascination for me, and one of the book form's most singular features.”

PBS describes Chen as “works like a conceptual artist, allowing an idea to determine its form and content. Her book forms reflect the variety of concepts that fascinate her, including language, history, memory, and time. Every element—structure, shape, color, material—is in symbiotic relationship with the concept.”

Her works “defy traditional definitions of bookmaking, combining original works of poetry and three-dimensional paper techniques to stunning effect. Each one holds embedded messages to be discovered and journeys to be taken, in form and text.”

Craft in America, now in its second season, has won a Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy. It follows the history, artists, and techniques of the country’s craft culture. Chen appears in the episode “Process,” which focuses on how artists learn their craft, making a living doing it, and where they find their creative strengths.

Mills College has been teaching book art for nearly 30 years and introduced the country’s first MFA in book art and creative in fall 2009. Students combine artists' bookmaking and creative writing in one program of study, working in both the Mills College book art facilities and their own letterpress studio while studying with internationally known artists and instructors. The Bay Area is also one of the most dynamic book art centers in the country. More information visit the Book Art Program.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 950 undergraduate women and 550 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The College is named one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report, and ranks as one of the Best 371 Colleges by the Princeton Review. Forbes.com ranked Mills 55th among America's best colleges and named it a "Top Ten: Best of the All-Women's Colleges." Visit us at www.mills.edu.

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