A nonprofit, community-based organization that promotes and advances the art of printmaking. We contribute to the history and evolution of the print by providing professional studio facilities, offering classes and programs, and presenting public exhibitions. We serve and support artists from the U.S. and abroad, public school students, older adults and the general public. The soul of MCBA is the studio spaces where you find masters and novices working at letterpress printing, hand bookbinding and papermaking. In addition to the studios, there is an exhibition space, a studio shop, an archive and reference library, and offices.
Visitors are welcome to observe the book art activity close-up.
MCBA serves artists, students, teachers, designers, writers, families, youth, and book lovers through a variety of participatory programs. Fifteen years after opening its doors, MCBA is the most comprehensive independent book arts facility in the nation. Emphasis is placed on developing a balanced perspective of the book as both historic cultural icon and as a vehicle for personal expression. A national center for craft education located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. The school also sponsors artists' residencies, educational outreach programs, and a craft gallery open to the public.