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UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Colophon Club meets once a month from September to May.
Our bay area meetings include presentations & tours from the artists, authors, printers, binders, publishers, educators, historians, archivists and more... who all contribute to the making, enjoyment, and preservation of books.
If you would like more information about membership in the Club or would like to join us at an upcoming event,
email: colophonclub at gmail dot com
Save the Date:
Tuesday November 10, 2026
David Rumsey Map Collection Tour
San Francisco
Next:
Tuesday October 13, 2026
Kala Art Gallery & Studio Tour
Berkeley
Date: Tuesday October 13, 2026
Location: Kala Art Institute Gallery
Time: 6-8 pm
Donation: $25 (light dinner buffet and beverages)
RSVP: colophonclub@gmail.com
Note: Please RSVP for updates and parking instructions, as the front door of the gallery may not be open during this event.
Starting in the gallery, co-founder Archana Horsting will share stories of the 52 year evolution of Kala, and speak about the new book being published in the coming year. Current Co-director Mayumi Hamanaka will talk about the many programs Kala provides for artists, and we will have our own viewing of the annual Fellowship Exhibition "What We Hold", as well as the Mercy and Roger Smullen Print and Media Center on the main floor.
Then, we will all head to the 3rd floor, to tour the art studios. Elevator access from the back parking lot entrance is available. Kala has a well-equipped studio in the historic 1927 Heinz building, which includes etching presses, letterpress, silkscreen, lithograph, darkroom, digital lab, and a new sculpture lab with ceramics, woodshop, and sewing machines. Join us!
PREVIOUS EVENTS
PREVIOUS EVENTS
Tuesday September 8, 2026
John DeMerritt Bookbinding Studio & DeMerritt | Pauwels Editions
Studio Tour & Presentation
Emeryville
Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Location: John DeMerritt Bookbinding Studio & DeMerritt | Pauwels Editions
Time: 6:00 pm
Donation: $20 (snacks and beverages)
John DeMerritt owns and operates John DeMerritt Bookbinding in Emeryville, CA. His bindery produces editions of books and portfolios for fine-press printers, publishers, galleries and artists. John and his wife, Nora Pauwels, publish collaborative projects with artists under their imprint DeMerritt | Pauwels Editions.
John has taught and lectured at The San Francisco Center for the Book, The Kala Institute, Columbia College Center for Book and Paper, Visual Studies Workshop, Oregon College or Arts and Craft, Mills College, The San Francisco Art Institute, The Guild of Bookworkers, The North Bennett Street School, UC Santa Cruz, Dartmouth College, Mullowney Printmaking, Paper and Book Intensive and the Penland School of Craft. Since 2024, John has been the Design Consultant at Arion Press. In 2026, he received the Oscar Lewis Award from the Book Club of California. John is the previous president of the Hand Bookbinders of California and for 8 years was the co-president, with Steve Woodall, of the Colophon Club.
Sunday August 23, 2026
The Colophon Club Summer Picnic
Portola Valley
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2026
Location: First Bite Press / Portola Valley
Time: 4pm Dinner served poolside buffet style, 6-8 pm Smores and Pool Party
Our Summer picnic was a success. In addition to the good food, great conversations, ephemera picking, and S’mores-making, the attendees got along swimmingly at Steph Kimbro Dolin and Ron Dolin’s house. We had new friends, and long-standing members mingling together, with stories of type, printing, and the other book arts flowing throughout the day.
May 12, 2026
Old Barn Press & Historic Senger House Tour
Berkeley
Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Location: 1321 Bay View Place, Berkeley, CA 94708
Time: 6:00-8:30pm
Donation: $20 (snacks and beverages)
Our May Colophon Club Event will be hosted by Andrea and Michael Scharff, owners of the Old Barn Press, located at their home, the historic Berkeley Senger House, designed by architect Bernard Maybeck in 1907. The studio visit includes letterpress demos, a talk about their tiny art gallery above a free library, Art & Lit, by Andrea Scharff, and Maybeck House walk-through tours with Michael Scharff.
April 14, 2026
Ostracod Rising
A presentation by Gail Wight
Berkeley
Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Location: CODEX Foundation, 1331 Seventh St, Berkeley, CA 94710
Time: 6:00 pm
Donation: $20 (snacks and beverages)
Gail Wight will discuss the making of Ostracod Rising, a book outlining the history of Earth from the Hadean Eon 4.5 billion years ago to the Ostracocene, 140 million years in the future. Developed during a 3-year residency with UC Irvine’s Beall Center for Art & Technology, Ostracod Rising was initially inspired by images of microfauna in a deep lake core sample. It eventually became a 35 pound accordion book displayed as a 45-foot arc for six months, then evolved into a more manageable editioned version in a soft and flexible washi, all based on large format school primers and bicycle playing cards.
March 10, 2026
Fulcrum Press: A Beginning
Chad Johnson
talk and buffett dinner 6-8:30
Cafenated, 2085 Vine Street, Berkeley
A longtime printer and bookbinder, Chad Johnson has maintained a bindery at home as well as working at many presses, libraries, and studios. He has recently added a Reliance iron handpress to his home studio and is embarking upon a new imprint: Fulcrum Press. Chad will share the story of getting the press, fitting out the tympan & frisket, and why he is planning on printing books primarily from lead type in the 21st century.
January 13
Arion Press tour
October 14
October 14
Dina Pollack Studio Visit
From her website: "Dina Pollack is a native Bay Area letterpress printer and book artist. She earned a BA from Bard College in 2013 in Studio Art with a focus in Printmaking and Book Arts. After returning to the Bay Area in 2014, she was hired as a studio assistant for Peter Koch and as the CODEX Foundation Book Fair Manager and now works as Managing Director for the CODEX Foundation. Pursuing her passion for letterpress printing, she started her own printing business in 2017, working with clients to print business cards/stationery, wedding invitations, and small edition books of poetry, to name a few. In 2021, Dina obtained her MFA in Book Art from Mills College in Oakland, California."
November 11
November 11
Donna Seager
at Cafenated Coffee Co.
on Vine Street in Berkeley
December 9
December 9
HOLIDAY PARTY
at Cafenated Coffee Co.
on Vine Street in Berkeley
September Colophon Club Event
September Colophon Club Event
September 9th, 2025
September 9th, 2025
Studio Visit - Offshoot Works
Studio Visit - Offshoot Works
with
with
Sharon Kallenberger
Sharon Kallenberger
Admission: $25
Studio Visit at Offshoot Works with Sharon Kallenberger
September 9th, 2025
6:00-8:00pm
[Address provided to members only. Please contact if interested in attending]
Sharon Kallenberger, a fifth-generation printer, has been gathering up essential cast-iron and leaden equipment to lighten the world around her through letterpress printing. Sharon is opening her studio to our members to learn of her printer heritage as well as her artistic output.
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