Dear Friends of FBAC,

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This has been a momentous year of change for the Frederick Book Arts Center! In January of this year we officially moved into our 9,000+ sq. ft. historic building located in the Carroll Street neighborhood. As we continue to establish and grow into our new home we will expand our hours, hire more staff, and introduce a new Professional Executive Director to lead us through this exciting new chapter at FBAC - at the time of mailing, we will have already begun the interview process of our talented applicants. 

 

Your past support has helped us grow. FBAC has been very productive this past year, and our goal is to continue to grow and evolve in our new space. Our first few months looked a lot like any home after you move in– the only difference was most of our furniture required a forklift to move! There are still a few adjustments and final touches that we would like to make, but many members of our community have already been utilizing our impressive range of equipment to create beautiful works of art. 

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Since May we have been able to offer a wide range of classes both in-person and on Zoom including relief printing, letterpress with a focus on composition, pop-up book folding techniques, calligraphy, medieval manuscript style painting, and alternative photography techniques. We partnered with local libraries to offer a printmaking workshop and held our popular bookbinding classes for several Girl Scout troops and bachelorettes. To celebrate pride we invited the community to a free pride flag book workshop. We have created custom classes for groups and individuals who wanted one-on-one instruction including long stitch binding classes and digital layout Indesign instruction. We were able to achieve all of this thanks to our Director of Education, Charlotte Mauler Hayes, and the many returning and new teachers we have added to our roster.  

 

Our equipment and studio rental program is officially open with Eric Groff, our Studio Director, leading the charge. Eric has successfully coordinated our valued staff and volunteers to ensure our departments meet the standards required for both classes and rentals. Since June, we have debuted equipment rental and new introductory lessons in bookbinding and printmaking to give members of our community the essentials of these disciplines, and encourage both self-confidence in their abilities and self-sufficient use of our studio for their artistic endeavors. Soon our letterpress department will become available to the public for rentals, followed by darkroom photography, screenprinting, and lithography. The new year will bring intermediary lessons and opportunities to learn advanced techniques so that students may fully explore and appreciate the Art of the Book. 

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FBAC takes part in many community events such as Frederick Pride, Festival of the Arts, Artist Talks and so much more and we plan to grow and flourish in our connection with downtown Frederick well into the future. With the changes to social media, we are more than ever in need of people spreading the word about what we do and help us support and grow our artist community.

 

We need your help. Nonprofits, like FBAC, survive on donations from our supporters. Your support will help us further extend use of our unique range of equipment for the community.  It  will help run a locally handmade goods store that benefits regional artists. It will help support inclusive shows for the community and bring a wider range of artists to display their work in our gallery. It will add more classes and workshops of varying interests to our offerings by talented teachers both local and nationwide. It will support the diversity of arts and programs in the area, and also provide more community events in the heart of Frederick, Maryland.

Here’s how you can help:

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1. **Get Involved**: Join us at our upcoming events, volunteer your time, or even collaborate with us on projects. Your involvement can inspire others to contribute as well.
   
2. **Spread the Word**: Share our mission with friends and family. Help us reach more art enthusiasts and potential supporters by sharing this letter or sharing our social media posts.

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3. **Make a Donation**: Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference. Your support will directly fund our programs, enabling us to reach more people and create lasting impact

 

To make a donation by mail please make checks payable to

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Frederick Book Arts Center, 

P.O. Box 3912 Frederick, MD 21701

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To Donate online please click the DONATE TODAY button.

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Thank you for being a supporter and friend!