Jessamine Batario
Linde Family Foundation Curator of Academic Engagement at the Colby College Museum of Art
Jessamine serves as a liaison between academic programming at the College and the Colby College Museum of Art. We are grateful for her help with the class.
Cig Harvey
Photographer, artist, and author
Cig Harvey is the photographer and author of books such as CAKE, Eat Flowers, Blue Violet. CAKE and Eat Flowers were produced in collaboration with Ken Shure and Liv Rockefeller of Two Ponds Press.
Jan Owen
Calligraphic artist and bookmaker
Maine-based calligrapher Jan Owen contributed her knowledge of the history of letterforms and bookmaking during her visit. Owen, who shared examples of her work, described how Shahn has inspired generations of calligraphers in their practice, specifically referencing Shahn’s Love and Joy About Letters (1956).
Garry Rosenblum
Visual and Interdisciplinary Arts Librarian
As the Visual and Interdisciplinary Arts Librarian working in Special Collections and Archives at Colby College and at the Bixler Art Library, Garry played a key role in making it possible for the class to work with the trade editions of Shahn’s illustrated books.
Abigail Shahn
Artist and daughter of Ben Shahn
Abigail “Abby” Shahn is the daughter of Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson Shahn. Abby visited the class and we were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to present some of our research on the maquettes to her. Regaling us with anecdotes about her father’s life and answering any questions we had, Abby’s visit was a window into the personal life of Ben Shahn. You can learn about Abby’s work as a painter here.
Ken Shure and Liv Rockefeller
Founders of Two Ponds Press in Camden, Maine, award-winning publishers of fine press books
In 1982, Ken Shure was running the Goose River Exchange, an Antiquarian book and ephemera business in Lincolnville Beach, Maine when Leonard Baskin stopped in. Baskin, founder of Gehenna Press and close personal friend of Shahn’s, quickly developed a close relationship with Shure. After teaching him all the elements necessary to run a fine press, Shure became the sole agent representing Gehenna Press.
Shure’s role as a rare book collector and agent along with Rockefeller’s position as proprietor of Two Ponds Press puts them uniquely in the middle of fine press publishing. Their visit enhanced our understanding of Shahn’s relationship with Leonard Baskin and of the processes behind the creation of books.
Amanda Slamm
Artist and Ben Shahn’s granddaughter
Amanda is an artist based in South Solon, Maine. With her sister Mimosa Mack, she is co-founder of Sprig Woodwork and are members of the cooperative River Roads Artisan Gallery in Skowhegan. She accompanied her mother, Abby Shahn, to visit our class and discuss our progressing research on her grandfather’s maquettes.
Steven Weinberg
Children’s book author and illustrator
A 2006 alumnus of Colby College, Steven Weinberg is the author and illustrator of several children’s books most recently, What Is Color?: The Global and Sometimes Gross Story of Pigments, Paint, and the Wondrous World of Art (Macmillan Publishers, 2014).
Weinberg shared with us some of his own maquettes and discussed the bookmaking process.
Rob Weisbrot
Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of History at Colby College
Professor Weisbrot focuses on modern American history, specializing in the 1930s, 1960s, and the Civil Rights Movement. For our class, he contributed his knowledge on the relationship between Jewish identity and revolutionary movements, helping draw parallels between Shahn’s early childhood and the beliefs that shaped his works.