MCLA Professor Receives National Guild of Book Workers Mid-Career Award
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Professor of Art Melanie Mowinski, founder of PRESS: LetterPRESS as a Public Art Project, has been honored with the Guild of Book Workers Mid-Career Award, a newly established national recognition celebrating excellence in the book arts and printmaking field.
Mowinski is among the first recipients of this award from the Guild of Book Workers (GBW), one of the leading professional organizations in book arts and printmaking.
Central to Mowinski's artistic practice is a philosophy she describes: "I want to die lightly — but more importantly, I want to live lightly." This commitment to sustainable creation drives her innovative approach to art-making, where she works almost exclusively with repurposed materials rather than purchasing new supplies.
"In a world where convenience and consumption rule, living lightly can be difficult," Mowinski explains. "As an artist and educator, I actively resist that tide."
Her work transforms the overlooked and discarded into meaningful art. Materials in her pieces have included paper made from her own 50-year-old baby diapers, fused plastic bags, discarded cords, acupuncture tubes, old clothes, and various studio scraps — all given new life through her creative vision.
Mowinski's sustainable practice was shaped during her graduate studies at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where she studied under book artist Hedi Kyle. As Kyle's teaching assistant, Mowinski was introduced to the concept of "Plunder Books," a generative process involving the creation of books from found materials.
"This playful constraint radically expanded my understanding of what a book can be," Mowinski reflects. "It honed my structural skills, deepened my relationship to the form, and reinforced the beauty and meaning embedded in forgotten things."
Since then, she has shared this approach with hundreds of students and workshop participants across multiple states and internationally.
When asked about receiving this recognition, Mowinski's said: "I was shocked when I read the email. I apply for so many things and get lots and lots of rejections."
She said she almost didn't apply for the award at all, thinking: "I will never get that. There are so many people whose work is better than mine."
Mowinski said the award represents more than recognition of her physical artwork.
"I see this award as a celebration of not just the physical work that I make, but the communities that I have created and impacted: PRESS: LetterPRESS as a Public Art Project and the ripple effects from that, 'Women Walking to Water,' and my work here at MCLA," she said.
She said the recognition validates an aspect of her practice that sometimes feels unconventional.
"It also feels like a validation for what I often think is a weird part of my art practice: picking up trash, repurposing plastic, thinking about my impact on the earth," she said.
As part of the recognition, Mowinski will attend the annual Standards conference in October. She hopes to develop new techniques for creating strong paper from recycled materials, continuing her commitment to sustainable art-making that challenges conventional practices while creating meaningful work.
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