Chester Creek Press is the imprint of Robert Walp. Robert began his book making career at Vermont College in the Spring of 2000. After designing and printing books for several years he was so impressed by how little he knew that he went on to study book arts at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. Today he prints, makes paper and hand-binds books at his studio in Chestertown, New York.

The books that slowly roll off Bob’s Vandercook proof press are printed from hand set metal type, often on paper handmade from cotton and linen rags and native plants like daylilies. The books are illustrated with drawings and woodcuts, sometimes made in collaboration with other artists. Most Chester Creek Press books are volumes of poetry by established contemporary writers.

Chester Creek Press books can be found in numerous institutional and private collections like the Library of Congress, The Smithsonian Institution Library, The British Library, the libraries of Yale and Dartmouth colleges, the New York Public Library, and the Town of Chester Library Book Arts Collection.

Education:

March 2006 MFA in the Book Arts, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

January 2001 Bachelor of Arts, Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont.

December 1975 A.O.S. Degree, Culinary Arts, Culinary Institute, Hyde Park, New York.

Exhibitions: 

April 2015 Adirondack Folk School Faculty Show, The Shirt Factory Gallery, Glens Falls, New York

March 2015 Small Works, The Shirt Factory Gallery, Glens Falls, New York

February 2015 Tannery Pond Community Center, Widlund Gallery

October, 2014 Selected Work From Chester Creek Press: Prints & Books, Bluseed Studios, Saranac Lake, New York

August 2014 Invitational show, Art at the Lake, The Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, New York

August 2013 Invitational show, Art at the Lake, The Lake George Arts Project and the Sembrich Museum,

Lake George, New York

September 2012 Turning Leaves, Invitational show, Chandler Gallery, Randolph, Vermont

May 2011 Solo show, Willows Bistro, Warrensburg, New York

November 2010 Solo show, Crandall Public Library Folklife Gallery, Glens Falls, New York

July 2010 Works from Wood, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, Colorado

May 2010 Solo show, North Creek Depot Museum Owens Gallery, North Creek, New York

November 2008 Unique Blend, invitational show, Bluseed Studios, Saranac Lake, New York

May 2008 Great River Arts Faculty Exhibit, Spheris Gallery, Hanover, New Hampshire

January 2008 The Illustrated Word, Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene,Oregon

June 2007 Central New York Book Arts Exhibit, Syracuse University Special Collections Library,

Syracuse, New York. 

March 2006 Guild of Bookworkers Centennial Celebration Exhibit, The Grolier Club, New York City.

August 2005 Invitational show, It Takes a Village to Make a Book, Chattahoochie Valley Art Museum,

LaGrange, Georgia.

April 2005 Juried show, The Intensive Spirit, Steamboat Springs Art Council, Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

October 2004 Juried show, Heart and Hands, The Nebraska Book Arts Center, The University of Nebraska, Omaha.

May 2004 Member’s Show, Adirondack Lake Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, New York.

July 6 2002 Solo show, Town of Chester Public Library, Chestertown, New York.

March 2002 Member’s Show, Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council, Glens Falls, New York.

Publications:

April 2009 "A Woodworker Makes Bookbinding Tools". The Bonefolder. Spring 2009. 45-47. http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/BonefolderVol5No2.pdf

December 2008 "Chester Creek Press: Bob Walp Gets the Lead Out". Adirondack Life. December 2008. 22-25. 

Winter 2006 Chester Creek Press. Bibliographica. Issue 6, Winter 2006.

https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/105162

October, 2006 Guild of Bookworkers Centennial Exhibition Catalog. Guild of Bookworkers, New York City.

Grants & Awards:

January 1, 2010 Individual Artist Grant - Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council (funded by New York State Council on the Arts and the Rivendell Foundation)

April 15, 2005 Raymond F. McLain Book Arts Award, The University of Alabama, School of Library and Information Studies.

Selected Collections:

Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York

Bailey Library, University of Vermont, Montpelier

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Buley Library, Southern Connecticut State University

Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library, Perry Special Collections, Provo, Utah

The British Library

Cerritos Public Library, Cerritos, California

Dartmouth College Rauner Library, Dartmouth, New Hampshire

The Library of Congress Rare Books and Special Collections

Florida Atlantic University Libraries, Jaffe Center for Book Arts 

Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Louisiana State University Special Collections Library

Loussac Public Library, Anchorage, Alaska

The MacDowell Colony, Savidge Library, Peterborough, New Hampshire

New York Public Library Special Collections

New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown

New York State Ranger School, Wanakena

New York State Library, Albany

The Penland School of Crafts Archive, Penland, North Carolina

Rockefeller Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont

Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington, DC

St. John Fisher College Library, Rochester, New York

St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York

The Town of Chester Public Library, Chestertown, New York

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Moon Library

State University of New York Adirondack, Glens Falls, New York

University of Alaska Consortium Library

University of California, Santa Cruz

University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City

The University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Philadelphia

Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York

Selected Teaching Experience:

2013- Present - Faculty, Adirondack Folk School, Lake Luzerne teaching papermaking and bookbinding workshops

May 29 to June, 2010 - “Type & Image” letterpress printing workshop at Penland School of Crafts,

Penland, North Carolina

January 1 to February 28, 2009 - Lead printer at Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina.

September 13 & 27, 2008 - Introduction to Letterpress Printing and introduction to Bookbinding, 

Bluseed Studios, Saranac Lake, New York

May 10-11, 2008- Introduction to Bookbinding, Great River Arts, Bellows Falls, Vermont

May 3-4, 2008 - Open Studio Letterpress Workshop. Bluseed Studios, Saranac Lake, New York

March 13, 2008 - Introduction to Bookbinding. Lower Adirondack Regional Art Center, Glens Falls, New York

October 27, 2007 - Introduction to Letterpress Printing, at Chester Creek Press, sponsored by the

Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, New York

October 20, 2007 - Hinged Lid Boxmaking, at Chester Creek Press, sponsored by the

Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, New York

October 5, 2007 Hand Processing Polymer Printing Plates. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

September 29, 2007 Introduction to Bookbinding. The Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, New York

September 23, 2007- Hand Processing & Printing Polymer Printing Plates, at Chester Creek Press,

sponsored by Bluseed Studios, Saranac Lake, New York

September 15, 2007- Speaker: An Overview of the Town of Chester Library Book Arts Collection.

The Town of Chester Public Library, Chestertown, New York

August 11, 2007 - Hinged Lid Boxmaking, at Chester Creek Press, sponsored by the the Town of Chester

Public Library, Chestertown, New York

July 13, 2007 - Introduction to Bookbinding. The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, New York

April 19, 2007 - Introduction to Letterpress Printing. Bluseed Studios, Saranac Lake, New York

March 1& 2, 2007 - Byzantine Binding Workshop. Assistant for Anna Embree. New York Academy of Medicine Preservation Laboratory, New York City

August 2006 - Ethiopian Binding Workshop and Introduction to Boxmaking. The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, New York

August 2005 - Introduction to Bookbinding and Introduction to Boxmaking. The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, New York

July 19, 2005 - Paste Paper Workshop. The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, New York

August 22 - December 17, 2004 - Teaching Practicum, The University of Alabama Book Arts

Program. Binding I, Anna Embree, binding instructor

December 19, 2004 - Paste Paper Workshop. The Town of Chester Public Library, Chestertown, New York

Summer 2004 - Paste Paper Workshop and Ethiopian Binding Workshop. The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, New York

Work Experience:

2004- Present Owner, Chester Creek Press – Printmaking, letterpress printing, hand papermaking, bookbinding, custom papermaking and bookbinding tools

Related Activities:

January 1, 2020-Present Trustee and Financial Officer, Town of Chester Public Library, Chestertown, New York

November 6, 2010 Panelist Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council Organizational Grant Panel

November 7, 2009 Panelist Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council Organizational Grant Panel

September 2007- Present Member, Fine Press Book Association

September 2007- Present Curator, The Town of Chester Public Library Book Arts Collection, Chestertown, New York

January 2004 - Present Member, Guild of Bookworkers, National, New York, and New England chapters

October 2000 - Present Vice Chair, Friends of the Town of Chester Public Library, Chestertown, New York

October 1998 - September 2000 Chair, Friends of the Town of Chester Public Library, Chestertown, New York