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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
Letterpress Printing, Handmade Paper, Hand Bookbinding