On Thursday, March 25, 2021, we held a virtual conversation with Jamila Zahra Felton of The Beat of Blossoms, along with Erin Fletcher BB '12, an NBSS Bookbinding graduate. They viewed Jamila's work with book arts, zines, collage, papermaking, printmaking, and writing, seeing examples of how she explores memory, identity, love, self-care, power, and Black futures.
On Thursday, March 11, 2021, we held a virtual conversation with Athena Moore BB '11, Global Community Lead of Autodesk Technology Centers and NBSS Bookbinding graduate. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discussed the origins and capabilities of Autodesk's Technology centers, exciting projects and partners that Athena has worked with at the Boston Technology Center, the role of automation and innovation in their work, and how Athena's unique background in bookbinding and conservation enhance her work at Autodesk. Watch the full conversation here.
NBSS was featured in the January/February issue of Early American Life Magazine, highlighting our 140 years of vocational training and how we reopened this past September, now working in an enhanced safety environment using integrated video technology, masks, Plexiglas barriers, and physical distancing.
On Thursday, February 25, 2021 we held a virtual concert with Betsy Hinkle and Jason Amos, members of the Boston Public Quartet, live streamed from the historic First Parish Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. They performed works on violin and viola (including a violin made by a current Violin Making & Repair student) by living Black composers Adolphus Hailstork and Jessie Montgomery, as well as Mozart and Schubert.
On Thursday, February 11, 2021, we held a conversation with Dr. Tiffany Momon, Founder and Co-Director of Black Craftspeople Digital Archive. She guided us through the work they have been doing to research and map 18th century Black craftspeople, in a future-looking effort to document the origins of crafts and trades in this country. Watch a video of the full conversation here.