Calling all bookworms: The Art League has some upcoming book-related events and reminders to share — please read on and join us!

Art League instructor Nancy Johnson will be offering a free bookmaking activity in the Torpedo Factory on Mother’s Day. The Art League Book Club is also getting started, and the gallery wants to remind you about all the great resources in its library! Details are below.

Bookmaking Activity for Kids During Spring Open House
Art League instructor Nancy Johnson will conduct a free bookmaking activity for kids during the Torpedo Factory Art Center Spring Open House on Sunday, May 13, 1:00–4:00 pm. Participants will have the opportunity to make accordion fold books to give as gifts to their mothers since it is also Mother’s Day! This activity is free of charge and is available on a first come, first service basis.

Announcing The Art League Book Club!
Are you interested in books about art and artists? Art League member Rebecca McNeely is organizing our new Art League book club. Our first book will be Off the Wall: A Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg by Calvin Tomkins. This easy-to-read book is a fascinating view of the New York art world from the ’50s to the ’70s.

The first meeting will be Tuesday, May 22, 1:00 pm in The Art League Gallery. This meeting will include a discussion of the book and planning for future meetings. Bring books and ideas for future selections. If you’re interested in joining this group, please contact [email protected] or call 703-683-1780.

The Art League Gallery Library
As Yun Choi, our intern from George Mason University, has been reorganizing our library she’s noticed that many books are never checked out. In an effort to boost usage of our art library, Yun will be setting up a small display on the library shelves in upcoming weeks and she has written some book reviews. Books in our library range from biographies of artists, general art history books, books on technical skills in varied media, museum and exhibition catalogues, framing, and color mixing and theory. These books are a great resource! Books can be checked out at no charge for two weeks at a time. You may browse our collection of titles online at www.librarything.com, user name: artleague, password: library.

Here are a couple books that Yun has recommended:

1) The Decorated Page: Journals, Scrapbooks & Albums Made Simply Beautiful, Diehn, Gwen, 2002, Lark Books.
One of the good ways to find inspiration in daily life is to keep a journal. Not a plain journal, but a decorated journal full of artistic creations. This book provides step-by-step instructions on how to keep your personalized scrapbooks and journals. Each section of the book, which covers materials, techniques, and applications, provides insights from the author who helped many to make both verbal and visual records of their experiences. It’s a great book to get your journal going!

2) Ideals of Beauty: Asian and American Art in The Freer and Sackler Galleries, Raby, Julian, 2010, Thames and Hudson.
Washington, DC is a great place to be for museum visitors. This guidebook provides a brief description of historically significant works from the Freer and Sackler. There are more than one hundred masterworks from the collections of both museums. Besides providing a history of each work, the colored pages could serve as inspirational images for jewelers!