Carol Barton papers

Carol Barton, born on June 3, 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri, is an accomplished book artist, paper engineer, educator, and curator who has exhibited internationally (The Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Victoria and Albert Museum in London) and has curated shows such as Books & Bookends: Science and the Artist’s Book (Smithsonian). Inspired by reading, historical references, functional objects, architecture, and other artists’ book, Barton is best known for her interactive workbooks, The Pocket Paper Engineer. Five Luminous Towers: Books to Read in the Dark, which was awarded the Bogliasco Fellowship in 2000, Vision Shifts, Instructions for Assembly, and Tunnel Map are other major works. A graduate of Washington University School of Fine Arts (1976), Barton has served as a faculty member at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and the Corcoran College of Art & Design and has taught at the elementary and high school level. In 1977, Barton moved to Washington D.C. to work for the Glen Echo Park Arts Center. Through her time there and through the promotion of artists’ books by local art group, The Writer’s Center, Barton learned pre-press skills that allowed her to print her own work. She was later offered a small grant to produce her own artists’ books. Having grown up as the daughter of a diesel engine mechanic, Barton’s love for structural and mechanical elements was formed as she grew up building and playing with construction games and tinker toys. Movable books, better known as pop-ups, were not a part of her childhood. However, after the success of her first book, Beyond the Page (1981), Barton began a two year study of pop-up and movable books at the Dibner Rare Book Library and the Library of Congress to find early examples of dimensional and movable books. This research most likely resulted in her 1988 publication of her tunnel book, Everyday Road Signs.

In 1992, Barton served as James Madison University’s first Wampler Visiting Professor of Fine Art and has intermittently served as a visiting artist and professor. JMU Libraries acquired Barton’s collection of artists’ and movable books in 2015, and in March 2017 Barton returned to JMU as a guest lecturer for the Carrier Library Special Collections Speaker Series. The event was marked with Barton discussing her career and work; as well as, facilitating a book arts workshop with the Intermediate book arts students, and ending with a public lecture and reception in the Duke Hall Gallery Court.