Big River Bookbinding and Letterpress Printing is a studio for the art of the book. We embrace the traditional while exploring the contemporary. We create objects that become family treasures and points of conversation for the owner and their friends.The work is done by hand and all aspects of the construction are planned and considered.
Big River publishes artists’ books and prints that reflect the region and play with our senses.
Andrew Huot, Conservator & Bookbinder
Big River is owned by Andrew Huot, a bookbinder, conservator, and book artist originally from Toronto, Canada. Andrew has an MFA in Book Arts & Printmaking from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and an undergraduate degree in Printmaking from Portland State University. He exhibits his artwork widely and is held in collections across the country, from the Art Institute of Chicago to Yale University.
He has experience performing conservation treatments on books and paper based items. He was the Conservator and Preservation Specialist at Illinois State University for the last 5 years, and worked at the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Wagner Free Institute of Science, and the University of Oregon. Andrew taught Conservation, Preservation, and Bookbinding for the Graduate School of Library Science at the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign from 2010 to 2022. He is a past president of the Guild of Book Workers and a peer reviewed Professional Associate of the American Institute of Conservation.
Andrew’s artists’ books can be seen at www.andrewhuot.com