Victor Hammer Fellowship - Wells College

The Wells Book Arts Center is pleased to begin accepting applications for the tenth Victor Hammer Fellowship in the Book Arts.

The fellowship is named for Victor Hammer, an Austrian printer, book designer, typographer and portrait artist, who fled Europe to come to Wells College in 1939. The Hammer Fellowship is a two-year book artist-in-residence program that was founded in 1998 designed to help emerging book artists establish their name in the field. The Hammer Fellow’s expertise and various activities enhance the educational mission of the Book Arts Center and Wells College and increase awareness of the book arts as a field of study and practice both at Wells and in the community at large.

The Book Arts Center teaches introductory courses in letterpress printing, hand bookbinding, calligraphy and various upper-level courses in binding and printing. In addition to courses taught in the academic year, the Book Arts Center offers two week-long series of workshops in the summer at Wells College.

The successful candidate for the Victor Hammer Fellowship in the Book Arts will hold the position for two years, Fall 2016 through Summer 2018. The position includes teaching two courses each semester, one of which will be Hand Bookbinding I. Duties include production of work for Wells College Press, maintenance of Printing, Bindery and Papermaking studios and assisting the director.  The fellowship includes an apprenticeship at the Press and Letterfoundry of Michael and Winifred Bixler in nearby Skaneateles and producing an independent body of work.

Applicants must have extensive experience in binding, letterpress printing and papermaking, experience teaching, and a MFA in Book Arts or a certificate in a related field. Applications should include a CV, 15 digital images of the candidate’s own work, 7 digital images of the candidate’s students’ work, a statement of teaching philosophy, and three letters of recommendation. Since the Fellow will assist in the design and production of poetry broadsides for the Creative Writing Program, as well as announcement posters for Book Arts events, images of any such work would be helpful to the search committee.

Applications are due by March 1, 2016, and are to be submitted as PDF files via an email to wellsjobs@wells.edu with Victor Hammer Fellow noted in the subject line.   Wells College actively seeks to diversify faculty and encourages candidates to apply who can further expand the program through multicultural approaches and is an equal opportunity employer.  No phone calls please.


Richard Kegler - Director
Wells Book Arts Center
Morgan Hall
Wells College
170 Main St
Aurora, New York 13026
315.364.3420