Bridwell Library at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology announces
2012 Helen Warren DeGolyer American Bookbinding Awards

DALLAS (SMU) – Bridwell Library at SMU's Perkins School of Theology has announced the award winners from The Sixth Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Exhibition and Competition for American Bookbinding.

David John Lawrence is the winner of the 2012 DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding, which honors the entry that demonstrates the best of creativity and craftsmanship in the art of fine bookbinding. The judges cited Lawrence’s “effective use of geometry and color to create an emotional response, … produc[ing] a design that is highly suitable to the contents of the book.”

The award includes a $6,000 commission to realize his bookbinding design for Bridwell Library’s 1788 edition of Thomas à Kempis’ Libri quatuor De imitatione Christi (The Imitation of Christ). The award also includes an invitation to participate in the 2015 DeGolyer competition jury and to present his work at the 2015 DeGolyer conference. Lawrence has been a member of the Craft Guild of Dallas since 1998, studying there with Pamela Leutz and Sally Key. He also studied in the Czech Republic with Jan and Jarmila Sobota.

Eleanore Ramsey received the 2012 Award for Excellence in Fine Binding, which recognizes a completed binding that demonstrates excellence in structure, technique, and selection and/or use of materials. The award comes with a $2,000 prize. A past president of the Hand Bookbinders of California, she has taught bookbinding and worked privately as a binder in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1980.

Jana Pullman received the 2012 Award for Design (for the Imitatio Christi), awarded for a design that demonstrates originality, effectiveness, and appropriateness to the selected book. The award includes a $1,000 prize. Pullman, who has been involved in the book arts since 1983, resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she owns and operates Western Slope Bindery.

Competition winners were announced June 8, 2012 at the opening of the Helen Warren DeGolyer Exhibition for American Bookbinding. The exhibition will remain open to the public at Bridwell Library through July 14. There is no cost for admission. Bridwell Library is located at 6005 Bishop Boulevard, Dallas, Texas, 75205.

For additional information about the exhibition, contact Brittany Morgan by email or at 214-768-3483.

Perkins School of Theology, founded in 1911 at Southern Methodist University, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of The United Methodist Church. Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Church Ministries, and Doctor of Ministry, as well as the Ph.D., which is offered as a cooperative venture by Perkins School of Theology and the Department of Religious Studies in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at SMU.

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