Handmade Photo-Based Artist’s Books
with Keliy Anderson-Staley
November 4 – December 16, 2026
*
Course Description
The handmade artist’s book offers photographers and other artists a unique way to bring images, personal materials, and creative ideas together into a deeply personal form. Free from the conventions of traditional publishing, artist’s books create opportunities to explore sequence, structure, narrative, and materiality in new and creative ways.
In this new online workshop, artist Keliy Anderson-Staley guides participants through the process of creating handmade photo-based artist’s books. Drawing from her own artistic practice, Keliy introduces a range of approaches to bookmaking while encouraging participants to develop projects that grow from their existing work and interests.
Over five sessions, we explore how form and content work together to shape meaning. You develop one or more artist’s book projects while considering how materials, structure, and sequencing can strengthen a central idea, story, or visual concept. Through review, discussion, and feedback, we work together to uncover the most successful approach for each project.
Along the way, we examine examples of other artists’ books, discuss sequencing and image structure, and explore options for covers, binding methods, layouts, and materials. Keliy also shares practical recommendations for archival adhesives and other bookmaking supplies.
By the end of the workshop, you leave with a completed or significantly developed artist’s book, a stronger understanding of the handmade book form, and practical strategies for documenting, exhibiting, and preserving your work.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
This workshop is open to anyone interested in creating photo-based artist's books. Participants should come prepared with existing images, as the focus of the workshop is on developing and constructing artist's books rather than making new photographs. A materials list will be provided to all registered participants.
Participants should be comfortable working independently with their computer and editing software. This workshop does not cover camera operation or image editing techniques. Participants must be able to select, prepare, and submit images for review throughout the course.
Special Notes:
Class will meet 12:30 – 2:30 pm (Mountain Time) on Wednesdays starting November 4 and ending December 16; no class on November 25 (six online group sessions). Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
Zoom Video Conferencing software (available for no charge from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. Further details will be emailed to registrants.
These live online sessions take place in the standard Zoom meeting format. Students can use their microphone and camera, see and hear the instructor and other students, and participate in live discussion and interaction throughout the sessions.
Santa Fe Workshops always aims to produce a high-quality experience for our online attendees. That said, variables including regional and local internet provider speeds, traffic on Zoom's servers, and your own computing hardware can contribute to a less-than-ideal streaming event. While we do our best to minimize the impact of these variables, they are outside the control of Santa Fe Workshops.
Policies:
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
Recording class sessions using personal devices or third-party tools is not permitted. Session recordings are provided by Santa Fe Workshops and are available to enrolled students for two months after the class. This policy helps protect the intellectual property and privacy of both instructors and students.
about
Keliy Anderson-Staley is a Houston, Texas-based artist who works in book arts, printmaking, and photographic processes. She is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, a 2008 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow, and a 2013 George and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellow. Additional support for her work has come from the Sustainable Arts Foundation, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Puffin Foundation, and Houston Arts Alliance. She was also the recipient of awards and residencies from Light Work, Houston Center for Photography, New Orleans Photo Alliance, and Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY.
Collections holding her work include the Library of Congress, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Grace Museum, Houston Airport System, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Portland Museum of Art. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at Akron Art Museum, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Southeast Museum of Photography, Shelburne Museum, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Morris Museum of Art, and Riverside Art Museum.
On a Wet Bough, a monograph of her tintype portraits, was published by Waltz Books in 2014. Keliy has a BA from Hampshire College and an MFA from Hunter College. She is the Moores Professor of Photography at the School of Art, University of Houston.
Website: andersonstaley.com
Instagram: @andersonstaley
