San Francisco, CA—August 3, 2026—California College of the Arts (CCA) Campus Gallery is pleased to present Closer Reading: Three Bay Area Book Artists, a group exhibition curated by Anthea Black, associate professor of Printmedia, on behalf of the San Francisco Advocacy for the National Museum of Women in the Arts. On view September 2 through October 23, 2026, the exhibition features work by Macy Chadwick, Kate Laster, and Vivian Sming—Bay Area artists whose practices reflect distinct interpretations of the book as art.

Closer Reading is presented as Northern California's contribution to the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ (NMWA) Women to Watch 2027: A Book Arts Revolution. The latest edition of the museum’s hallmark exhibition series featuring national and international artists whose work is underrepresented on the global stage. The exhibition at CCA explores how three artists expand the book as a form for artistic experimentation, collaboration, and exchange. Chadwick draws on fine press and book arts traditions through tactile works combining letterpress, typography, and poetic form. Laster brings book and text forms into activist artmaking, using cut paper, zines, posters, maps, and printed matter. Sming approaches publishing as an artistic practice through Sming Sming Books, bringing together handmade and digital forms through collaborative projects.

“My decade in San Francisco has taught me that the city’s book arts ecology is truly unique. Books are everywhere here, and they multiply rapidly in the hands of established printers, indie publishers, artist punks, and an avid collector base, anchored by a network of organizations that offer gathering spaces and valuable creative support,” says Black. “Each artist in Closer Reading represents a different definition of ‘the book as art,’ and a distinct approach to working with artists' books as their primary medium.”

In June 2026, NMWA announced Sming as one of 16 global artists selected for Women to Watch 2027: A Book Arts Revolution, which will be on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., from April 9 through August 15, 2027. Sming will represent San Francisco and Northern California.

“Since 2017, the San Francisco Advocacy for NMWA has grown into a fully established non-profit organization that supports women in the arts in Northern California,” says Lorna Meyer Calas, Founding President of the San Francisco Advocacy for NMWA. “The collaboration between NMWA and its advocacy committees increases the visibility of emerging and underrepresented artists. Here in San Francisco, we are thrilled to have fulfilled our advocacy group’s mission by participating in four of NMWA’s Women to Watch exhibition cycles.”

The opening reception for Closer Reading is on Wednesday, September 2, from 5:30 to 7 pm. A related program, Sming Sming Books: Ten Years of Publishing, will take place on Wednesday, October 21, from 5 to 6:30 pm.

Closer Reading is supported by the San Francisco Advocacy for the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Exhibition details

Dates: September 2—October 23, 2026
Opening reception: September 2, 5:30–7 pm
Location: CCA Campus Gallery, 1480 17th Street, San Francisco
Gallery hours: Wednesday 11 am–7 pm; Thursday & Friday 11 am–4 pm
Admission: Free and open to the public

About Macy Chadwick

Macy Chadwick is a book artist, letterpress printer, and founder and Director of In Cahoots Residency, which provides housing and studio space to emerging and professional artists working in artists' books, letterpress, printmaking, writing, and collaboration. She received an MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Chadwick has taught at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, and other institutions. Her work is held in prominent collections in the U.S. and abroad, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Yale University Special Collections, and the Jack Ginsberg Collection in South Africa. She continues to create books and limited-edition prints in her letterpress studio, In Cahoots Press.

About Kate Laster

Kate Laster (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural worker from Anchorage, Alaska (Dena'ina land) now based in Oakland (Ohlone land). Laster looks at the intersection of disability, economic justice and collective care. Their papercut practice connects graffiti stencils with painting and printmaking to make unique bookforms and agitprop multiples. Laster received a BA at Evergreen State College in 2015 and in 2019 she received a MA+MFA in History & Theory of Contemporary Art and Studio Art with an emphasis in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute. Laster's artwork has been shown in Japan, Korea, Canada and Germany as well as at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum in Santa Barbara and the Tenderloin Museum in San Francisco. They have been an artist-in-residence at many programs in California such as: In Cahoots, Kala Art Institute, Chalk Hill, Open Windows Cooperative as well as Vermont Studio Center, Cisco Home of the Brave in Utah, and Pillow Fort Art Center in New York. Her artwork and organizing has been featured in Hyperallergic, Hey Alma and KQED.

About Vivian Sming

Vivian Sming (she/they) is an artist-publisher who experiments with books as art, discourse, exhibition, and archive. Since 2017, Sming has published a wide range of artists' books through their studio, Sming Sming Books, where they work in close collaboration with artists whose works and ideas inform design, material, and printing choices. They hold a BA in Art from UCLA and an MFA from CalArts. Sming has been a Fellow at YBCA, Curatorial Fellow at the Letterform Archive, and Guest Curator for the Vancouver Art Book Fair. Sming Sming Books titles are held in over 150 libraries worldwide and have been featured in Aperture, Art in America, BOMB Magazine, Hyperallergic, and the New York Times. Sming has received Printed Matter's Shannon Michael Cane Memorial Award, a San Francisco Art Book Fair Publishing Grant, an Alternative Exposure Grant from Southern Exposure, and was a 2023 YBCA 100 Honoree.

About National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA)

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, DC is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. With its collections, exhibitions, programs, and online content, the museum inspires dynamic exchanges about art and ideas. NMWA advocates for better representation of women artists and serves as a vital center for thought leadership, community engagement, and social change. NMWA addresses the gender imbalance in the presentation of art by bringing to light important women artists of the past while promoting great women artists working today. Women to Watch is a unique exhibition series at NMWA that features emerging and underrepresented women artists from regions where the museum has outreach committees.

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