visit the center
The Jaffe Collection is open to researchers Monday to Friday 10 AM to 4 PM, by appointment. For those who wish to learn more about the Jaffe Center for Book Arts, two 60-minute tours are offered each week on Wednesdays at 3:00 and on Thursdays at 3:00. These set tours are lead by JCBA student assistants. No reservations are required, but we do ask that you arrive on time. Visitors should park in metered parking in the library parking lot.
Group Tours
JCBA is a favorite destination for community groups of all kinds, and we'd be delighted to plan an entertaining and engaging tour for your group, too. Groups of 8 to 24 are ideal, but we can make accommodations for larger groups, too. These sessions begin with a screening of a 25-minute video about JCBA and the Book Arts, followed by a presentation of artists' books from the Jaffe Collection.
Tours generally last about 90 minutes. For groups of up to 18, we can also include a hands-on bookmaking project. Each person will operate our Vandercook 4 printing press and bind a book of their own. Sessions that include this hands-on aspect generally take about three hours.
There is no admission charge for a tour; donations, however, fuel our mission. Donations to the Jaffe Support Fund are used to bring new artists' books into the Collection, while donations to the JCBA Education Fund support the educational programs that the Center provides to students and the regional South Florida population. We can also split your donation between the two funds, should you wish. All of our programs are entirely self-supporting, so your support is crucial and greatly appreciated. There is a set materials fee of $5.00 per person for tours that include hands-on bookmaking, so please factor this materials fee into your donation. Donations are tax-deductible.
There are plenty of great restaurants nearby that we can tell you about, if you want to make a day of it, and there are quite a few dining options right here on the FAU campus, including Einstein Bros. Bagels, Starbucks and the Breezeway Food Court, all in walking distance. There are two art galleries on campus, as well.
If you're interested in scheduling a tour, please email John Cutrone, JCBA Director, and include your name and phone number and an estimate of how many people would be joining your tour. We will get back to you with scheduling options.
Individuals or Small Groups
If you don't have enough people to make a group tour, please come to either of our two weekly tours of the center: Wednesdays at 3:00 and Thursdays at 3:00. Tours are lead by JCBA student assistants and last about 60 minutes. Visitors should park in metered parking in the library parking lot.
JCBA on the Road: The Book Arts Roadshow
If it's not practical for your group to come to JCBA, we can come to you. Our Book Arts Roadshow generally lasts about 90 minutes and includes our 25-minute video and a rolling suitcase chock-full of artists' books. We can even do a hands-on bookmaking project with your group (for groups of up to 18 or so). We will travel within reason... we've done JCBA on the Road tours as far away as Clewiston and Cape Coral. There is a fee for this service. Please email John Cutrone, JCBA Director, and include your name, information about your group and your location, as well as an estimate of how many people might attend the tour. We will get back to you with further information about fees and scheduling options.
University Class Visits
JCBA is an amazing resource, and we're here to support the academic mission of Florida Atlantic University. Professors may be surprised by what we have to offer: While our connections to Visual Art and Literature are obvious, the artists' books in our collection cover a spectrum of topics. Just as there is no limit to what interests artists, so there is no limit to the subject matter of artists' books, and we're pretty confident we can put together an engaging and entertaining presentation of artists' books for your class, no matter what your subject. Oftentimes our goal is just to help your students see things a little differently than they would if left to their own devices.
Presentations generally take about 90 minutes, but we can tailor your class time at JCBA to fit your class schedule. We can do something meaningful in as little as 15 minutes, if you're really pressed for time, and we can even come to your class if it's not practical for your class to come here to the Center.
If you're interested in scheduling a class visit, please email John Cutrone, JCBA Director, and tell us the name of your course as well as estimate of how many students would be visiting. We will get back to you with scheduling options.
If you are a professor from another institution, we are here for you, as well. We regularly see classes from Palm Beach State College, Broward College, and have served classes from Barry University, Lynn University, the University of Miami, Florida International University... and even classes from as far away as Sam Houston University in Texas as part of that university's Graphic Arts department's tour of Miami.