Working the Remanent Talk at BIMA /  by Alisa Banks

I am giving an artist talk, Working the Remanent, at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, which will take place Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 4-6 pm PT in the Frank Buxton Auditorium.

In the talk, I will discuss how following emanations of events, stories, and traditions - a process I call “root reading" - leads to discovery and investigation of material, historical, and emotional remnants. These remnants, which have survived displacement and erasure, are used as pathways back to identity, lineage, and place leading to the creation of sculptural artist’s books.

The talk, followed by Q&A and a reception, will be moderated by Erin Zona, the new curator of the Cynthia Sears Artists’ Books Collection. The event is presented in partnership with Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) as part of Handwork 2026.

The event is free, but registration is required. Please click the link to reserve your spot: https://www.biartmuseum.org/event/working-the-remanent-an-artist-talk-with-alisa-banks/

Boston Athenaeum: Who is America at 250? /  by Alisa Banks

History of a People is on view in Who is America at 250? Artists' Books on the State of Democracy at the Boston Athenaeum Monday, March 30 through Saturday May 16.

An opening event is scheduled Monday, April 6 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM ET. The event is free, but is ticketed. Tickets can be reserved here.

Regularly, the exhibition is free to Athenaeum members, and will be open to the public, with paid first-floor admission, from  during regular Athenaeum hours, Monday-Thursday 9 am – 8 pm, and Friday and Saturday 9 am – 5 pm.

Who Is America at 250?—a traveling exhibition organized by the San Francisco Center for the Book—showcases the imaginative ways in which contemporary artists’ books employ the physical forms of the handmade book to foster thoughtful engagement with questions evoked by this moment in America’s history as a country.

Texas Tech University: What is an ARt Quilt /  by Alisa Banks

You are invited to my artist talk, What is an Art Quilt? at the Museum at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thursday, April 9, 2026, from 6 to 8 pm CT. The talk is in conjunction with StitchPunk, a traveling exhibition, organized by the Studio Quilt Art Association (SAQA) and sponsored in part by the Caprock Art Quilters.

Featured in the exhibition are quilts inspired by various speculative future subgenres, including biopunk, steampunk, and atompunk. The exhibition is on view in Lubbock, Texas, until May 3, 2026. There will be a Q&A session and refreshments after the talk.

The event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP to (806)742-2443 by April 1st to reserve your seat. 

Oak Springs Garden Foundation Residency, Part 2 /  by Alisa Banks

While I was in Virginia at OSGF last year attending an artist’s residence, I learned through research that 10,455 enslaved people in Fauquier County, where OSGF is located, were emancipated upon the end of the Civil War. It was shocking to learn of the sheer number of enslaved who were living in this county, which is not even the largest, nor the county with the most enslaved people in Virginia.

More sobering was considering the thousands who were released with only the clothes on their backs and their wits as their own. Fauquier 10,455 is a visualization of the number of emancipated souls. It is also witness to a meditation that took place as each dot was stamped individually onto the silk organza, representing an individual freed. Fauquier 10,455 is a one-of-a-kind book.

Fauquier 10,455, open

Searching/Finding is a unique scroll which visualizes the accumulated data from researching the history of OSGF. Layered mull (a heavily starched cotton fabric used to reinforce book spines) features a cut and stitched outline of the two adjoining tracts of OSGF, and names of the enslaved interspersed.

Searching/Finding

Oak Springs Garden Foundation Residency, Part 1 /  by Alisa Banks

Last summer, I spent 5 glorious weeks as a resident artist at Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) in Upperville, Virginia. My first visit to OSGF was in 2021, to attend a two-week residential course in papermaking using wild plants with Alyssa Saccora of The Patchwork Underground. After that initial visit, I learned that on OSGF land and in the surrounding area were a number of farms maintained by slave labor until the end of the Civil War. I learned the names of six of the enslaved persons working on OSGF land, and immediately decided that if I ever returned, I would focus on finding more names and learning about their lives.

I decided on another goal during that second visit to OSGF: to explore the landscape, particularly considering the native flora that the enslaved would have encountered. This required lots of hiking! Fortunately, our cohort included folks who routinely walk the wilds, including housemate Barbara Bosworth, who accompanied me on most of my ventures – identifying and collecting samples of native flora. I also read that many of the native plants may have been used for food and medicine. Plants were also used for protection, and among the enslaved of the African Diaspora, a practice was to place plants, beads, and other items into pouches that were worn around the neck, sometimes containing text or other symbology. These pouches go by several names, including mojo, juju, and gris-gris. This inspired two new works, A Gathering and Gris-gris.

Gathering (left) and Gris-gris (right)

For Gris-gris, plants and found objects were placed in pouches and hung on the wall in a circle. The text on several of the pouches features medicinal plant usages. Gris-gris is a unique artist’s book.

Gris-gris

The original (or prototype) version of A Gathering consisted of fresh plants with their names hung in a circle on the studio wall. The plants became withered and twisted, and were discarded upon leaving OSGF, but samples were pressed and later used to make prints for one edition, which also features names and usages of the plants that were gathered. A Gathering is a double-sided one sheet book – one side can be unfolded and read – that can be suspended and viewed from both sides. A Gathering is an edition of three.

A Gathering (front)

A Gathering, back

Handwork Week 2026 Workshop /  by Alisa Banks

Workshop at the Bainbridge BARN

I'm honored to join the instructor roster for Handwork Week 2026 at BARN (Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network), part of Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, a nationwide initiative led by Craft in America. 

From April 26 to May 1, I'll be leading Speak Your Piece: Artist’s Books with Meaning, an intensive workshop in artist’s bookmaking, sharing techniques developed over years of practice. This week-long gathering brings together master craftspeople from across disciplines to celebrate and preserve American craft traditions while fostering innovation. 

Handwork 2026 is part of a nationwide initiative led by Craft in America to celebrate the handmade during America's Semiquincentennial. Over 250 organizations across all 50 states are participating in this historic celebration.

BARN's state-of-the-art facility on Bainbridge Island (35-minute ferry from Seattle) provides the perfect setting for intensive learning. The island offers charming accommodations, restaurants, and natural beauty to enhance your workshop experience.

Click here to learn more about me and the workshop.

Registration and details: http://bainbridgebarn.org/handwork2026

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Ether: Aromatic Mythologies /  by Alisa Banks

The unique version of History of a People will be on view in Ether: Aromatic Mythologies at Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles. The exhibition will also present an interactive installation of the scents used for the book.

Ether examines the confluence of storytelling, identity, and scent by delving into ancient, modern, personal, or entirely invented mythologies. Thirteen olfactory artworks on show seek to explain our most fundamental understanding of ourselves, and how scent can impact systems of meaning in relation to the inexplicable, the historical, or the unknown.  

Ether is the first in a series of exhibitions on view in 2025 presented by Craft Contemporary that interpret the varied interactions between craft and the natural elements: air, water, earth, and fire. Ether coincides with Scent Week Los Angeles. Events include scent related exhibitions, workshops, open houses, panel discussions, and experiences. 

A free Exhibition Preview & Artist Meet and Greet is scheduled for Saturday, May 31 from 6 - 8 pm. Ether is on view May 30, 2025 — September 7, 2025

Exhibition: Unerased /  by Alisa Banks

Detail, L-R: Ancestors’ Hope and Dreams, Half, Lost

I am pleased to announce Unerased, a multimedia exhibition on view at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center at Colorado College. The exhibition explores what it means to excavate histories by digging into one’s ancestral past through memory, culture and archive.

An Artist’s Talk will be held on Thursday, February 20 at 4pm. The exhibition is on view from February 7, 2025 through September 6, 2025.

Penland Summer Workshop /  by Alisa Banks

Penland School of Craft

I am excited to announce that I will be teaching Adventure Travelog, a week-long workshop at Penland School of Craft located outside Asheville, North Carolina.

The workshop will cover map-making, stamp carving, frottage (rubbings), and book binding, to name a few, and will take place May 25 - 30, 2025.

Full and partial scholarships with and without a work requirement are available. The scholarship portal is open until December 16. 2024. Regular registration begins February 3, 2025.