Founded on Artists’ Books: Franklin Furnace 50th Anniversary Tribute

Franklin Furnace was one of the earliest organizations created to support and promote avant-garde artists working in new and non-traditional mediums, particularly ones that were vulnerable and ephemeral. Currently, its programming is primarily centered on conceptual and performance art. At the beginning of this organization’s existence, its activities were often focused on serving artists working within the medium of artists’ books. This practice is still supported.

Franklin Furnace was founded in 1976, a time when the field of artists’ books was in its infancy. It represented a somewhat controversial line of inquiry for artist engagement at that time and continued as such for quite a while. At that time, there were no other arts organizations in existence to support these artists and their work.

Franklin Furnace began collecting artists’ books to draw attention to and create support for these works. In the 1970s and 80s, way before works of this nature became commoditized, Franklin Furnace had one of the largest artists’ book collections in the world.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking organization, we have created an exhibition of artists’ books from the era of its founding, the 1970s. The works on exhibit here are from Franklin Furnace’s archives. NNEMoCA also has a significant percentage of its permanent collection in artists’ books and related mediums.

Mark S. Waskow, Curator
President, Northern New England Museum of
Contemporary Art (NNEMoCA)