Clamshell Boxes

Course Code: 26SBM200I

This three-day, in-person workshop takes place at CBA on Friday, March 6th, from 6PM to 9PM ET and Saturday and Sunday, March 7th - 8th, from 11AM to 5PM ET.

  • Friday, March 6th, from 6PM to 9PM ET
  • Saturday, March 7th, from 11AM to 5PM ET
  • Sunday, March 8th, from 11AM to 5PM ET

Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on February 20th, 2024 at 11:59 pm.


About the Workshop:

This in-person class at Center for Book Arts is taught by instructor Maria Veronica San Martin. 

Boxmaking is an essential skill for any bookbinder. The clamshell box is a terrific way to protect and preserve a first edition, an antiquarian book, an artist’s book or a suite of prints. It keeps out light, dust and prevents the wear and tear on the shelf. This class will focus on the basic techniques – accurate measuring, cutting, and gluing. The critical aspect of making a clamshell box is precision in measuring. The 1st tray needs to hold a book or sheets without rubbing but without room for movement. The 2nd tray needs to fit the first. And the cover needs to pull it all together so it opens and closes properly and stands up straight. Participants will come away with a finished clamshell box to hold a book — great opportunity for book artists and bookbinders!


Required Materials:

  • Book board (the thickest one)
  • PVA thick glue
  • Wax paper
  • Glue brushes in good shape
  • Scissors 
  • Bone Folder
  • space rollers
  • Olfa knives 
  • Bookcloth
  • Deco or plain paper 

All other materials will be provided by the Center for Book Arts at no additional cost.


About Maria Veronica San Martin

Maria Veronica San Martin (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist, educator and printmaker working with archives, artist books, and performance art. She is a Whitney Museum ISP fellow artist, a board member of Booklyn Art and teaches at Parsons, The New School (NY), Mixteca (NY), Penland School of Craft (NC), and Miami University (OH).  She has received two New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) grants, three Chilean government grants, and a Sustainable Arts grant. Maria has exhibited widely nationally and internationally, with four solo exhibitions in 2023, a commission for the National Museum of Women in the Arts, a recent performance at Lincoln Center, a public artwork at Rockefeller Center, and a participation at New York Immigrant Artist Biennial. Her work is part of more than 80 collections highlighting the MET, the Whitney Museum, The Walker Art Center, the Pompidou Center and the Museum Meermanno 

San Martín is currently exhibiting at the Polygraphic Triennial of Puerto Rico, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and Governors Island in the US, the National Center for Contemporary Art and the Museum of Memory in Chile, while preparing her next solo show in New York and Spain, continue printing series “Moving Memorials” composed of 203 artist books and working for her next workshops at the MET with New Latin Wave.


All images courtesy of the instructor.

Class size is limited to 12 participants to ensure an optimal participant to Instructor ratio. Register now before spots fill up! Registration for this workshop closes on February 20th at 11:59pm ET. Tuition for this course is $525 + a $25 materials fee. If you cannot comfortably pay tuition but are interested in taking this class, please consider filling out our financial assistance application here. We will notify you if you are selected to receive a scholarship before the start date of the class. To view more information about our current scholarship opportunities, please visit this link.

12 Remaining

$550