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Amy was the Master Printer in Residence for the Winter Residency in Letterpress at Penland School of Crafts, Asheville, NC for the months of January and February 2010. During that time, she worked closely with artists and writers on projects of their choosing, teaching fundamental letterpress skills, and facilitating the creations of edition work. She also printed two books during that time, The River and Happiness Is.
Daily Bread and Byzantine Binding (Untitled) were selected to be included in 500 Handmade Books, Lark Books, a division of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., Asheville, NC. The book came out during 2008, and can be purchased via several online bookstores such as Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

Amy's work was selected by juror Hedi Kyle for the 2010 exhibit Inventive Structures: Books Beyond the Codex. The exhibit ran from May 14-June 25 at Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut.

Amy had a solo exhibition in Thomson, Georgia from September-November 2009. The exhibit, titled Relativity: Artist’s Books by Amy Pirkle, was held at the McDuffie Museum, 121 Main Street, Thomson, GA 30824.

Book and Clamshell Box for First Lady Laura Bush:
Amy Pirkle and Steve Miller, the director of the MFA in the Book Arts at The University of Alabama, were commissioned to create a one-of-a-kind genealogy book and presentation box for First Lady Laura Bush in May 2007. Miller designed the text and printed the book, while Amy designed and constructed the binding and clamshell box. The First Lady was presented with two copies of the handbound book and clamshell box, one for her and one for her mother, at the First Lady's Luncheon in Washington, D.C.

(Above: a photo of Amy working on the First Lady's genealogy book.
Below: Laura Bush receives the book and clamshell boxes at the First Lady's Luncheon in May 2007)

Amy received the First Place Award for Pressing South: A Juried Exhibition of Letterpress Printing from the Southeastern United States for her piece Fragments. This exhibit was held at the Cultural Arts Building Art Gallery (CABAG), University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC in early 2009.

Amy's work was on display in two exhibits to finish out the year 2008:
1. DOG-EARED: Revealing the Contents of Artist's Books, Juried Exhibition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (runs from November 10-25, 2008) and
2. Maternal Legends: A Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Artist Books, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR (runs from December 5, 2008-January 3, 2009)

Amy had a solo exhibition in the Hardman Art Gallery at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. The exhibition, titled The Familiar, ran from September 21- October 13, 2007.

The book Kiyoko was chosen for the international juried exhibition, Beyond Words: Artists' Books, at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. It was on display from November 30, 2006-February 12, 2007. Kiyoko received a Purchase Award, making it a part of the permanent collection of the Jessie Ball duPont Library at The University of the South.


setting metal type