The Student Book Arts Competition, sponsored by UCF Libraries’ Special Collections & University Archives, have been supporting student artist books since 2005. This year’s competition invited current students to submit artist books created during the academic calendar year 2023-2024.
Each year a student is awarded a purchase prize and the winning book art becomes part of the permanent Book Arts & Typography Collection at UCF Special Collections & University Archives. The 18th Annual Student Book Arts Competition awarded two students for their artist books, “How to Scam with Water Heaters” by Sean Logan and “Angels’ Number Cards” by Rebecca Tirado Ahearn. Both artist books exemplified the creativity and craftsmanship of book arts.
This year's guest judge is David Nees. David is a Book Artist, Graphic Designer, and Educator with an MA in Art History from the University of Oklahoma and an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Alabama. He has lived in Oklahoma, Alabama, and now in Florida. David is a member of the Book Arts Guild of Central Florida. He works and lives in Mount Dora with his husband, and their dog Henley.