Announcing the 2009 Triennial

During the last half of the twentieth century, Helen Warren DeGolyer (†1995)was a well-known supporter of education and the arts in Dallas. She was also an artist herself, particularly skilled at the art of bookbinding. In 1996, the brother of Mrs. DeGolyer, Joseph Warren (†2006), and Mrs. DeGolyer’s children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, fulfilled her testamentary wishes, and established an endowment to support the Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial at Bridwell Library, as well as donating Mrs. DeGolyer’s collection of fine bindings to Bridwell Library, which included over twenty-five of her own design bindings. The triennial takes place in conjunction with a national conference on the book arts at Bridwell Library in late spring.

About Helen Warren DeGolyer

The Helen Warren DeGolyer Exhibition and Award for American Bookbinding challenges binders of all levels to submit a design for an important book in Bridwell’s collections and a recent example of their work. The DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book. In addition to the commission, awards for technique and design will be presented. A jury comprised of binding historians, librarians, and the previous winner of the DeGolyer Award will judge the entries on artistic merit and innovation in design, as well as excellence in structure, workmanship, and selection and use of materials. The competition is open to U.S. citizens.

The triennial exhibition is a juried show drawn from the competition and takes place in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries of Bridwell Library . The exhibition consists of both completed example bindings and the proposed designs for the book in question chosen from competition entries for inclusion by the jury. A full-color online catalog accompanies the exhibit.
 

The next triennial will take place in 2009.

2006 Awards:

James Tapley (WINNER:  DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding)
Esther Kibby (Jury Prize for Design)
David John Lawrence (Jury Prize for Binding)

Online exhibition of 2006 Triennial

2003 Awards:

Jamie Kamph (WINNER:  DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding)
Monique Lallier (Jury Prize for Design, tie)
Eleanor Edwards Ramsey (Jury Prize for Design, tie)
Priscilla A. Spitler (Jury Prize for Binding)
Jan Sobota (Judges' Distinction for Interpretation)