"God bless the San Francisco Center for the Book, then, for reflecting the anxieties of everyone in this fine land who's despaired at - oh, I don't know - tax dollars paying to bomb other countries, an ICE agent fatally shooting Renee Good in the face, and the federal defunding of pretty much anything that helps the arts, the environment and the most vulnerable people living on this soil."
"One standout is Beth Theilen's The Tower Book, appearing as screenprints constructed to look like a prison tower but with a base that flips open to reveal four handmade books. Thielen created the piece in collaboration with incarcerated women and men, some of them at San Quentin. Pages from one book in SFCB's display case are left open to reveal the words of Shonna Larabee, describing her arrival at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco."
"Uncomfortable though it may be to hold the United States under a microscope at the very moment we're supposed to be celebrating it, Who Is America at 250? reminds the viewer that independent, critical thinking is as American as stars and stripes. More than that, the exhibit constitutes an important reminder of something else: the healing power of the arts, and how art itself can guide us through turbulent times."
The San Francisco Center for the Book presents Who Is America at 250?, an exhibition confronting contemporary anxieties amid the United States' 250th year. Artists use diverse book formats—screenprints, building blocks, accordion books, wood engravings, hand-stitched pages, leather panels and formica boxes—to convey varied messages. Beth Theilen's The Tower Book mimics a prison tower and opens to four handmade books created in collaboration with incarcerated people, including pages quoting Shonna Larabee about arriving at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco. The exhibition links independent critical thought with the healing power of the arts during politically and socially turbulent times.
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