Kathleen Rydar
BIO
Principal at Il Pavone Press, bookbinding and letterpress, Kathleen Rydar is also Emerita President of All May See Foundation, fundraising for the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco. She serves on the Advisory Council of the Grabhorn Institute at Arion Press, the Leadership Council of ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) and is a former board members and long-time friend of the San Francisco Center for the Book. She is a recipient of the Bay Area Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Hank Rosso Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award.
Now, as a full time letterpress printer and bookbinder with a studio in San Francisco’s Mission District at 1890 Bryant Street, Kathleen uses antique type, vintage printing presses, and bookbinding equipment to produce books, broadsides, cards, and ephemera. Her work is focused on poetry and word play to honor writers and artists of the past while looking toward the future of these art forms.
Kathleen loves Italian language and culture and has studied printing and bookbinding in Florence and Parma, Italy.
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ARTIST STATEMENT
I love the immediacy of letterpress printing and the pleasure of sewing and binding a book by hand. Sharing the printed word with others and giving people methods to communicate with friends and family in positive and insightful ways is a continual journey through history and a process of lifelong learning. I'm excited by hand-made paper, gorgeous marbling techniques, colorful paste papers, and the smoothness of leather bookbinding. So much is at my fingertips!
