The Dennis and Leslie Power Library at Laguna College of Art + Design announced the acquisition of its 20,000th book, The Folded Forest, a unique, one of a kind artist’s book by Tennessee-born artist Elizabeth Sanford. Sanford describes herself as “a watercolor painter who was seduced by the book arts.” LCAD Library now has two of Sanford’s works in its collection.

The Folded Forest, a hand-cut, double-slotted, accordion structure painted with watercolor and acrylic, explores the allure of what the artist describes as “the three green seasons, beginning with the unfolding of the first wildflowers in spring and lasting through early fall.” 

“This title is an appropriate choice for the library’s 20,000th book because of its delicate structure and natural theme,” said Jennifer Martinez Wormser, library director at The Dennis and Leslie Power Library at LCAD. “The Folded Forest synthesizes the intersection of art and nature as reflected in the college’s history and location on Laguna Canyon Road adjacent to Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.”

The Folded Forest was purchased for the LCAD Library through 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, Oregon, which specializes in book and paper arts.

Undergraduate Design + Digital Media student, Christine Tinoso, described the book’s hide-and-go-seek, peekaboo format as something that “inspires us as artists to think three dimensionally and to explore how we can make art interactive.” 

In the first few months following the founding of LCAD, then named Laguna Beach School of Art and Design, a donation of books was made to the fledgling community art education school to start an art library. The school and its library grew from its original location on the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts grounds when classes were first offered in 1962, to its present day, multi-site campus located along Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach, California. In 1979, a fire in the campus administration building destroyed the college library, but, through community donations, the library was re-established shortly thereafter as the Ruth Osgood Salyer Library, named in honor of the college’s first woman president. In the late 1980s, when the college sought its national accreditation from Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) to become a degree granting institution, the college library needed to grow to 10,000 volumes to meet accreditation standards. After LCAD library’s 2011 remodel and expansion, it reopened as the Dennis and Leslie Power Library in honor of the then-recently retired college president and his wife.

The Dennis and Leslie Power Library at Laguna College of Art + Design makes available arts-related research materials to the college’s over 500 students and to community visitors. It offers instructional services and class visits, hosts two exhibitions per year, and tallied 40,497 patron visits during the 2014-15 academic year. In addition to its printed book collection, the library also has over 1,600 DVDs and access to various online subscription databases and e-books.

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About Laguna College of Art and Design

Founded in 1961, Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) is one of the top art and design schools in the nation. LCAD offers undergraduate degrees (BFA) in Animation, Design + Digital Media, Fine Arts (Drawing and Painting), Game Art and Illustration, as well as Master of Fine Arts degrees (MFA) in Drawing and Painting and Game Development. LCAD Fine Arts alumni are accepted to the most prestigious graduate programs and go on to become internationally recognized artists and educators who shape dialogue with renowned collectors, museums and gallerists. The Dennis and Leslie Power Library at LCAD houses the historic archives of the college and The Rex and Joan Irving Brandt Papers.

For more information about LCAD admissions, news, events and Annual Fund, visit www.lcad.edu. Facebook at @LCADBFA, Twitter @LCAD and Instagram @lcadbfa.