Founded on Artists’ Books: Brattleboro Museum & Art Center | Vermont, USA

Franklin Furnace has been a pioneer among organizations that support and promote avant-garde artists working in new and nontraditional mediums. While Franklin Furnace’s current programming focuses on conceptual and performance art, the organization was originally conceived, in 1976, to serve artists who were creating artists’ books. These books were, at the time, a new and somewhat controversial line of creative inquiry.

Because there were no other arts organizations that championed this genre of work, Franklin Furnace began collecting artists’ books to draw attention to the medium, and eventually built one of the largest collections in the world. The artists’ books on display were created during the 1970s, as this new art form took shape a half century ago.

— Mark Waskow, President and Founder Northern New England Museum of Contemporary Art