Washington, D.C. -- Artist Carol Schwartzott, winner of the 2002 Library Fellows Award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), has produced a limited-edition artist’s book that evokes the many graceful layers of traditional Japanese dress. Kimono/Kosode employs a repeated design of a cutout kimono shape and tri-fold panels covered with Japanese Chiyogami papers of varied patterns and related colors.

The edition of 125 copies is produced in five colorways: blue, black, red, green, and brown. Kimono/Kosode has a hinged construction of basswood dowels with six rigid sections, each forming one tri-fold page. The book lies flat, but when it is displayed on its edge with the pages flipped open a tiny multidimensional theater appears and the kimono becomes a window. Each tri-fold section also contains a text giving a brief history of the kimono, printed letterpress on hand-dyed Japanese Yohko paper that floats against a mat-board surface. The book resides in a matching slipcase; dimensions are 11 inches high by six inches wide by two inches deep.

According to Schwartzott, "I love Japanese art but am really humbled by it. I am delighted that the National Museum of Women in the Arts has provided me with this opportunity to explore my interest through book art."

Carol Schwartzott holds master’s degrees in anthropology and fine art from the University of Buffalo. Her artist’s books are in the collections of many libraries and museums, including NMWA, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, Yale University, Harvard University, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Among her book works are a series on artists, two of which, on Joseph Cornell and Henri Matisse, were included in the NMWA exhibition Book As Art XIII: Artists’ Books About Artists. Schwartzott is the recipient of New York State Fellowship for the Art and Arts International/NEA grants. She lives and works near Ithaca, N.Y.

Kimono/Kosode is available for $395 until January 1, 2003, and $450 thereafter from the National Museum of Women in the Arts museum shop, or by mail by calling 1.800.222.7270. Women artists who wish to present a proposal for the 2003 Library Fellows Award should send a request for guidelines along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the NMWA Library and Research Center, 1250 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20005. Submission deadline is January 31, 2003.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts, founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, is the only museum dedicated solely to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing, and literary arts. Its permanent collection contains works by more than 800 artists, including Judith Leyster, Maria Sibylla Merian, Mary Cassatt, Camille Claudel, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Elizabeth Catlett, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, and Louise Bourgeois. The museum also conducts multidisciplinary programs for diverse audiences, maintains a Library and Research Center, publishes a quarterly magazine, and has organized 28 state committees. Nearly 120,000 people visit the museum each year, including thousands of young people who come with schools and scouting groups. NMWA’s national membership of more than 35,000 is among the top ten percent of museum memberships nationwide. The museum is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, in a landmark building near the White House. It is open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday noon - 5 p.m. For information call 202.783.5000 or visit the museum’s website, www.nmwa.org.

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