R É S U M É
Publications by • Professional Experience • Education • Awards & Exhibitions
Since establishment in 1974, Meadow Press has produced twenty-two editions of poetry, prose and folk music
in the form of books and broadsides, both in Iowa City, Iowa, and after its move to San Francisco in 1977.
Editions were designed, letterpress printed, and hand bound by Leigh McLellan, who also made linoleum
and wood cut illustrations and decorated papers. Publications from the press have been exhibited
since 1978 and have won a number of awards. Currently, Ms. McLellan is an instructor at the
San Francisco Center for the Book teaching classes in letterpress printing.
Core Letterpress on the Vandercook at the San Francisco Center for the Book, Spring 2013. Photo by Georgette Freeman
Teaching
Classes & Workshops (for adults unless otherwise indicated)
S A N IF R A N C I S C O IC E N T E R IF O R IT H E IB O O K Ihttp://www.sfcb.org/php/instructor.php?id=80
2011-present Letterpress Printing on a Vandercook Cylinder Press: Core Curriculum. Eight to nine 3.5-hour classes.
2003-present Paste Papers. 4-hour workshop.
2005-2011 Letterpress Basics. Beginner and intermediate beginner. Six 3- or 3.5-hour classes.
2006-2008 Family Book Making Day. All-day event for families and children 4-12 years old.
2006-2007 Roadworks Steamroller Prints Block Party. Bookmaking table for children.
2005-2006, 2010-2011 Letterpress III. Intermediate. Three 3- or 3.5-hour classes.
2003-2008 By Design: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Page Layout. Three 2-hour classes, or four 2-hour classes, or three 3-hour classes.
2002-2004 Letterpress II, III, and IV. One-day each: intermediate beginner, intermediate, and advanced workshops.
Core Letterpress on the Vandercook at the San Francisco Center for the Book, Spring 2013. Photo by Georgette Freeman
O T H E R IV E N U E S
2012, 2010 Paste Papers. Four 1- or 1.5-hour family workshops. San Francisco Public Library branches.
2009 Family Literacy Night. Six 20-minute workshops, bookmaking with elementary school children and parents. Commodore Sloat Elementary School, San Francisco. http://www.bookmakingwithkids.com
2008 Bookmaking with Kids. Six 2-hour workshops with elementary school children. 826 Valencia's English Language Learner program, San Francisco. http://www.bookmakingwithkids.com
2008 Pasados del Presidio. All-day outdoor historical event: bookmaking table for children. The Presidio, San Francisco.
2008 Envelope Book. Classroom activity for third-graders. Sunset Elementary School, San Francisco.
1993 Pagemaker Basics. One-day workshop. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland.
1991 Introduction to Printing and Typesetting. Two classes. Stanford University.
1988 Marbling and Paste Papers. Two days. Pyramid Atlantic, Washington DC.
2008 Intermediate Bookbinding. Paste and marbled papers, exposed-sewn binding. Five three-hour classes and semester coordination.
Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland.
1987 Bookbinding/Paste Papers. Workshops and edition binding lecture. Four three-hour classes. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland.
1982, 1986 Internship Program. Book design, typesetting and printing. One semester. Intern: senior book arts student from Mills College, Book Art Program.
1984 Adhesive Book Structures. Marbling and paste papers. One week: five hours daily. California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.
1983 Printing, Typography and Design. One-semester class: lecture and hands-on laboratory. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland.
1983 Commercial Book Design and Layout. Two classes. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland.
1983 Paste Papers. Half-day workshop. Women’s Graphic Center, Los Angeles.
1983 Troubleshooting on the Vandercook Proof Press. Half-day workshop. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland.
1982 Vandercook Proof Press Operation. Half-day workshop. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland.
1977 Bookbinding/Decorated Papers. Six-week class. University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Leigh McLellan (right) teaches paste paper techniques at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Photo by Georgette Freeman
Lectures
2000, 2002-2011 Type Composition/Desktop Publishing. Crash Course, Bookbuilders West, San Francisco.
2003-2005 Book Design and Illustration. Crash Course, Bookbuilders West, San Francisco
1988 Meadow Press History and Works. Colophon Club, San Francisco
1984-1986 Wood and Linoleum Cut Techniques. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland
1984, 1986 History of Writing, Typography, and Printing and Book Design for the Trade. University of California, Berkeley
1985 Edition Bookbinding. Handbookbinders of California, San Francisco
1985 Meadow Press: Graphics Work and Critique. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland
1984 Calligraphy & Letterpress. Friends of Calligraphy & the San Francisco Public Library
1983 Typography and Design. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland
1983 History of Graphic Design 1850–1950 and the Present. Book Art Program, Mills College, Oakland
1981 Meadow Press. Palo Alto Cultural Center
Grant
1983-1987 Grant National Endowment for the Arts Small Press Assistance Grant to print and publish Hawai’i One Summer, by Maxine Hong Kingston.
Articles & Reviews about Meadow Press
2011 “Meadow Press,” Iowa City, City of the Book: Writing, Publishing and the Book Arts in the Heartland, by Joe Michaud, Press of the Camp Pope Bookshop, 2011.
1988 “Hawai’i One Summer,” by Thomas Taylor. American Craft, April/May 1988, vol. 48, no. 2, p. 52.
2008 “Hawai’i One Summer,” review by Ruth Fine. Fine Print, April 1988, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 76.
1976-1987 Numerous reviews of Meadow Press books appeared in Fine Print.
1985 “Five Contemporary Printers: Further Notes on Women in Printing," by Kathleen Walkup. Fine Print, July 1985, vol. xi, no. 3, p. 177.
1984 “1984 Broadside Roundup,” by Charles Seluzicki. Fine Print, July 1984, vol. x, no. 3, p. 103.
2008 “Balancing the Limits of Human Frailty,” by Richard-Gabriel Rummonds. American Book Collector, March/April 1984, vol. v, no. 2, p. 25.
1983 “Meadow Press,” Printers’ Choice: Catalogue of an Exhibition Held at the Grolier Club, by W. Thomas Taylor, New York, 1983, p. 3.6
1981 “The Meadow Press,” by Michael Peich. Fine Print, January 1981, vol. vii, no. 1, p. 20
1986 Fine Print cover designed by Leigh McLellan using a pixeled version of type designer Chris Holmes's Lucida and letterpress printed by Wesley Tanner at Arif Press.
Publications by Leigh McLellan
1980-1988 Contributing editor reviewing letterpress books for form, craft, and content. Fine Print magazine.
1985 Reviewer and jury committee. “Second Annual Broadside Roundup.” Fine Print, July 1985, vol. xi, no. 3, p. 139.
1982 “Edition Handbookbinding: A Survey and Resource List.” Fine Print, January 1982, vol. viii, no. 1, p. 4.
1984 Poem: “Leaving Alabama.” Nothing Rich, But Some Things Rare, anthology. Gorgas Oak Press, 1984, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
2011-present The Book Club of California. Publication and exhibit design and production managing. http://www.bccbooks.org
2002-present San Francisco Center for the Book. Instructor. http://www.sfcb.org/php/instructor.php?id=80
1989-present Bookbuilders West (now Publishing Professionals Network), San Francisco. Lecturer on design and composition, 2000-2011. Panel on Freelancing, 2003. Book Show judge, 2003. Scholarship judge, 2008. Board of Directors, Publicity Chair: design and production of printed materials, 2004-2008. http://pubpronetwork.org
1981-present Pacific Center for the Book Arts, San Francisco. Board of Directors, 1982-1985. Newsletter designer, 1981–1985. Newsletter editor, 1984. Advisory council, 1986-1989.
Professional Experience
1975-present Leigh McLellan Design. Free-lance book and graphic design, layout, electronic paging, technical art, web design, and project management for commercial production. http://www.leighmcdesign.com
1986-1988 Design Office, San Francisco. Production managing, book design, dummying, art direction.
1977-1978 Andrew Hoyem Printer, San Francisco. Production managing, hand composition, letterpress printing, and edition binding.
1975-1978 University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, Iowa. Book designer.
1975-1977 Windhover Press and Black Oak Bindery, Iowa City, Iowa. Typesetting, printing, bookbinding.
Education
1975 M.F.A. Creative Writing (Poetry), Writers Workshop, University of Iowa
1972 B.A. Art (Painting), English. University of Alabama
Awards & Exhibitions
Left photo: Dead Color, displayed at Clark Humanities Museum, Hawai'i One Summer rear left, Sensing, above right.
Right photo: Hawai'i One Summer, displayed at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Left panel of the fold-out not shown.
2018 A Passion for the Handmade: The Curatorial and Publishing Work of Linda L. Browrigg. Mills College, Oakland
2014 Holiday Cards. The Book Club of California, San Francisco
2011 15th Anniversary Exhibition, San Francisco Center for the Book.
2011 Women Over 25: Printing Letterpress for over a Quarter of a Century, Clark Humanities Museum and Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont, CA.
2007 California Printers in the Fine Press Tradition, 1975-2006. Stanford University Green Library.
2005 Broadsides by Bay Area Printers, 1970 to 1990. American Printing History Association conference. Mills College, Oakland
2003 (approximately) Recent Acquisitions. Legion of Honor, Reva and David Logan Gallery of Illustrated Books, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco
2002 A Typographic Discourse: Women and the Book Arts in California, 1930 to 2000. University of San Francisco
1981, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994 Pacific Center for the Book Arts Members Exhibit. San Francisco Public Library and Berkeley
1993 Attitude in Artists Books. WPA Bookworks, Washington, DC
1993 The Well-Crafted Book. Oregon Book Arts Guild, Oregon State Library, Salem
1993 Women Printers’ Fair. Mills College, Oakland
1991 Pacific Center for the Book Arts Exhibit. San Francisco Book Festival
1991 Bay Area Bookmaking: The Art and Craft Tradition. California College of Arts and Crafts
1990 Portraits of Literature. Palo Alto Cultural Center
1990 Collaborations and Connections: 20th Century Collaborative Bookworks. Arizona State University Art Museum and Library, Tempe
1990 Eighty from the Eighties: A Decade of Fine Printing. New York Public Library
1989 Poet as Artist—Artist as Poet. National Poetry Association, Fort Mason, San Francisco
1989 A Book in Hand. Arvata Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvata, Colorado.
1989 Book as Art II. National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
1988 Forwarding the Book in California. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
1988 Printed Matter. Pyramid Atlantic, Washington, DC
1983, 1986, 1988 Awards: Western Books Exhibition. Rounce & Coffin Club, Los Angeles
1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 Awards: Bookbuilders West Book Show. Limited Editions Division, San Francisco
1987 One-person retrospective: Meadow Press, 1974–1987. University of San Francisco
1987 Chinese and Japanese in California. Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
1987 One-person exhibit: Hawai’i One Summer, reception. Mills College Library, Oakland
1987 California Fine Presses. AIGA, Los Angeles chapter
1987 Broadsides: The Art of Letterpress. Waterfront Theatre Gallery, San Francisco
1987 Women as Printers. Institute of the Book Arts, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
1984, 1986 A Gathering of California Printers. Oxford Polytechnic Library, Oxford, England
1986 New Work: The 1986 Annual Artists Members Exhibition. Center for the Book Arts, New York
1986 The Students of John Prestianni Present a Showing of Calligraphy. San Francisco Public Library
1986 Third Vancouver Antiquarian Book Fair Exhibit. Canada
1986 Vancouver Arts of the Book Exhibition. Alcuin Society of Vancouver, Canada
1986 Contemporary Presses of the Bay Area. San Francisco Airport
1986 Recent Acquisitions. San Francisco Public Library
1985 One-person exhibit: Books, Broadsides, Etc. Mendocino Art Center
1985 Book Arts. Hand in Hand Galleries, New York
1985 Meadow Press. Meridian Public Library, Meridian Mississippi
1985 The Book Arts in America. San Francisco Public Library
1984 One-person exhibit: Meadow Press: Tenth Anniversary. San Francisco Public Library
1984 The First Decade: Tenth Anniversary Exhibition. Center for the Book Arts, New York, at the New York Public Library
1984 Book Art Exhibit. Mendecino Art Center
1984 Poetry and Paperweights. Mills College Library, Oakland
1983 California Authors and Their Printers. Stanford University Library
1983 Fine Books and Broadsides Exhibition. Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
1983 Breaking the Bindings: American Book Art Now. University of Wisconsin, Madison
1983 Women Printers, Women Poets. Mills College Library, Oakland
1983 Perfect Bindings: Northern California Book Arts. Berkeley Art Center
1983 Fine Decorated Papers. Anna Wolf, Berkeley
1983 Women’s Work. San Francisco Public Library
1981, 1983 Pacific Center for the Book Arts Exhibit at the Annual Antiquarian Book Fair. San Francisco
1982 American Press Work. Klingspor Museum, West Germany
1982 Women Writing Poetry in America. Women Writers Conference, Stanford University; Columbia University, New York; Women’s Graphic Center and Scripps College, Los Angeles
1982 The Handcrafted Book in California. California Crafts Museum, Palo Alto
1982 The Tradition of Fine Bookbinding. Marin Civic Center Gallery
1982 Fine Printing in the Bay Area. Stanford University
1981 One Hundred Years of American Fine Printing. Georgetown University Library, Maryland
1982 The Handcrafted Book in California. Palo Alto Cultural Center
1982 Typographic Printmaking. San Francisco Public Library
1982 Book Arts in the Library. San Francisco Public Library
1980 Seventy from the Seventies: A Decade of Fine Printing. New York Public Library
1979 Printers’ Choice. Grolier Club, New York
1979 Recent Bay Area Fine Printing. University of San Francisco Library
1978 Posters, Books, and Broadsides. Women’s Graphic Center, Los Angeles