Radius Books is a non-profit

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

company, with a focus on photography, fine art and monographs, located in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

. Co-publishing partners include

David Zwirner Gallery David Zwirner Gallery is an American contemporary art gallery owned by David Zwirner. It has four gallery spaces in New York City and one each in Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, and Paris. History The Zwirner Gallery opened in 1993 on the gr ...

, Harvard Peabody Museum Press,

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

The Contemporary Austin The Contemporary Austin, originally known as the Austin Museum of Art, is Austin, Texas's primary contemporary art museum, consisting of two locations and an art school. The Contemporary Austin reflects the spectrum of contemporary art through e ...

, and

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) is an art museum in La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the ...

History

Radius Books was established in 2007 by David Chickey, publisher, editor, and book designer; Darius Himes, editor; David Skolkin, production; and Joanna Hurley, marketing and public relations. The impetus to found a non-profit publisher arose, in part, from the issue of library budget cuts in the early 2000s, which adversely affected the sales of art books.

Donation Program

Radius Books donates copies of every book published to school, public and university libraries, and arts organizations across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Currently, Radius serves 527 institutions and schools in all 50 US states, donating 300 to 400 copies of one book at a time. Since its founding, Radius founder and Creative Director David Chickey estimates that the non-profit has donated nearly 40,000 books, especially targeting rural and underserved libraries. Ash Creek Elementary School District,

Denver Public Library The Denver Public Library is the public library system of the City and County of Denver, Colorado. The system includes the Denver Central Library, located in the Golden Triangle district of Downtown Denver, as well as 27 branch locations an ...

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

Library, and

Memphis College of Art Memphis College of Art (MCA) was a private art college in Memphis, Tennessee. It was in Overton Park, adjacent to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. It offered Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Art Education and M ...

are a few of Radius Books' donation recipients.

Titles

Radius Books published 4 titles in their first year. From 2008 to 2010, they doubled their production, publishing 8 titles. Since 2011, Radius has published 15 to 20 titles each year, ranging from monographs on historical and contemporary artists as well as featuring museum collections and exhibitions

Awards

Since its founding, Radius Books has been recognized with multiple design and publishing awards. From 2010-2015, Radius was selected eight times for the

AIGA The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The ...

(American Institute of Graphic Arts)/The

Design Observer Design Observer is a website devoted to a range of design topics including graphic design, social innovation, urbanism, popular culture, and criticism. The content of the site includes essays, articles, reviews, blog posts, and peer reviewed sc ...

Group '50 Books/ 50 Covers' competition, which is the longest running design competition in the United States. In 2010, ''

Michael Light Michael Light (born 1963) is a San Francisco-based photographer and book maker whose work focuses on landscape, the environment, and American culture's relationship to both.Knight, Christopher''Los Angeles Times'', August 4, 2000. Retrieved Oc ...

: LA Day/LA Night'' and ''David Taylor: Working the Line'' were recognized for their inventive cover designs. In 2012, ''Fred Sandback'', published in conjunction with David Zwirner Gallery, was an AIGA book selection. ''Janelle Lynch: Barcelona'' and ''Stephen Dupont: Piksa Niugini'', both from 2013, garnered a cover selection and book selection, respectively. In 2014, ''Covert Operations Investigating the Known Unknowns'' and ''James Drake: 1242'', both published in conjunction with Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, were selected books. ''The Meadow'', which debuted in 2015, was a noted book selection. The

Independent Publisher Book Awards The Independent Publisher Book Awards, also styled as the IPPY Awards, are a set of annual literary awards for independently published books. They are the longest-running unaffiliated contest open exclusively to independent presses. The IPPY Aw ...

has also recognized Radius Books for excellence in publishing. In 2014, ''Mitakuye Oyasin'', by Aaron Huey, won a gold medal in the photography division. The following year, ''Julie Blackmon: Homegrown'' won a silver medal for photography.

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

Publishing Publications Design Competition has recognized Radius Books for "superior execution and ingenuity in graphic design of museum publications" in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The Publishers Association of the West has also recognized Radius Books with a book design award.

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

recognized Radius with an Infinity Award for best photographic book of the year. In 2014, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' listed three Radius Books in their Guide to the Best Fall Photobooks, including ''Julie Blackmon: Homegrown'', ''Laura Letinsky: Ill Form and Full Void'', and ''Michael Light: Lake Las Vegas/Black Mountain''. Kevin Bubriski's ''Nepal: 1975-2011'' was recognized with a New England Book Show Award.

References

External links