Radius Books is a non-profit

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

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

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label= Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “S ...

. 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 London, Hong Kong, and Paris. History The Zwirner Gallery opened in 1993 on the ground floor of ...

, 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 in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

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 (or MCASD), in San Diego, California, US, is an art museum focused on the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art from 1950 to the present. Mission The stated mission of ...

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. 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 Ash Creek School District 53 is a school district in Cochise County, Arizona Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125 ...

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 25 branch locations and tw ...

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the stat ...

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 ...

(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 ...

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 the IPPY Awards, are a set of annual book awards for independently published titles. They are the longest-running unaffiliated contest open exclusively to independent presses. The IPPY Awards ar ...

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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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), at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, consists of a museum for photography and visual culture and a school offering an array of educational courses and programming. ...

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

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' 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