Vitality Arts: Bookbinding as a Life Skill

Heidi Jeub is leading a bookbinding course at the Minneapolis Institute of Art this winter, running for eight weekly sessions on Wednesdays from February 3 to March 24, 2027. It's called Vitality Arts: Bookbinding as a Life Skill, and it's open to anyone aged 55 and over. The sessions meet in Studio 112, at 2400 Third Avenue South, from 1:30 to 4:00 PM.

Jeub, a teaching artist, walks you through the whole process of making a book by hand—from folding the paper to sewing the pages together. It's as much about the craft as it is about what goes inside. Along with the construction, there are creative exercises to help you generate content for your own pages, and the class heads into the galleries to sketch together. You don't need any prior drawing experience to join in. While you're there, you'll look at paintings that evoke memory and the recording of everyday moments, which feeds right back into what you're making.

By the end, your book can take whatever shape fits best: a photo album for your favorite prints, a 'brag' book, a travel journal, or a sketchbook. All the materials are provided, so you just show up and get to work. It's a slow, hands-on project that stretches across two months, and you'll walk away with something you actually made yourself.

The cost is pay-what-you-can, with a sliding scale of $350, $300, and $250, and limited scholarships available. The sessions run every Wednesday from February 3 to March 24, 1:30 to 4:00 PM, in Studio 112 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.