The King Artist Residency was launched in 2023 in honor of the Grabhorn Institute’s late board chair Kevin King. Each year, the King Residency invites an artist to work onsite at the historic workshop of Arion Press in San Francisco to create a letterpress book from the inside out. Each artist will collaborate hand in hand with Arion’s foundry, pressroom, and bindery teams to envision, craft, and execute their book idea from concept to cover. 

The King Artist in Residence will receive hands-on training and tutorials with Arion’s expert bookmakers and enjoy access to an unparalleled suite of printing equipment, archives, and materials while designing their publication. The final title will be released as a limited-edition artist book in the Arion Press Subscriber Series. Each residency will be for six to eight weeks, with studio and living space provided for the artist.

The over-arching mission of the King Residency is to offer talented artists the opportunity, access, and inspiration to craft some of the most thrilling artist books of the 21st century.