Announcing Our 2026 CBAA/ MCBA Collective Scholarship Recipient
MCBA is pleased to announce that Emery McElin is our first CBAA/MCBA Collective Scholarship recipient! They will start the program on January 1, 2026.
Emery McElin (they/them) is an illustrator, printmaker, and bookmaker based in Minneapolis, MN. They are focused on ideas of memory and experience. Books have become a vital part of their practice, serving as a way to safeguard precious materials and ideas. Read more about Emery’s work and the themes they explore:
“To describe the nature of memory and relationships, I turn to scientific theories and visual systems. Their perceived certainty offers comfort-providing labels, methods of examination, and a sense of truth. This framework allows me to investigate my thoughts safely while introducing an ironic sense of authority into the work. I employ photogravure, letterpress, papermaking, painting, and drawing to build this visual language.
Recently, I have incorporated found imagery of astronauts into my books, using them as metaphors for alienation in parental relationships. Their distance from Earth and reliance on mediated communication echo my own feelings of loss and estrangement. Media coverage of space missions further enriches this narrative, playing with ideas of truth and perception. Displayed as a series of small books, the content builds cumulatively-each revealing something from the last and inviting return to others.
Outside my fine art practice, I am a freelance illustrator and help facilitate printing events with local nonprofit organizations in Minneapolis. I am trusted to design imagery and hand lettering that suits each organization’s needs. I also collaborate with local artists to run these screen-printing events, providing free print media and creative experiences for the community.”
About the CBAA/MCBA Collective Scholarship
The MCBA/CBAA Collective Scholarship is a studio access program that provides early-career book artists a 12-month Artist Collective membership. This program is for artists who are either recent graduates of a degree-granting program (graduation date within the past 12 months from October 2024) OR have completed an MCBA Jerome Program in 2024 or 2025.
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