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My Florida Artist's Book by Rachel Simmons

$4,625.00

This piece is a semi-finalist for the 2026 MCBA Prize and on view in our gallery August 29 - November 29. "In 1980, my family moved from Escondido, California to Tampa, Florida. Even though I was only five, I sensed the culture shock my parents felt. Decades later, as a long-time Florida educator, I returned to the state's past through an unexpected archive: a 1962 educational workbook titled Book 4: Our Florida, Revised Edition, published by Dade County public schools. The original owner of my copy was a student named Lugenia. While Lugenia is typically a female African American name, I know little else about them. Based on their careful handwriting, I surmise Lugenia was a studious and attentive sixth-grade student. I suspect they would have noticed that Black Floridians are barely mentioned in this text. This book transforms that workbook into a critical examination of the political biases, omissions, and limitations that shape our understanding of home. Drawing from my multiple perspectives as a student, educator, parent, and long-time Florida resident, I created a deeply personal meditation on how educational experiences construct our sense of place. To make this work, I scanned pages from Lugenia's workbook and added layers of digital drawing as erasure poetry. I then printed reproductions of the pages and added flocked screen printing. The non-reflective quality of flocking deepens the black, creates a unique haptic experience, and references how time reshapes historical accounts and reflects individual lived experience. The book’s large size commands attention, and echoes library reference books such as encyclopedias and atlases. Each screen print is magnetically attached to its corresponding folio, allowing for easy removal and wall-mounted display. This innovative structure allows My Florida to occupy a unique space between a traditional artist’s book and an engaging gallery installation." —Rachel Simmons Closed dimensions 23.25” x 18.5” x 2.5”, Open dimensions 23.25” x 36.75” x 1.25” *Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.

This piece is a semi-finalist for the 2026 MCBA Prize and on view in our gallery August 29 - November 29. "In 1980, my family moved from Escondido, California to Tampa, Florida. Even though I was only five, I sensed the culture shock my parents felt. Decades later, as a long-time Florida educator, I returned to the state's past through an unexpected archive: a 1962 educational workbook titled Book 4: Our Florida, Revised Edition, published by Dade County public schools. The original owner of my copy was a student named Lugenia. While Lugenia is typically a female African American name, I know little else about them. Based on their careful handwriting, I surmise Lugenia was a studious and attentive sixth-grade student. I suspect they would have noticed that Black Floridians are barely mentioned in this text. This book transforms that workbook into a critical examination of the political biases, omissions, and limitations that shape our understanding of home. Drawing from my multiple perspectives as a student, educator, parent, and long-time Florida resident, I created a deeply personal meditation on how educational experiences construct our sense of place. To make this work, I scanned pages from Lugenia's workbook and added layers of digital drawing as erasure poetry. I then printed reproductions of the pages and added flocked screen printing. The non-reflective quality of flocking deepens the black, creates a unique haptic experience, and references how time reshapes historical accounts and reflects individual lived experience. The book’s large size commands attention, and echoes library reference books such as encyclopedias and atlases. Each screen print is magnetically attached to its corresponding folio, allowing for easy removal and wall-mounted display. This innovative structure allows My Florida to occupy a unique space between a traditional artist’s book and an engaging gallery installation." —Rachel Simmons Closed dimensions 23.25” x 18.5” x 2.5”, Open dimensions 23.25” x 36.75” x 1.25” *Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.

Rachel Simmons (she/her) is an American artist and educator based in Orlando, Florida who makes artist’s books, zines and prints. In her creative practice, she explores environmental and social activism, science, philosophy and memory. Since 2000, she has been teaching book arts and printmaking at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and is an active member of CBAA The Association for Book Art Education. Rachel's artist’s books can be found in institutional collections & archives at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Scripps College, Harvard University, The Newberry, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Baylor University, Yale University, The Berkeley Environmental Design Library, The University of Miami and many others.
RachelSimmons.net | Instagram: @bearwithjetpack