Gold Dusted: The Artistry of Arion Press Books opens at the Robert Frost Stone House Museum
Exhibition offers visitors the rare opportunity to interact with Arion Press fine edition artist books at the Robert Frost Stone House Museum May 8–October 31, 2025.
The Robert Frost Stone House Museum invites visitors to experience Gold Dusted: The Artistry of Arion Press Books. Located in Robert Frost’s “gold dusted” San Francisco, Arion Press works with contemporary artists to reimagine literary classics in collaboration with expert bookmakers. Each book is printed in an edition of 250 copies.
“Frost understood the importance of compatible illustrations for his volumes of poetry and enjoyed a longtime partnership with the artist and illustrator J.J. Lankes who he collaborated with artistically for over 40 years,” said Robert Frost Stone House Museum Director Erin McKenny. “The woodcuts that Lankes created for New Hampshire and West Running Brook, the books published while Frost was living at the Stone House, are among Lankes’ most beloved illustrations, and complement Frost’s work.”
The books are on loan from the collection of Crossett Library, 51. “Our vision for the exhibition is to allow visitors the rare opportunity to hold and engage with a significant collection of these editions,” said Oceana Wilson, Dean of Library at 51. “These books come alive in the hands of the reader and in the intimate experience of turning the pages, lingering over a sentence, and contemplating the artwork.” The collection was donated to Crossett Library by Cameo Wood ’21.
Sixteen Arion Press artist books will be on exhibition including: Woolgathering by Patti Smith with artwork by Christian Marclay, Their Eyes Were Watching God with introduction by Emily Bernard and artwork by Kenturah Davis, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut with artwork by Vincent Valdez, Kindred by Octavia E. Butler with artwork by Alison Saar, and The Sundial by Shirley Jackson with artwork by Miles Hyman.
A monumental new interpretation of Aesop’s Fables, printed in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Arion’s founding in 2024, will also be exhibited. Author Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, has written modern morals that restore the novelty of millennia-old fables for modern ears. This edition, presented in a sculptural box by Kiki Smith, features artwork by Sandow Birk, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Enrique Chagoya, Kenturah Davis, Marcel Dzama, Natalie Frank, Tim Hawkinson, Audrey Niffenegger, Barry Moser, Michele Oka Doner, Alison Saar, Joel Shapiro, Vincent Valdez, Richard Wagener, and Kara Walker.
The exhibition’s opening reception is 5:30-7:00 pm on Thursday, May 8, at the Robert Frost Stone House Museum in Shaftsbury, VT. Representatives from Arion Press, Ted Gioia, Program & Development Director, and Caitlin Kirkpatrick, Education & Outreach Manager, will attend the opening reception.
The museum is open in May on weekends from 10:00 am–4:00 pm and then June 1 opens five days a week, Thursday–Monday from 10:00 am–4:00 pm. Admission is as follows: $10 for adults, $6 for seniors and students: $5 for those under age 18, and free for children under 10 years old. The opening reception is free of charge.
About the Robert Frost Stone House Museum
The Robert Frost Stone House Museum is a literary landmark located only minutes away from Frost's gravesite in Old Bennington. American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) purchased the Stone House, built c. 1769, in 1920. It was there that he wrote one of his most famous poems "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" in June 1922, and where he was living when he won his first Pulitzer.
About Arion Press
As the last unified hot-metal type foundry, letterpress workshop, and bindery in daily operation in the U.S., Arion Press is one of the oldest printers in the country where books are made entirely by hand from comma to cover, all under one roof. Founded in 1974, Arion invites contemporary artists to reimagine literary classics in collaboration with our expert bookmakers. Each limited-edition book is crafted in our historic workshop using machines that date back to the invention of Monotype. Through our editions, public programs, and educational opportunities, we preserve, celebrate, and advance the art of making books by hand.