Caren Heft – If I Should Die

Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College’s 112th Annual Exhibition
Back to Front: Artists’ Books by Women

Caren Heft, If I Should Die, Arcadian Press: 1993, ink on paper, 6 ¼ x 9 ½ in. Courtesy of the artist.

This book is part of the Children Don’t Count Project, a memorial to the children under age 14 murdered in the United States in 1993. The pages of the book are printed with the names, birth and death dates, location, and cause of death for each child. The children all died as a result of physical abuse by an adult caregiver.

BIOGRAPHY

Caren Heft is a letterpress printer, papermaker, and book artist. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. From 1998 through 2000 Caren Heft was the associate curator at the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts in Racine, Wisconsin. While there, she was responsible for the Victory for Peace project, a gang intervention program that assisted inner-city children in making letterpress books.

Caren Heft is the sole-proprietor of the Arcadian Press, under which she has published over two dozen books. Her work has been featured in many exhibits and is part of both national and international collections. She has participated in a number of jury panels and is an experienced lecturer and visiting teaching artist .