This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Jay Tanner is a Kansas City–based bookbinder and book conservator operating under the name Jay Tanner, bookbinder — offering hand bookbinding, conservation and restoration, custom fine leather bindings, archival preservation housings, and private instruction from a garage studio in Kansas City, MO, since 2012.1

Description

Jay Tanner is a Kansas City–based bookbinder and conservator whose one-person practice spans the full range of the craft: hand bookbinding (historic and contemporary structures), book conservation and restoration, custom fine leather bindings, and the fabrication of archival preservation housings (tiered clamshell and phase boxes). He also offers workshops and private instruction for those learning the craft.1

Tanner has devoted himself to bookbinding and conservation since 2012, when he began studying and practicing the art independently. His formal education came through the Kansas City Art Institute, where he earned a BFA in 2017 with a double major in Art History and Printmaking, concentrating in bookbinding.12 He deepened his conservation credentials further with a Master of Library Science in Archives Studies from Emporia State University, completed in 2024.1 In between, he completed internships at nationally regarded institutions including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Kansas City Center for the Ink and Paper Arts, Karen Hanmer Book Arts, Dartmouth College Library, and Heugh-Edmondson Conservation Services.1

The practice operates from a private garage studio in Kansas City and is not a walk-in retail location; clients engage through the contact form on his website. Tanner builds many of his own specialized bookbinding tools in addition to the work he produces for clients.3

Ownership and history

Jordan Jay Tanner is described in all published sources as “a bookbinder and book conservator from Kansas City, MO.”32 His practice is sole-proprietor and has operated continuously under his name since 2012 — roughly coinciding with his teenage/early-adult years in Kansas City before and during his KCAI enrollment.1 Explicit birth/hometown documentation has not been located; all available sources describe him as based in and operating from Kansas City without elaboration on birthplace.

His institutional footprint in Kansas City runs deep: he trained at KCAI (one of the city’s flagship art institutions), interned at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the KC Center for the Ink and Paper Arts — two of the city’s most prominent arts institutions — and built his practice entirely within the Kansas City market.1 From 2017 to 2022 he served as Library Chair for the Guild of Book Workers (a national professional organization), during which he cataloged its rare book collection, digitized its video archive, and successfully facilitated the donation of the Guild’s library to the University of Iowa.2

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

  1. https://jaytannerbookbinder.com/ — Official website of Jay Tanner, bookbinder. Asserts: trade name “Jay Tanner, bookbinder”; practice since 2012; services offered (conservation & restoration, custom fine leather bindings, archival preservation boxes, workshops & private instruction); BFA from Kansas City Art Institute 2017 (Art History + Printmaking, bookbinding focus); MLS in Archives Studies from Emporia State University 2024; internships at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, KC Center for the Ink and Paper Arts, Karen Hanmer Book Arts, Dartmouth College Library, Heugh-Edmondson Conservation Services; active and accepting inquiries. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. https://www.ibookbinding.com/blog/video/ibb-podcast/building-your-career-in-bookbinding-and-conservation-jordan-jay-tanner-ibb-podcast-24/ — iBookBinding Podcast #24, “Building Your Career in Bookbinding and Conservation — Jordan Jay Tanner.” Asserts: “young bookbinder and conservator from Kansas City, MO”; BFA from Kansas City Art Institute (Art History + Printmaking); Guild of Book Workers Library Chair 2017–2022; cataloged rare book collection, digitized video archive, facilitated library donation to University of Iowa. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. https://www.ibookbinding.com/blog/video/ibb-podcast/workshop-tour-making-your-own-tools-and-more-jordan-jay-tanner-ibb-podcast-24-2/ — iBookBinding Podcast #24.2, “Workshop Tour / Making Your Own Tools / And More — Jordan Jay Tanner” (published November 2021). Asserts: full name Jordan Jay Tanner; “a bookbinder and book conservator from Kansas City, MO”; operates from a garage studio; makes his own custom bookbinding tools. ↩ ↩2

See also

  • Registry
  • _Tier1-Non-Service-Local-Businesses
  • Owner-And-History-Research-Toolchain
Categories
  • Locally owned
  • Studio Home