Claire Van Vliet

She is also known for her long career in artist's books. She was teaching at the museum school in Philadelphia in 1961

Claire Van Vliet studied at Claremont Graduate University and San Diego State University. Residence is recorded at Newark. Work by Claire Van Vliet is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Print Collection. Distinctions recorded are MacArthur Fellows Program and Frederic W.

• Name — Claire Van Vliet • Born — 1933 • Birthplace — Ottawa, Ontario • Education — B.A., San Diego State College (1952), M.F.A., Claremont Graduate School (1954) • Occupation — Artist, illustrator, typographer

Born in Canada, Van Vliet emigrated to the United States after the death of her parents. She arrived in California where she was raised by her aunt. Van Vliet graduated from San Diego High School in 1949, in 1952 she graduated from San Diego State College with a Bachelor of Arts, and in 1954 from Claremont Graduate School with a Master of Fine Arts. In 1955, she moved to Europe, shortly after her first publications, then returned to the United States in 1957. She worked for John Anderson of Lanston Monotype Company in Philadelphia before moving to Madison, Wisconsin. She made several trips back to Europe and continued her education in hand typesetting and compositing. She taught drawing and printmaking classes at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art and Philadelphia Museum College of Art from 1965 to 1966. In 1967, she established a typographic workshop in Madison, Wisconsin. The Janus Press has been based in Newark, Vermont since Van Vliet settled there in 1966. Van Vliet "pioneered a technique of using the colored-paper pulp to create illustrations."

The Janus Press was founded in 1955. It was named by Van Vliet for the Roman god Janus. The press publishes collaborative works by contemporary writers, papermakers, printmakers and artists, including Raymond Carver, Tess Gallagher, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, W. R. Johnson, Galway Kinnell, John le Carré, Denise Levertov, Sandra McPherson, W. D. Snodgrass, Ruth Fine, Lois K. Johnson, Susan Johanknecht, Jerome Kaplan, Ray Metzker, Peter Schumann, Helen Siegl, Kathryn Clark (Twinrocker), Amanda Degener, Mary Lyn Nutting, Katie MacGregor, and Bernie Vinzani. In 2005, the 50th anniversary of the press was celebrated by an exhibition entitled Beauty in Use: 50 Years of the Janus Press at the Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College. The 60th anniversary was celebrated with an exhibition at the San Francisco Center for the Book.