About

23 Sandy is a gallery featuring unique & limited edition artist books. Owned and directed by Erin Mickelson, 23 Sandy seeks to support and promote the book arts by providing exhibition opportunities to artists as well as through programming that engages the public and informs about the book as art.

Erin Mickelson

The Story Behind the Gallery

23 Sandy was founded by book artist & photographer Laura Russell in 2007 in Portland, Oregon. For 10 years, it was run as a brick-and-mortar gallery space exhibiting unique & edition artist books and paper art. The gallery hosted 91 exhibitions over the years, 20 of which were international juried exhibitions featuring thoughtfully curated works.

In 2017, 23 Sandy closed its brick-and-mortar space, moving the gallery online. Laura continued to represent 23 Sandy by traveling across the country to educate and promote the book arts—lecturing frequently to book arts groups, classes, and conferences, and helping libraries and museums build their catalogs of artist books.

In 2020, book artist Erin Mickelson took ownership of 23 Sandy from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is thrilled and honored to continue Laura's work in the book arts.