Congratulations to the 2026 SABF Page Turner Fellows Mel Isidor and Dustin Mattaio Mara! Isidor and Mara are Washington-based artists whose proposed projects delighted us with their material explorations and focus on communities and cultures both near and far. Isidor and Mara will present the results of their creative research in new publications at the fourth annual Seattle Art Book Fair on May 9–10, 2026.


Mel Isidor is a Haitian-American designer, urban planner, and mixed-media artist based in Seattle, WA. Her creative spirit stems from a fascination with the built environment—exploring how cities reveal the relationship between people and culture. Her work combines photography, collage, printmaking, and book arts to create layered compositions of cityscapes that blend documentation and imagination across time and space. Mel’s artistic methodology is rooted in observation, using walking and photographic documentation as an immersive research method to engage with architectural details and urban patterns. Mel also leads Isidor Studio, her design practice founded in 2020 dedicated to the intersections of art, design, and urbanism. Through her design studio, she works across various research and civic publication design projects, leveraging design as a form of translation to make complex topics engaging and creatively representative.

Dustin Mattaio Mara is a visual and type designer whose work explores the intersection between typography, language, and community. Mara writes, “In my own typographic design practice I find myself creating type-focused compositions, exploring how far the visual manifestation of language can carry meaning.” Mara has created publications, art installations, and typefaces with the focus on linking community back to language. 

Launched by SABF in late 2024, the Page Turner Fellowship provides an individual designer or artist who has not yet participated in an art book fair a one-time grant, a reserved half-table, and additional mentorship to support the creation of a new work to be launched at the Seattle Art Book Fair. The goal of this program is to encourage and support new voices in the art book field and to grow the connections among book artists and designers in Washington State.

2026 Page Turner Fellowship
Applications are now closed.

︎︎︎Read the FAQ

The Page Turner Fellowship provides an individual designer or artist who has not yet participated in an art book fair a one-time grant, a reserved half-table, and additional mentorship to support the creation of a new work to be launched at the 2026 Seattle Art Book Fair. The goal of this program is to encourage and support new voices in the art book field and to grow the connections among book artists and designers in Washington State.

Requirements for applying
Required qualification

• Must be based in Washington State

Preferred qualification

• Have not previously exhibited at an art book fair, zine festival, or equivalent event (equivalent events include craft fairs, literary festivals, or trade events at which you’ve sold publications or zines)
• The proposed work is a new, previously unpublished project

Applicants from communities that have been historically underrepresented within the art book field are strongly encouraged to apply.

Announcing the recipients of first annual Page Turner Fellowship

We are pleased to announce that Washington-based artists Daniel R. Smith and Cecelia “Mika” Westman have been selected for the inaugural Page Turner Fellowship. From January to May, Smith and Westman will work with SABF staff and mentors to develop new publications to be launched at the third annual Seattle Art Book Fair on May 10–11, 2025 . The incoming artists were awarded Fellowships based on their applications that included a proposal and sample work, which were reviewed by a panel of four advisors who are working artists, writers, and publishers: Jake Alexander, Alex Barsky, Kelly Froh, and Mita Mahato.

For SABF 2025, Smith — a graphic designer and artist — proposed to work on a book that is a collection of collages made at the Rockland artist residency at Belfair, WA. Smith’s colorful collages were executed over a period of three weeks across the pages of a vintage promotional binder for “Pyro Antifreeze.” Westman proposed to create a shadow book — a series of pages from which light shining through could cast shadows on a wall — that could form the basis of shared experiences for telling stories. Harriet Tubman will be the subject of the first book in the eventual series.

Click here to see the full press release