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Meet Donna Wingate, Our East Coast Creative Director

I have loved books for as long as I can remember. The process of making books is an almost 600-year-old technology that is constantly being reinvented, particularly where art and artist books are concerned. Regardless of what is going on politically or economically, those of us in the book industry have always felt that there is never really a good time not to make books. It helps, of course, that our vocation is almost entirely populated with obsessive enthusiasts (or enthusiastic obsessives): artists, gallerists, curators, designers, contributors, color-managers, pressmen, and so forth, all the way down to the sellers and consumers/collectors of art books.

I’ve been involved with almost every aspect of book making for over ten years. It started back in 1993 when I was the editor-in-chief and associate publisher for Incommunicado Press, an independent press specializing in contemporary fiction and poetry. We were only a small staff of two; together with publisher Gary Hustwit, I acquired, edited, designed and promoted every book. When I moved to New York, I had the good fortune to be hired by Avery Lozada, Vice President at D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers.

Working with Avery was an incredible experience and I learned a great deal from her. We tackled all aspects of distribution and publishing, covering a wide variety of projects—working directly with artists, galleries, museums, collections, special projects, and internationally recognized publishers, such as JRP/Ringier, Aperture, Hatje Cantz, and Steidl.

Now, although I am based in New York and far away from the Seattle office, working with Ed and the rest of the Marquand team has been a joy. When meeting with clients here on the East Coast regarding prospective or in-progress projects, I find it easy to communicate the creativity, energy, enthusiasm, and integrity that has always existed at Marquand. I think most of our clients come to realize rather quickly what an extraordinary structure we have at Marquand—one which exists for the primary purpose of supporting their publishing ventures and also for the mutual love of books. –Donna Wingate