Dea Sasso

Dea Sasso has been sole proprietor of Light of Day Bindery ® since 1989. She maintains her book bindery in Asheville, North Carolina. Dea divides her time between teaching, privately & in schools, and hand bookbinding, including repair, restoration, new bindings and small editions.

As the Resident Book Artist for the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, Dea has been an instructor there since 1991 and now staff since 2005. In addition, she teaches at a number of art schools and institutions around the country including the Garage Annex School in Easthampton, MA; Center for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA; Snow Farm Center for Crafts in Williamsburg, MA; BookWorks in Asheville, NC.

She is a juried member of the Southern Highland Crafts Guild. Chartered in 1930 and located in Asheville, NC, the Guild now represents over 900 craftspeople in 293 counties of 9 southeastern states.

You may contact Dea for private instruction. As an option, she offers a Home Stay Program where students come from many places and often live with her family on site for periods of time ranging from a few days to three months. Many of her students have gone forward in their studies and opened binderies of their own.

“I came to bookbinding through a love of leather from a family of professional artists and opera singers for whom creativity and professional study continue to be major themes. In college and graduate school I was a self-taught leather worker who designed and constructed artists’ portfolios, back packs, and clothing to fund my education. In my thirties, after years in Public Health Service, I was curious to see if I could create a career and life through my craft. With guidance and training from friend and mentor, William Streeter of Heraldry Bindery, I started on an exciting professional path that would take two lifetimes to fully explore. I opened Light of Day Bindery in 1989.