Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company was a book

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

company based in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Oregon, United States. Graphic Arts Center was one of the Northwest's largest book publishers, publishing about 40 books annually and selling over 500 titles to the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and Europe. Using three imprints — Graphic Arts Books, Alaska Northwest Books, and WestWinds Press — Graphic Arts published and distributed books that focused on lifestyle and place. The company filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in November 2009.

History

Graphic Arts Center Publishing started in 1967 as a division of Graphic Arts Center, Inc., Oregon's largest printer. The publishing house was one of the pioneers in publishing large-format, full-color print books. These became known as " coffee table books." Their first book in this format was the popular ''Oregon'', a book of photographs by

Ray Atkeson Ray Atkeson (February 13, 1907 – May 25, 1990) was a U.S. photographer best known for his landscape images, particularly of the American West. His best known photographs are black and white prints, many still popular in galleries, stores, books ...

, which became a series that includes ''Oregon 2'' and ''Oregon III''. In the mid 1980s, Graphic Arts began to diversify from photographic books into subjects like children's fiction and non-fiction. In 1993, Graphic Arts acquired Alaska Northwest Books, the largest trade book publisher in the Alaskan market. In 1998, Graphic Arts started its third imprint, WestWinds Press, to launch a series of Western titles and photography books. In April 2006, the company filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

. In October 2006, Ingram Content Group invested in Graphic Arts as part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan. In January 2007, Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company emerged from bankruptcy. The company again filed for bankruptcy in order to liquidate in November 2009.

References

Companies based in Portland, Oregon Publishing companies established in 1968 Book publishing companies based in Oregon Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006 Privately held companies based in Oregon Defunct companies based in Oregon 1968 establishments in Oregon 2009 disestablishments in Oregon {{US-publish-company-stub