About Simon

Simon is the publisher of Eastside Editions, a fine arts print studio and publisher specializing in etchings printed on both handmade and mouldmade paper, which he established in 2000. Eastside Editions has published several handmade books now in the rare-book collections of Stanford University and St. Mary’s College as well as several major private book collections. Blattner made the paper used for these small editions. The purpose of the studio is to print the work of emerging and midcareer Bay Area artists. Eastside Editions has their prints for sale in their Etsy.com shop.

Mr. Blattner apprenticed in handmade paper making at Magnolia Editions in Oakland, California, from 1985 to 1990.

Blattner was appointed to the Board of Trustees of California College of the Arts in 1994 and served for five years as chair of the Academic Committee. He also served on the college’s first Diversity Committee, the Finance committee, the Presidential Search Committee, the Committee on Trustees, the Marketing Committee, and the Executive Committee as well as serving as chair of the Board of Trustees from 2002–5. In 2004 the college renamed the print and paper studio the Blattner Print Studio. He remains a valued trustee at the college.

From September to November of 2005, Blattner was a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome, where he researched the history of paper from papyrus to the beginnings of Asian and Western papers. While in Rome he taught paper making at Temple University.

For 25 years Blattner was CEO of Rittenhouse Paper Company prior to its sale to Nashua. He continued as a consultant to Nashua until 2006.

Mr. Blattner earned his BA in political science from Northwestern University. In 1999 he received the Northwestern Alumni Association Award of Merit, presented to alumni who "have distinguished themselves in their particular professions or fields of endeavor in such a way as to reflect credit on their alma mater."

Mr. Blattner is a board member of Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and sits on the advisory boards of Hand Papermaking and the La Luz Center. Additionally, he's a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA).