BOOKS – FALL SHORT SESSION
SEPTEMBER 22 – 27, 2024 (4 STUDIO DAYS)

Elizabeth Alexander
Paper Cut Portraits

This workshop will focus on the materials, tools, and methods needed to transform sheets of paper into original designs using various cutting, scoring, layering, and infill techniques. Students will start with a photo of themselves or a loved one as a reference and build on the image with embellishments and hidden treasures to infuse the portrait with personal details. Students will be guided through safe practices, design, and execution to make an image that activates both positive and negative space through paper cutting. Technical information will include cutting, scoring, dimensional layering, pattern and image making, and gluing tips and tricks. We will practice hand, wrist, and elbow stretches as we amass an unfathomable amount of used blades to create ornate and multi-dimensional cut paper images. All levels. Books studio.

Associate professor and sculpture department coordinator at Montserrat College of Art (MA); awards: Blanche E. Colman Foundation, Society of Arts and Crafts (Boston), Massachusetts Cultural Council, Burke Prize nominee by the Museum of Arts and Design (NYC); exhibitions: Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), The National Museum of Women in the Arts (DC), North Carolina Museum of Art, Nasher Museum (NC); collections: Crystal Bridges Museum (AR), Mint Museum (NC); representation: K Contemporary (Denver), artist partner with Hodges Taylor Art Consulting (NC). 

elizabethalexanderstudio.com |  @keepingappearances

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NOTE: Janelle Washington was originally scheduled to teach this workshop. A change in her situation has made that impossible, and Elizabeth Alexander graciously agreed to teach a workshop similar to what Janelle had planned.

BOOKS – FALL CONCENTRATION
September 29 – NOVEMBER 8, 2024 (6 weeks)

Brien Beidler
Timeless Tomes for Tomeless Times: Historic Leather Bindings

Students in this workshop will use historic binding methods and materials to create leather books fit for use and expression in a modern context. We will demystify obscure and often elusive techniques such as sewing on raised cords, edge trimming, endbanding, leatherworking, and gold tooling with genuine gold leaf and egg glair. We will also have a chance to make and use our own custom decorative leather stamps. Although we will primarily make blank books, students may choose to rebind a book as long as the pages are in signatures. This workshop is ideal for anyone looking for an accessible path to learning traditional hand bookbinding. It will also be useful to experienced binders and conservators who would like to deepen their knowledge and expand their technical repertoire. All levels.

Studio artist; teaching: Escuela de Artes y Oficios Santo Domingo (Bogotá, Colombia), North Bennet Street School (Boston), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Paper and Book Intensive (MI), University of Alabama, University of Utah, Penland; 2023 McKnight Book Arts Fellow, 2021 Interdisciplinary Artist in Residence at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (VA); collections: San Francisco Public Library, Oak Spring Garden Foundation (VA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Library of Congress (DC). 

beidlermade.com | @bhbeidler

Papermaking – Spring Concentration
March 2 – April 25, 2025 (8 Weeks)

Jo Stealey
Exploring Paper as Sculpture

Create small-scale objects or large-scale installations using handmade paper. The workshop will begin with fiber processing for paper pulp, including methods for beating fibers to create specific qualities in the paper: opaque/translucent, low or high shrinkage, thick/thin, delicate/strong, etc. Then we will cover sheet forming, pigmenting pulp, pulp painting, collage, stencils, casting into found molds and cloth molds, joining cast elements, armatures, draping, and other approaches to developing 3-D forms. After three weeks of experimentation, students will use their preferred techniques to create a new body of work. The focus will be on artistic concepts and personal vision for the materials. All levels. 

Studio artist; professor emerita of fibers at University of Missouri-Columbia; solo exhibitions: Windgate Gallery (AR), Cedarhurst Museum (IL), Havana Biennial (Cuba); collections: National Portrait Gallery (DC), University of Arkansas Fort Smith, Lamar Museum (FL), Sioux City Art Center (IA), Spring Art Museum (MO); co-curator and catalog author for the traveling exhibition Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America. 

jostealey.com | @jostealey.art

Regular enrollment begins October 15.

Books – Spring Short Session
April 27 – May 2, 2025 (4 studio days)

Reina Takahashi
Paper Potluck

Students in this workshop will learn basic paper sculpture techniques with an emphasis on creating texture and dimension. Through demonstrations and hands-on instruction, we will cover methods for hand-cutting, curving, creasing, gluing, and creating dimensional forms. Students will have time to experiment and to create a paper food item of their own. By the end of the workshop, we will have created a paper potluck. Students should be comfortable working with an X-Acto knife as all cutting will be done by hand. All levels. Books studio.

Paper artist primarily working with commercial illustration and design clients; teaching: Kala Art Institute (CA), Stanford University (CA); Communication Arts Illustration Shortlist, Bronze Telly Award; Penland Winter Residency participant; exhibitions: Heron Arts (San Francisco), Chicago Museum of Design, Society of Illustrators (New York); client list includes The New York Times, Wired, Adobe, Google, and Target.

reinasaur.com | @reinasaur

Regular enrollment begins October 15.