Friday, February 20, 2026
An afternoon of events celebrating this ubiquitous, chameleon-like medium. Free and open to the public.
12:00 – 1:30: Talks about Paper, with Pizza & Performance
Smith Reading Room, Olin Library
Please RSVP so we can get enough pizza!
- Keynote speaker & alumna Josephine Jenks (‘18) will talk about her work as a paper conservator
- Current students talk about their work with origami and amate paper
- Local book artist Robin Price and the Curator of the Davison Art Collection will talk about paper in art
- Musical Performance : Paper Piece by Benjamin Patterson, performed by students in MUSC221 (Live-Electronics for Composition, Improvisation, and Sound Art)
1:30 – 3:00: Paper Arts Fair
Pruzan Art Center Lobby
No RSVP needed!
Explore a paper and book arts fair led by students, faculty, staff, and Unique Collections curators!
- Check out paper-based photographic processes like cyanotypes, bromoil, collotypes, and photogravures
- Handle original artists’ books with local book artist Robin Price
- Learn about the pith paper used for 19th-century Chinese watercolor paintings from the East Asian Art & Archival Collection
- Make zines and collect art with students in ARST 236 (Fast & Furious and Surface Tension)
- Print your own bookmarks and postcards on the library’s BookBeetle miniature printing press
- Get a music staff notebook made while you watch by students in MUSC103 (Materials and Design)
- Explore the history of decorative papers with examples of watermarks, marbling, and paste paper from Special Collections & Archives
3:00 – 4:30: DIY Demos
RSVP required for some events
Papermaking Demo — Book Arts Lab, Olin Library—RSVP required
Learn how to make paper by hand in this workshop with Preservation & Book Arts Librarian Krista Narciso! Participants will see a short demonstration of European-style hand papermaking using cotton linter fiber, and have the opportunity to make their own sheet of paper. Sign up for a timeslot here.
Laser Cutting Demo — IDEAS Lab, Exley Science Center
Modern laser cutters can cut paper with more precision and detail than any traditional cutting method. See for yourself, and test out Wesleyan’s laser cutting machines, with Makerspace Coordinator Ben Parker. No reservations needed; walk-ins welcome.
“Looking Inward” Exhibition Tour — Goldrach Gallery, Pruzan Art Center
Get a tour of the Davison Art Collection’s spring exhibition, “Looking Inward: The Interior As Subject,” led by Donald T. Fallati and Ruth E. Pachman Curator Miya Tokumitsu. This exhibition of prints and photographs features artwork by Édouard Manet, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Carrie Mae Weems, Joel Meyerowitz, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and many others.
Questions? Email sca@wesleyan.edu.
Coordinated by the Davison Art Center, the IDEAS Lab, Studio Art, and Unique Collections! Sponsored in part by Rare Book School’s M. C. Lang Fellowship.