A Dynamo of Papermaking: Studio Tour of the Morgan Conservatory
Morgan Conservatory Paper
letterpress printmaking studio
handmade paper watermarks
morgan conservatory hand papermaking
sculptural hand papermaking art
handmade paper mould and deckle
papermaking mould and deckle
hydraulic press for hand papermaking
hollander paper beater machine
Handmade paper shop
Handmade paper
Handmade paper
Handmade paper
urban paper fiber garden
kozo, paper mulberry tree
Kozo, paper mulberry fiber for hand papermaking
handmade paper art
Sculptural hand papermaking art
Hand papermaking sculpture
Kerri Cushman, paper and book artist
Hand papermaking is certainly a strange duck. It’s simultaneously a tradition that is thousands of years old, yet artists today are just at the beginning of expanding creative papermaking techniques, and combining the medium with other art processes. Well, who’s out there preserving tradition AND driving experimentation?
A must-know organization is the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory & Educational Foundation, located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Founded in 2008, the Morgan Conservatory is an urban arts center that resides in an impressive 15,000 square foot, industrial-chic space. Walk inside, and you’ll be greeted by a gallery, shop, and several studio areas in papermaking, letterpress, and book arts.
The papermaking studio is equipped with everything you could ever wish for—beautiful natural light, and a large working space with both Western and Eastern style papermaking equipment. There is also a separate room holding several Hollander paper beaters.
Outside in back lives the Caraboolad Garden, the largest paper mulberry garden in the United States. Every fall, friends of the Morgan gather to harvest and process the kozo, which is used for production handmade papers and the studio. A recent expansion of the garden includes natural dye plants and tororo-aoi, a mucilaginous root that acts as a formation aid for plant-based papers.