Papermaking & Paper Marbling

MCBA offers in-person and virtual workshops in book arts—from letterpress printing to paper marbling and everything in between! Designed for adults looking to spark their creativity and professionals aiming to hone their technique, MCBA’s workshops feature intimate class sizes and hands-on experiences using process-specific equipment, including technology designed and built in the 19th and 20th centuries, and artisan-built equipment made today. Workshops focus on building skills in a specific process, which often leads to a physical takeaway like a bound book, a letterpress printed poster, a screen printed zine, or a sheet of paper made or marbled by hand.

Teaching artists bring a wide range of education and experience along with a mission to inspire connection and creativity. Workshops are designed to balance lecture, demonstration, work time, and group sharing.

Workshops are eligible for credit toward MCBA’s Certificate programs. Enrollees receive a 20% discount on tuition. MCBA members receive a 10% discount on tuition.

Have questions about registration or recording policies? Check out MCBA’s Workshop & Studio Lab Policies and FAQs. If you are a teaching artist, you can propose a workshop here. Add your name to a wait list if a workshop you’d like to take is full. You’ll be contacted if another section of the workshop is scheduled.

Introduction to Marbling: June

with Michelle Blodgett
Saturday, June 3; 10am–4pm CT

Experience the magic of marbling firsthand with this single-day, in-person workshop! Learn the basic process of paper marbling with acrylics, including recipes for the various components of the process. Make four basic patterns (stones, moire/waved, git-gel, and nonpareil), explore seasonal color palettes, and take home your own marbled papers ready to be used in bookbinding and other arts. Participants will leave the workshop with the confidence to work independently at MCBA’s Marbling Labs. Continue reading “Introduction to Marbling: June”

Indo-Islamic Papermaking

with Radha Pandey
Saturday, June 3; 10:30am–12pm CT

Learn about Indo-Islamic papermaking (a papermaking tradition with both Indian and Islamic influences) and its role in the history of papermaking. Watch a demonstration of the papermaking process and surface finishing techniques like dyeing, sizing, and burnishing on traditionally-made papers. The teaching artist will share handouts detailing the process and its history, as well as suggested supplies and materials should you wish to pursue this style of papermaking at home, and readings to further your knowledge of the craft.

Radha Pandey’s art is part of Paper Is People, an exhibition co-curated by Tia Blassingame and Stephanie Sauer, which offers a new definition of paper­ within a global and decolonial framework. The exhibition is on view in MCBA’s Main Gallery April 14 through August 12, with a reception on Thursday, June 22. Continue reading “Indo-Islamic Papermaking”

Art Practice Circle: Summer Series

with Laura Brown
Tuesdays: June 6, July 11, August 8; 7–8:30pm CT

Would you like to attend all three Art Practice Circle meetings this summer? Register for them all at once and receive a discount!

Art Practice Circle meets virtually and offers a friendly community space to listen and share about artmaking. The benefits of connecting with fellow makers are multiple: to inspire and encourage one another, to be an audience for one another’s work and creative process, and to move our work forward by talking about it out loud. This monthly gathering will provide time for each person to share about their work—a particular work in progress, an idea that needs exploring, or a struggle with a specific work—as well as a conversation about what inspires us and strategies for tracking progress. Recommended for those who practice some form of book arts (book/paper/print) or related process (such as calligraphy, papercutting, marbling, etc.). Continue reading “Art Practice Circle: Summer Series”

Art Practice Circle: June

with Laura Brown
Tuesday, June 6; 7–8:30pm CT

Art Practice Circle meets virtually and offers a friendly community space to listen and share about artmaking. The benefits of connecting with fellow makers are multiple: to inspire and encourage one another, to be an audience for one another’s work and creative process, and to move our work forward by talking about it out loud. This gathering will provide time for each person to share about their work—a particular work in progress, an idea that needs exploring, or a struggle with a specific work—as well as a conversation about what inspires us and strategies for tracking progress. Recommended for those who practice some form of book arts (book/paper/print) or related process (such as calligraphy, papercutting, marbling, etc.).
Continue reading “Art Practice Circle: June”

Vietnamese Papermaking

with Veronica Pham
Saturday, June 17; 10am–4pm and Sunday, June 18; 1–4pm CT

Traditional papermaking in Vietnam dates back seventeen centuries; however, colonization, war, and rapid industrialization have rendered this ancient craft nearly extinct. Learn traditional Vietnamese papermaking techniques using the liềm seo (bamboo woven screen) and khung seo (two-part bamboo frame) in this in-person workshop. Various local plants like hemp, invasive bamboo, mulberry, and prairie grass will be used to showcase differences in fiber length and strength in sheet formation. Continue reading “Vietnamese Papermaking”

Paper Beater Training: June 20

Tuesday, June 20; 6:30-7:30pm CT
Papermaking Experience Required

If you aren’t already trained to use our paper beaters, here is your opportunity! Through hands-on training you will learn the capabilities of each piece of MCBA’s paper beaters, and how to use them correctly and safely. Completion of this training will allow you to rent this equipment and use it independently. Studio Labs are not eligible for Certificate credit.
Continue reading “Paper Beater Training: June 20”

Ink-Making from Ecology: Grounded in Place

with Hannah Chalew
Saturday, June 24; 10am–4pm CT

Explore ways to make art that allow you to connect and collaborate with your environment in this in-person workshop. Learn to make water-based ink with a range of materials from your neighborhood—rusty nails, soil, oak galls, remnants of morning coffee or tea, etc.–and come away with new inks and an understanding of how to find specific colors in your landscape and how to ethically harvest materials to make art. Different materials require different methods of curing, but most materials will be simmered on a stovetop and combined with binding materials, such as gum arabic, to hold it together. Participants are invited to bring ink-making materials to experiment with; we will also take a walk through MCBA’s neighborhood and gather ingredients to “ink-periment” with! Ink made in the workshop can be used for watercolor.
Continue reading “Ink-Making from Ecology: Grounded in Place”

Sustainable Papermaking with Repurposed Paper and Plastic

with Hannah Chalew
Sunday, June 25; 10am–4pm CT

Learn how to make paper as a way of collaborating with your environment. In this in-person workshop, learn how to assemble a simple, inexpensive papermaking workspace and how to make paper with discarded material—old prints or drawings, newspaper, digital prints, and mail—from start to finish. Information will be shared on how to source basic equipment (available at thrift and hardware stores) needed for processing pulp, making sheets, and pressing the handmade paper. Then, we’ll use this DIY method to create paper from a variety of found papers. Participants are encouraged to bring in plastic waste from home or litter collected on the way to MCBA that can be shredded and included in our paper. Instruction will also cover the basics of pulp-painting with the various pulps made in the workshop and ways to create large sheets from a small mould. Continue reading “Sustainable Papermaking with Repurposed Paper and Plastic”

Introduction to Marbling: July

with Heather RJ Fletcher
Saturday, July 1; 10am–4pm CT

Experience the magic of marbling firsthand with this single-day, in-person workshop! Learn the basic process of paper marbling with acrylics, including recipes for the various components of the process. Make four basic patterns (stones, moire/waved, git-gel, and nonpareil), explore seasonal color palettes, and take home your own marbled papers ready to be used in bookbinding and other arts. Participants will leave the workshop with the confidence to work independently at MCBA’s Marbling Labs. Continue reading “Introduction to Marbling: July”

Art Practice Circle: July

with Laura Brown
Tuesday, July 11; 7–8:30pm CT

Art Practice Circle meets virtually and offers a friendly community space to listen and share about artmaking. The benefits of connecting with fellow makers are multiple: to inspire and encourage one another, to be an audience for one another’s work and creative process, and to move our work forward by talking about it out loud. This gathering will provide time for each person to share about their work—a particular work in progress, an idea that needs exploring, or a struggle with a specific work—as well as a conversation about what inspires us and strategies for tracking progress. Recommended for those who practice some form of book arts (book/paper/print) or related process (such as calligraphy, papercutting, marbling, etc.). Continue reading “Art Practice Circle: July”

Experimental Marbling Intensive

with Heather RJ Fletcher
Saturday–Sunday, July 15 & 16; 10am–4pm CT

Combine traditional marbling and painterly suminagashi techniques in this in-person marbling intensive. Use non-traditional tools to create landscapes, simple botanical pictures, and graphic abstract designs. Use the same techniques on the second day to over-marble some of the marbled papers from the previous day. This intensive workshop is perfect for those who want to step out of traditional pattern-making and explore ways to create unique decorative paper. Come away with several marbled papers and notes to continue experimenting in Marbling Labs or elsewhere after the workshop. Introduction to Marbling or equivalent experience is helpful, but not required. Continue reading “Experimental Marbling Intensive”

Artist Panel: Paper Is People

moderated by Tia Blassingame and Stephanie Sauer
Tuesday, July 18; 6–7:30pm CT

Join us for a panel conversation between co-curators, Tia Blassingame and Stephanie Sauer, and select exhibiting artists: Page Chang, Hong Hong, Chenta Laury, and Skye Tafoya. This virtual conversation will explore the importance of each artist’s relationship to the tradition of papermaking they practice, and what they are doing to revitalize and adapt those traditions.

Paper Is People: Decolonizing Global Paper Cultures offers a new definition of paper­ within a global and decolonial framework. This exhibition features works by local, national, and international artists and explores the vital role substrates play in human communities and how meaning is made from what we might call paper and papermaking. The exhibition is on view in MCBA’s Main Gallery April 14 through August 12, with a reception on Thursday, June 22. Continue reading “Artist Panel: Paper Is People

Paper Beater Training: July 18

Tuesday, July 18; 6:30-7:30pm CT
Papermaking Experience Required

If you aren’t already trained to use our paper beaters, here is your opportunity! Through hands-on training you will learn the capabilities of each piece of MCBA’s paper beaters, and how to use them correctly and safely. Completion of this training will allow you to rent this equipment and use it independently. Studio Labs are not eligible for Certificate credit.
Continue reading “Paper Beater Training: July 18”

Indigo Dye for Papermakers and Fiber Artists

with Heather Kohlmeier
Saturday, July 22; 10am–4pm CT and Saturday, July 29; 1–4pm CT

Learn the process of making and maintaining a synthetic indigo vat appropriate for dyeing paper and textiles in this in-person workshop. Supported by a wonderful bank of images from around the world, we’ll begin with an introduction to a variety of contemporary paper artists who use the indigo vat, and engage in a discussion of the historic ways indigo has been used in textiles. Then, learn methods of using the vat with handmade paper and explore the Japanese art of Stitched Shibori, in which you immerse textiles in a dye bath and then create patterns through stitches. Come away with information and experience to set up an indigo vat in your home, studio, or classroom, and with skills to create a portfolio of dyed samples to serve as a reference library for ongoing work. Continue reading “Indigo Dye for Papermakers and Fiber Artists”