January 12– March 24, 2018
Willis Smith Gallery
The Peace Paper Project exhibition will feature a selection of compelling artwork and ephemera from the living archive of the Peace Paper Project, located at the Robert B. Haas Family Archive at Yale University. Peace Paper Project is an international community-arts initiative that utilizes traditional paper making as a form of trauma therapy, social engagement, and community activism. Since 2011, the group has conducted over two hundred workshops worldwide in conjunction with community leaders, mental health professionals, and art therapists. They have helped launch thirty five papermaking programs that use paper making as a form of healing and community engagement. For two millennia, humankind has created paper by hand from old rags. Whatever the intention behind the paper, be it to represent wealth, to carry spirituality, or to convey messages, every fiber that goes into the making of paper has a story to tell. Peace Paper Project uses the ancient tradition of hand papermaking as a vehicle for personal expression and cultural change. Because of the project’s innovations in portability and interest in resolving current social issues, paper is no longer just a chapter in a history textbook; it has become a beacon for socially engaged art.
The co-founders Drew Matot and Margaret Mahan will be present to give talks and workshops. Drew Matott is a Master Papermaker with an expertise using traditional papermaking as a form of trauma therapy, social engagement, and community activism. He directs the vision and strategy of Peace Paper Project across the globe. Margaret Mahan co-founded Peace Paper Project. Through programs like Panty Pulping, she works to promote an intersection between art as social action and art therapy. Currently she is enrolled in the History of Text Technologies Masters program at Florida State University.
Ringling College of Art and Design
For more information, call 941-359-7563 or email galleries@ringling.edu
2700 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34234