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BY OUR OWN LABOR
The History and Contemporary Field of Hand Papermaking

July through December 2024
JCBA Book Arts Gallery & Lobby

For many centuries, prior to the invention of machine-made paper in 1799, all paper was made by hand, by a skilled craftsperson. Today hundreds of artists, craftspeople, historians, conservators, and others make and utilize handmade papers. For our Summer and Fall exhibition we have assembled various paper artifacts, specimens, materials, books, works of art, equipment, and other pieces into a narrative of paper’s long history, from a ubiquitous utilitarian handmade commodity to a diverse realm of artistic experimentation and development. We invite you to come and gain a greater appreciation for the material that has made our world: paper.

By Our Own Labor: The History and Contemporary Field of Hand Papermaking, opens July 9th and runs until December. The exhibition features books and works by the following artists, authors, craftspeople, and historians: Cathleen Baker, Timothy Barrett, Shannon Brock, Michelle Burgess, Kathryn & Howard Clark, Claudia Cohen, Don Cortese, Melissa Jay Craig, Amanda Degener, William Goyen, Walter Hamady, Sarah Horowitz, Dard Hunter & Dard Hunter II, Bill Kelly, Katie MacGregor, Floyd Alonzo McClure, Radha Pandey, Count Harry Kessler’s Cranach Press, Steve Miller, Henry Morris, Amy Richard, Tanya Schmoller, Asao Shimura, Ingrid Schindall, Peter & Donna Thomas, Thomas Keith & Harriet Ramsey Tindale, D. R. Wakefield, Robert Walp, among others. The exhibition was curated by our Studio Coordinator, Daniel Zaccardi.

It is also worth mentioning that the old papermakers were by and large anonymous workers, whose names and stories are long lost. The phenomenon of a papermaker having a studio, an identity, is a relatively recent one. Some of the works in the exhibition were crafted by hand by laborers we will never know. Their immense contribution to humanity in the form of paper, our vessel for expression, outrage, dissent, and love, has not gone unrecognized.

CURATOR'S TALK

Tuesday July 9 at 3 PM
JCBA Book Arts Gallery

Come join us on July 9 for the official opening of our new exhibition, By Our Own Labor: The History and Contemporary Field of Hand Papermaking. We’ll be showing some films on hand papermaking, followed by Q&A with the curator.

Exhibition Hours

The portion of the exhibition that is in the Jaffe Book Arts Gallery is available for viewing during our regular hours: Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Visits outside these hours are possible, by appointment. To schedule an appointment, fill out the form at the bottom of this page, or email jcutrone@fau.edu. The portion of the exhibition located in our lobby is available for viewing whenever the Wimberly Library is open. Find hours for each day here: https://library.fau.edu/hours
DIRECTIONS & PARKING

The Jaffe Center for Book Arts is located on the third floor east of Florida Atlantic University's Wimberly Library. Please take note that the Wimberly Library is currently under renovation and during the course of this exhibition, the path to the third floor may be different from what you are typically accustomed to. At the time of this writing, the entrance to the library is at the far east end of the building, off the breezeway adjacent to the library, through what is typically an emergency exit. There will be times this fall when the Jaffe Center for Book Arts may be accessible only through the east stairwell of the library.

From I-95 or the Florida Turnpike, exit Glades Road, east. The FAU campus is located just east of I-95. If you enter the campus at FAU's main entrance (the one furthest west on Glades Road... and the first one you get to approaching from I-95 or the turnpike), you will enter on West University Drive. Continue straight on West University Drive to the traffic light at its intersection with Volusia Street. Turn right onto Volusia Street. You will see a parking garage on Volusia Street, and the Wimberly Library is the next building east of the parking garage.

The I-95 interchange for Florida Atlantic University (Exit 48A) takes you directly from the interstate to FAU. Once you pass the traffic light at Spanish River Boulevard, you are on the FAU campus on FAU Boulevard. Continue to the traffic signal at the intersection of FAU Boulevard and University Drive (FAU Stadium will be on your right). Turn right onto University Drive. Turn left at the traffic signal at Volusia Street. You will see a parking garage on Volusia Street, and the Wimberly Library is the next building east of the parking garage.

Visitor Parking is available at the metered spaces in the library parking lot; look for the spaces that have numbers posted on signs at the head of the parking space. The meter system accepts payment with cash or credit card or through the ParkMobile app at the rate of $2.50 per hour.

Tuesday July 9 at 3 PM JCBA Book Arts Gallery

Tuesday July 9 at 3 PM
JCBA Book Arts Gallery