Last week I was in Cleveland for a meeting and thought I’d pop into the Morgan Conservatory to take a look around. Wow. Papermaking, letterpress, AND book arts under one roof? … I’m all in! The Morgan is the largest art center of its kind in the nation, with 15,000 square feet of industrial space that combines “a working studio, gallery, gathering place for the community, educational hub and purveyor of some of the finest handmade papers in the world.” It sponsors artists in residence, offers workshops, and even has its own garden out back that’s home to trees and plants used for papermaking and dyeing. There’s even a kozo harvest in November!
The first thing you notice when you walk in is all the paper sculptures and mobiles hanging from the ceiling. So festive! It makes me want to make some for my own house (like I don’t have enough projects already). Allie was kind enough to give me a little tour.
The Morgan has a separate room for bookbinding and a huge dedicated space for letterpress. I drooled over all the rows of type in drawers.
I know nothing about papermaking, but I love all the supplies.
Curiosities were everywhere. I loved this sculpture—I don’t know if it was still being worked on or not—of what looked like a kinder, gentler version of a Little Shop of Horrors pod housing dried hydrangeas and twigs.
I mentioned this briefly in the previous post, but there’s a wall display of different papers artists have made, each with a description of its origins and process.
I think my favorite might have been this set of two:
Helmut Becker, Ontario, Canada
1. Natasja fibre flax, blue flowers 2. Belinka fibre flax, white flowers
Line fibre flax, beaten ultra fine in a stainless steel Hallander paper beater and laminated between extremely thin translucent sheets of fibre flax handmade paper.
I also got to see a sneak peek of the Morgan’s 2019 National Juried Exhbition—amazing works both on and made with paper— before it was even up on display. It opens March 29 and runs through April 27.
Finding the Morgan was such a treat. I look forward to returning!