Back on campus

 

Last week was my residency at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, my beloved alma mater. This is the board outside the art library, which I visited twice to deliver some books. The purpose of my visit was to teach workshops about hanji, from fourth graders at their elementary school, to older students (sixth grade through college), to the entire public at the museum.

 

Aside from a little rainy patch in the middle we mostly had good weather. I don't think the campus was as pretty when I went to school but it has been 20 years since graduation (time flies!) and I think landscaping is higher up on the priority list than it used to be. Also, I probably notice this more than I did as a student. I am always amazed by how much I took for granted then.

The theatre has gotten a brand-new fancy addition, and it was a relief to see that the construction that I had lived through over several years in the winter is finally over.

I finally got to see the show about Asian American art and artists that included my work, which was a treat! There were lots of other great finds as always, plus old favorites. Again, it takes time (at least for me) to understand how important these pieces are when you meet them at a young age and then visit them over time.

Even more exciting was the show during the museum Community Day that featured the artwork of the four fourth-grade classes that learned not only joomchi (pictured here) but making cherry blossom pieces with ink and tissue paper, and bamboo ink drawings.

The education staff here is incredible and really devoted to creating and sustaining quality programming. They mounted and hung this entire show (which was something like almost 100 kids times three pieces per student).

Yesterday was lots of fun at the museum, where over a hundred people came to play with hanji and learn joomchi techniques. One participant said, "You should do this every weekend!" Again, it's impossible to know from the outside how much time, coordination, work, energy, and resources go into what looks like a simple three hours.

The walls around us were full of art, and I was SO enchanted by this Native American peace pipe made of walrus ivory with carved animals on top and illustrated with the drawings that I love of hunting in Alaska.

Tomorrow, I drive to Columbus to install a brand-new piece for this show that opens Thursday (I'll return for the opening).

Next week, I teach a free drop-in workshop in Columbus on making hanji thread.

After that, the next gig is a week-long artists' books workshop in Cleveland for anyone interested in learning structures, content generation, basic mark-making and printing techniques, and paper decoration—if it fills. Sign up now if you want it to run!

Hoping to get some sleep in July.