President’s Letter September 2020

Dear fellow members of North American Hand Papermakers,

Along with everyone on your current Board of Directors, I took office at the close of the 2018 annual conference in Iowa City, Matrices. It was an exciting meeting, and I have been privileged to lead the board during the 2019 meeting in Philadelphia, Manifest(o), and our upcoming 2020 conference. The Board has been working at a rapid pace since we began, and it’s time to update you on many of the initiatives we’ve undertaken.

FREE VIRTUAL CONFERENCE:

Many of you share our excitement about this year’s free NAHP conference, “Paper Currents,” on October 17 and 18, 2020, for all members. Backstory: your board had already planned out a full Providence, RI, conference when the pandemic struck. Our annual meeting is too valuable to lose for even one year. This year we will meet virtually, using the Zoom digital platform. We’ll be enjoying Steeve Buckridge’s Anita Lynn Forgach Keynote Speech, and Simon Barcham Green’s Elaine Koretsky Memorial Presentation. We are very proud of the two days of panel discussions, presentations, mentorship session and student portfolio reviews, socializing opportunities, trade fair, and keepsake which will comprise Paper Currents 2020! Because this conference represents such a departure and because so many members have lost income and jobs in the current pandemic, your board voted unanimously to make this conference free to all current members.

In addition, much of the conference will be recorded and we hope to make as much of it as possible available on our website to members who need to miss part of the weekend’s events, or want to revisit a presentation.

One of your board’s goals has been to reach out more effectively to papermakers across the continent and beyond, so we are thrilled that the October 2020 conference will be accessible to anyone, in any time zone or latitude, without travel. Please let your own associates, students, social media groups, and paper-interested friends know about it. We look forward to seeing you!

CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIPS:

The economic impact of the pandemic has hit many of our members hard, so your Board sought ways to offer Scholarships to those affected. Your Board has created Barbara Bradley Scholarships, available to multiple recipients, for members in financial hardship who wish to retain their membership in order to attend the conference.

Our customary scholarships will be offered to students, but with a variation this year. For the 2020 conference, the Board will provide scholarships to students who lack institutional support or require funding to attend—and enrich—the conference this year.

In addition to these scholarships, last year the Board expanded Student membership to include Interns, and extended the membership term from 1 year to 2 years, to assist students and interns as they launch their careers.

EXHIBITIONS:

Your Board has been concerned that our sponsored exhibitions have never been part of a long-term strategic public positioning of papermaking as a dynamic source for art and research. Last year we created a new officer position on the Board, that of Vice President for Exhibitions/Curatorial.

Our new VP has outlined an ambitious three-year rotating cycle of special exhibitions that will supplement our traditional annual Members Show, many traveling to different venues. The first of the three, “The National Collegiate Handmade Paper Triennial,” celebrates students who create art from their handmade paper. Opening last year in Philadelphia at Manifest(o), the Paper Triennial traveled to the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, and is set to open at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum in Atlanta as the third leg of its year-long tour. The second in our cycle of special exhibition is an NAHP triennial juried exhibition, which will be an outreach opportunity, open to papermakers both in and outside of our organization. This year’s show, “Materiality: Hand Papermaking in an Age of Isolation,” will open at our virtual Paper Currents conference and feature a comprehensive pdf catalog. The third special exhibition in the rotating cycle will be a guest curated exhibition. With a dynamic new Exhibition Committee to support the program, Jerushia expects to implement the guest curated exhibition next year. The annual Members Show has always been and continues to be an opportunity to meet other members and see examples from their practices. We hope this new program of exhibitions will enhance our conferences as well as help transform the field of handmade paper. 

IDENTITY, MARKETING, WEBSITE:

In addition to our new name, approved at the October 2019 meeting, the Board commissioned a new logo and new branding as part of an updated and expanded identity. By now you have seen our re-designed emails. We have also revamped social media with creative new volunteers on Instagram and other platforms.

Our website is one of the most accessible means of communicating to new and potential members who we are, and what we do. Consequently, we have spent a lot of time rewriting and rethinking the site, which we plan to launch in September. The new site will serve as an attractive invitation to new members, as well as a resource for both new and long-term members. In addition to helping prospective members learn about our activities and understand the value of joining, visitors will learn how we serve the papermaking community and why we are a “must-join” organization. Beside the latest information about our conference and exhibitions, the redesigned site will feature a section dedicated to honoring noted past papermakers. This “Papermaking Hall of Champions” will be inaugurated at our annual business meeting to be held during Paper Currents in October. We plan for this section to feature biographies of 20th and 21st centuries papermakers, selected by committee, and approved by our members as an ongoing documentation of excellence throughout our field.

REDESIGNING PUBLICATIONS:

The Bull and Branch, which was re-designed last year as a purely digital publication, is consistently devoting each issue to a specific topic from many points of view on matters of interest to our members. Launched with the Residency issue in 2019, the Philadelphia Manifest(o) conference issue was published next. Just out, the third issue features articles about Studio Spaces serving diverse papermakers and artists. Look next for the fourth issue’s articles covering all the presentations at the October Paper Currents conference, which will arrive after the conference.

FINANCES: 

We have continued to seek ways to ensure stable finances for our programs and scholarships during periods of reduced income, such as a recession. Related to stable finances has been maximizing income on cash, without risking assets in a stock market which may be overvalued. Finally, we considered ways in which our financial service providers upheld ethical standards, for example, by moving our banking from one institution to another. By strengthening this firm financial foundation, NAHP will be able to uphold its commitments to new programs.

SUPPORTING PAPERMAKING HISTORY AND CRAFT: 

NAHP will continue to support the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking with contributions drawn from our members’ annual dues. Not only does our annual donation to the museum help preserve the extraordinary Dard Hunter Collection of paper and papermaking artifacts, but it reflects our history. We also maintain a close relationship with the museum through our annual meetings, publications, and, for the future, opportunities still under discussion.

Recently, in considering ways that NAHP could encourage organizations with similar interests, your NAHP President and Executive Director spoke with the staff of Hand Papermaking about our shared interests and ways to develop mutually beneficial programs. We had been troubled to learn that younger papermakers were not fully aware of HP, its history, or its importance to the field and the community. A memo of understanding has now been approved, describing some early steps toward our goal of mutual support. One of our first actions was to use the modest funds your Board has approved--to help support Hand Papermaking Magazine and NAHP student members--by offering “NAHP Student Subscriptions to Hand Papermaking Magazine” for eligible students. Hand Papermaking Magazine, its newsletter, its related portfolios, and outreach programs comprise a great wealth of knowledge and community for anyone in the papermaking field.”  Regular support of this historic and irreplaceable resource is warranted from our organization. Noting the success of last year’s HP panel in Philadelphia, both boards see great benefit in HP and NAHP’s continued close relationship.” 

DEEPENING OUR DIVERSITY:

Since this Board took office two years ago, we have been concerned about having NAHP reflect the diversity and dynamism of contemporary hand papermaking. We have just approved forming a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee to develop tools that will foster the presence of these considerations in the structure of how NAHP operates. Rather than being prescriptive, we are forming the DEI Committee and populating it, with valuable input requested from the membership and officers.The committee can serve as a resource for expanding networks to continue recruiting and welcoming diverse members, volunteers, and officers. It can generate ideas and build tools to ensure barrier-free programs, and membership benefits of especial interest to a wide range of members. We seek members who wish to work on this first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Please contact Executive Director Paul Romaine at nahandpapermakers@gmail.com now if you are interested and available for this important work!

On behalf of the Board of Directors of North American Hand Papermakers, and as we prepare to elect new officers in October, I wanted to share this summary of what we have done over the past two years. Please let me know which points made in this letter are of greatest interest to you. I’ll be speaking further on these subjects during the business meeting at “Paper Currents 2020,” and hope you can join us! You can reach me through our Executive Director at nahandpapermakers@gmail.com 

The Board of Directors, an extraordinary team of volunteers to have been able to work with on these projects, consists of the following dedicated members of NAHP:

Lisa Miles, Treasurer
Sarah Luko, Secretary
Tracy Norman, VP Membership
Hannah Bennett, VP Communications
Jerushia Graham, VP Exhibitions/Curatorial
Laura Post Co-VP, Annual Meetings
Kate Aitchison, Co-VP, Annual Meetings

The Executive Director of NAHP, Paul Romaine, has been a consistent, energetic, knowledgeable, and wise support for all the work the Board has done.

Yours sincerely,
Lynn Sures, President
North American Hand Papermakers, Inc.