11/14/19
NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is pleased to welcome Drew Matott, director and founder of the Peace Paper Project, for a lecture and papermaking demonstration using The Oracle, a bicycle-powered paper pulp beater. Matott’s presentation, “Papermaking as Personal Transformation,” will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18, in Bowman Hall, Room 303.
In addition, Matott will demonstrate papermaking from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18, and from 1-5 p.m. or later on Tuesday, Nov. 19., in the Bowman Hall third-floor hallway. Community members are invited to bring a piece of clothing to transform into paper.
These events are free and open to the public, and are sponsored in part by PRESS: Letterpress as a Public Art Project and the Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Peace Paper Project is an international community-arts initiative that utilizes traditional papermaking as a form of trauma therapy, social engagement, and community activism. Since 2011, they have conducted hundreds of workshops worldwide in conjunction with community leaders, mental health professionals, and art therapists. They have served more than 30,000 workshop participants and helped launch 40 papermaking programs.
“The Peace Paper Project introduces students to how a passion can become not only one’s life mission, but also one’s income,” said Professor of Art Melanie Mowinski, the host of the event. “Drew Matott embodies an entrepreneurial spirit,” Mowinski said, and described him as “a person committed to using arts-based activities to transform relationships and experiences of trauma and joy.”
Learn more about the Peace Paper Project at www.peaceproject.org.
