A hands‑on event bringing the campus and broader community together through the art of papermaking.
by Fabiola M. Martinez Del Valle
On Tuesday, September 22, 2025, a bright green tent on Library Mall invited students, employees, campus visitors, and community members to roll up their sleeves and try something different: making paper by hand. This was Papermaking on Library Mall with Holding History, a public humanities program co-directed by Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the English Department, Joshua Calhoun. It was an invitation not just to watch, but to touch, to stir, to press, and to create. The event featured local artist and expert papermaker Robert Possehl alongside student volunteers, guiding participants through each step of the process.
The setup was simple but engaging. Each table was equipped with everything needed to transform raw fibers into a sheet of paper. Robert had prepared the materials himself, even drawing water from Lake Mendota with volunteers earlier that morning. The message was clear: paper is not a product of machines alone; it can be born from simple tools, patient hands, and the elements around us.
At my table, a volunteer leaned in with a smile and said, “First, we greet the water”, starting my papermaking process. I dipped my hands into the cool basin of water mixed with fibers, swirling until the clumps dissolved. Then came the mould and deckle. I submerged, tilted, and drew them toward my body, catching the drifting fibers in the mesh of the mould. I lifted the deckle from the mould, revealing a thin, wet layer of pulp, the future paper sheet. Next, I rested the mould on two sticks and shook it gently side to side. Water drained away, and the fibers settled into a flatter, more even sheet. Finally, I flipped the mould onto absorbent sheets, pressing slowly from one end to the other until the pulp released and transferred to its new surface. A few sways, a final press, and the sheet was left to dry in the open air.
What stood out most was how physical the process was and the satisfaction of seeing a sheet take shape in my own hands. It was less about the final product and more about the experience of making something real, step by step. After a stretch of years when gatherings like this were rare, it felt especially good to be back at an event where we could work side by side, creating something tangible together.
