ETERNAL PAPER and RUMINATIONS : Our Stories IN PAPER exhibitions

READING ROAD CURATORIAL PROGRAMS

ETERNAL PAPER

University of Maryland Global College Art Program Gallery, Adelphi, Md.

October 22, 2023- May 19, 2024

The Paper Academy, Gilleleje, Denmark

July 13- August 11, 2024

ETERNAL PAPER, curated by Helen C. Frederick, brings together 20 artists who have collaborated to create hand-formed art in and on paper. Their approaches range from representation to abstraction and address political, ecological, and social issues. These artists honor past traditions while inventing new concepts of materiality.

The artists, who bridge several decades, communicate their individual aesthetics and the cross pollination engendered in studios and projects where they have collaborated together. The show of 52 works features two-dimensional large-scale wall-hung work, sculptural artist books, and various smaller sized works.

In the age of the instant, disposable image, this exhibition asks: What do we hold close? What serves us? What is lasting?

The featured artists are Maria Barbosa, Elsabe Johnson Dixon, Nicole Donnelly, Cheryl Edwards, Susan Firestone, Helen Frederick, Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter, Alexis Granwell, Ellen Hill, Ken Polinskie, Tongji Philip Qian, Randi Reiss McCormack, Tara Sabharwal, Soledad Salame’, Preston Sampson, Gretchen Schermerhorn, Joyce J. Scott, Buzz Spector, Mary Ting, and Anne Visboell. A 60-page catalog accompanies the exhibition. INTERVIEWS between the artists can be seen on the University of Maryland Global College Art Program page.

Alexis Granwell, top amd Mary Ting, bottom

Presenting artists with Anne Vilsboell at The Paper Academy, Denmark

Mary Barbosa (artist book front) Susan Firestone and Cheryl Edwards (wall)

Panel at the University of Maryland Global College

Opening reception, The Paper Academy, Denmark

Helen Frederick,” Look for the Light”, The Paper Academy, Gilleleje, Denmark

Reading Road Studio, Pyramid Atlantic, and Reading Road Studio are featured in the new publication RADICAL PAPER, Art and Invention in Colored Pulp, authored by Lynn Sures and Michelle Samour, available from Oak Knoll Press. The 400 page book documents the history of pulp painting, major collaborative studios and over 73 artists working in pulp painting.

READING ROAD STUDIO CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY.

AT PYRAMID ATLANTIC August 29 – October 4, 2026

RUMINATIONS: Our Stories IN PAPER

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/c931da1425.html

RUMINATIONS: Our Stories IN PAPER - virtual catalog flipbook

As a contemporary perspective, this exhibition brings together many of the artists who have generously contributed their ideas and visual explorations to Reading Road Studio. Presented as a smaller companion papermaking atelier to Pyramid Atlantic’s studios, the exhibition celebrates the first decade of creative exchange and experimentation, and affiliated archives.

Founded in 2016 by Helen Frederick in Silver Spring, Maryland, Reading Road Studio was created to offer artists an intimate, collaborative environment for exploring works in and on paper, artist books, installation, and critical conversations around visual and cultural literacy.

The studio emphasizes hand papermaking as an art form and provides collaborative opportunities for artists interested in papermaking as a translucent material, in combination with print media and mixed media, and as a painterly or dimensional element within their work. At Reading Road Studio, dialogue about contemporary art remains deeply connected to past traditions while continually inventing new concepts of materiality.

Featuring paper-cast life-size gold leaf doors, a translucent endangered species installation, printed Chinese papers, exquisite custom paper drawings, large scale pulp paintings, innovative artist bosks, and more, Ruminations: Our Stories IN PAPER celebrates the first decade of Reading Road Studio and the possibilities of hand papermaking.

Featured artists are: William B. Adair, Maria Barbosa, Oletha DeVane/Chris Kojzar, Elsabe Johnson Dixon, Cheryl Edwards, Susan Firestone, Helen Frederick, Emily Fussner, Ellen Hill, Lisa Hill, Mia Holtan, Rick Hungerford, Aziza Gibson Hunter, Fleming Jeffries, David Joo, Jen Lillis, June Linowitz, Randi Reiss- McCormack, Andrea McCluskey, Chris Mona,Tom Nakashima, Tongji Philip Qian, Alice Quatrochi, Preston Sampson, Joyce J. Scott, Lisa Sheirer, Elzbieta Sikorska, Buzz Spector, Lynn Sures, Yuriko Yamaguchi

Accompanying programs during the exhibition:

Saturday September 12th: Opening Reception 6-8 pm

Wednesday September 16th: Panel Discussion, Spirit and Potential of Paper 6-8pm

Sunday September 27th Curator’s tour with Helen Frederick 3-5pm

Saturday October 3rd: Closing reception 4-6pm

Randi Reiss-McCormack, artist made paper with pulp painting and needlepoint inclusion, 31” x 25:

Oletha Devane, *Red Line*, 2026, Pulp Painting, 42” diameter

Elzbieta Sikorska, *Sand,* mixed media on collaged Arches watercolor and artist-made abaca papers, 65.5” x 49”

Maria Barbosa, “When aliens cross borders and break barriers”, 2026, Artist book, artist-made paper (collage, assemblage, weaving), tuile, thread, fabric, wood, silcone, “O” rings, 14.5” x 30” x16

Emily Fussner, *to hold each other,* 2026

June Linowitz, *Before They Fade Into Memory*, 2025-2026

RUMINATIONS : Our Stories IN PAPER installed at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, 2026