Last September and October, paper artist Kris Westerson hosted four paper-making events called Street Pulp, which invited members of the upper peninsula community to make paper from recycled materials. After constructing the paper, participants decorated the sheets with images that reflected their neighborhoods.
The final step in this community art project — which was partially funded by the local placemaking organization Enough Pie — was to create handmade artist books using the paper, which Westerson did in her home studio. Now, Westerson is giving the public a chance to see those books with Making Community: Street Pulp Artists’ Books, an exhibit at the Saul Alexander gallery in the main branch of the Charleston County Public Library. The exhibit opened April 2, and will run through April 29. An artist reception will be held at the library on Sat. April 11 from 3-5 p.m. in Conference Room B.
Along with the Charleston Library Society’s resident bookbinder Brien Beidler, Westerson is the co-founder of the Charleston Book Union, a group dedicated to the arts of book-, paper-, and printmaking. The group hosts get-togethers and workshops at the Charleston Library Society. To find out more, check out charlestonbookunion.wordpress.com. And for more on Westerson’s art, visit kriswesterson.com.
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