Ongoing Research
At Fresh Press we like keeping ourselves busy to complete our mission. Below are our current projects.
The Fresh Press-Enterprise: A sustainable action project for paper production within the UAE using locally sourced agricultural waste $54,452
Brian Dougherty and Celery Design Collaborative suggest that because “the paper industry is responsible for 40 percent of all industrial deforestation worldwide […] agricultural residue, or agripulp, is perhaps the most promising fiber source because it […] makes the most of a waste material and doesn’t require dedicated agricultural land” (2008). At the University of Illinois, Eric Benson and his collaborators have established Fresh Press Paper, a studio running in parallel to a sustainable student farm to make paper out of agri-pulp. The UAE is a high consumer of paper, and while the country has a dozen paper mills, few of them utilize unbleached uncoated wood-free paper. This study explores the potential of building a small-scale model of sustainable paper production, utilizing local agri-pulp like palm leaves or corn stalks, to serve art and design students and practitioners.
Past Research
These are our past projects that helped build Fresh Press.
A Case for a New Case Paper: Co-engineering Library Conservation Materials from Locally Sourced Agricultural Waste, $18,673 (2019-2022)
This project is intended to undertake collaborative experimentation in order to create a new, locally and sustainably sourced case paper for conservation rebinding at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign.
Farm and Fiber, $79,620 (2014)
Fresh Press, in collaboration with our partners at the Sustainable Student Farm (SSF) and the Woody Perennial Polyculture (WPP) site are aiming to grow student opportunities through our individual and collaborative research and public engagement efforts.
This proposal is focused on equipment acquisition, increased production and student employment to increase efficiency in the production and harvesting of agrifiber, converting bio-mass for integration to agricultural practice and development of fiber conversion to mitigate stock piled bio-mass from the SSF, WPP, and the adjacent bio-fuel plots.
Papermaking Community Workshops: Storytelling, Transformation, and Therapy, $ 8,000
This project provides workshops for both LGBTQ+ and those who identify as women and are reintegrating into society from the carceral system. Participants will reflect on memories, and personal lived experiences, as well as dreams, and intentions while working with the transformative nature of western papermaking. In addition, these workshops provide a much-needed reprieve for healing and community building.
A Campus Circular Economy – From Farm to Table & Desk, $37,695 (2016)
This project will not only contribute to sustainability on the Illinois campus, but also create a new standard. By continuing to use responsible and organic agricultural practices that promote soil and human health combined with re-using waste for paper production, SSF and FP together will create a sustainable circular economy on campus where students and faculty are not only consumers but producers.
Off-Grid Sustainable Farm, $68,416 (2012)
Fresh Press (FP) is an interdisciplinary faculty and student research studio that explores the potential for sustainable paper production. Our goal is to develop entrepreneurial markets for paper product originating from locally produced agri-fiber and indigenous plant material. This research involves developing new models, methods, and applications for the integration of agri-fiber paper as a viable alternative to wood pulp product. Fresh Press seeks to shape and educate industry, steward the land we use, and investigate indigenous plant and agricultural fiber plots. By moving towards self-sufficiency, Fresh Press will become the model for small-scale sustainable papermaking, which can also be applied to a larger industrial practice.
3-D Pulp: Crop Residue At Small and Large Scales - UIUC Campus Research Board, $14,522 (2016)
This project aims to foster new and continue existing collaboration in research and pedagogy between Associate Professor Eric Benson (Graphic Design), Associate Professor Mark Taylor (Architecture), and Assistant Professor Sameh Tawfick (Mechanical Science and Engineering) on using crop residue pulp (corn, soy, rye, miscanthus and prairie grasses, etc.) in three-dimensional forms.
Agri-fiber Paper Lab, $42,130 (2011)
This proposal aims to create a sustainable design studio that provides knowledge and services, establishing sustainable print, digital, and systemic design solutions for the University of Illinois campus and eventually for the community. This studio will begin in a phased approach. The first phase begins within a mixed graduate and undergraduate art and design classroom setting that investigates the practice of true sustainability of current design studio models that will lead to a pragmatic structure, ensuring a triple bottom line approach to design and business.