Fresh Press co-founder Eric Benson and U of I Library Senior Conservator for Special Collections Quinn Ferris. Photo by Jenna Kurtzweil/iSEE

A dynamic partnership in the works at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign aims to prove that paper doesn’t — and perhaps shouldn’t — grow on trees.

The participants? Fresh Press — a hand papermaking studio at the School of Art + Design — and the U of I Library’s Conservation Unit. Using Fresh Press’ trademark agriculturally sourced materials, the organizations will collaborate to craft a new kind of paper that meets conservation standards and can be used to rebind and repair the Library’s at-risk relics.

Despite existing in separate spheres, the organizations have quickly fallen into step with one another, united by the drive to create meaningful and environmentally conscious material. Fresh Press brings the paper, conservators provide the artifacts, and the result is a multilevel experiment in sustainability, conservation and the fusion of fine art and science.

Eric Benson, co-founder of Fresh Press, defines its mission:

“We want to explore papermaking from a more environmentally friendly perspective, and in the process create more sustainable paper products.”

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Illinois Professor Mark Taylor holding a brick of CornCrete.

“There’s an abundance of agricultural fiber produced as a byproduct of crop cultivation,“ he said. “The combine harvesters come by and take out the corn, and everything else gets sent out the back as waste. In some cases, this material is gathered in windrows and taken for animal bedding, but I think there’s also an opportunity to take some of this material and put it to higher value uses.”

Working out of the Fresh Press Studio, Taylor collaborates with Art + Design Professor Eric Benson to explore and experiment with “how agricultural fibers can be used in three dimensions.” These uses occupy a spectrum of scales, from microscopic fiber analyses — to develop strong and long-lasting paper — up to the architectural scale on which Taylor is currently focused: the construction of monolithic walls.

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A new collaborative/interdisciplinary project is underway at the studio! More updates on it soon.

Normally we hate the phrase "welcome aboard" when hiring a new person to the the team, but based on Jenelle's photo, we feel it is appropriate this time (only)! So ... Fresh Press is pleased to announce that Jenelle Davis has joined us for this fall 2017 semester to help with outreach and research. 

Jenelle proudly hails from Saskatoon, Canada. She holds both a BA and MA in Art History from McGill University and the University of Toronto respectively and is working towards a PhD in art history from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a focus on the politics of memory and a diverse range of commemorative practices and the memorialization of traumatic events. Jenelle has worked as a curator, art critic and expert piñata-maker to name a few of her professional endeavors and has spent several years working, traveling and studying abroad. Jenelle is dedicated to promoting art as social practice, redefining the borders of public art, fostering broader inclusivity and participation in the arts, and to supporting Canadian hockey.