Papeterie St-Armand Field Trip

October 30th - November 2nd, 2018

This project involves two separate groups of Visual Arts Program students (18 students per group) going on an excursion to one of the few hand-made paper mills in North America. Papeterie St-Armand is run by David Caruthers, who is a living legend in the paper-making milieu. Students will be presented with some history and processes of paper making, as well as to see unique examples of paper crafted in-house.

During the Industrial revolution, when cheaper and faster ways of mass-producing paper were developed, there was a great decline in hand-made paper production and in paper quality and longevity. However, given the durability, beauty and archival nature of hand-made rag paper, the art of paper-making did not entirely die out. Since 1979, David Caruthers has been supplying artists, artisans and others throughout North America with custom-made papers.

The eyes of art students will be opened to the possibilities of hand-made paper as both a support surface for artwork and as the artwork itself.

Project Update

This project involved two separate groups of Visual Arts Program students (18 students per group) going on an excursion to one of the few hand-made paper mills in North America. It is run by David Caruthers, who is a living legend in the paper-making milieu. Students were presented with some of the history and processes of paper making. They observed unique examples of paper crafted in-house. David Caruthers toured students through the facility, explaining and demonstrating how hand-made paper is created, and detailing the variety of papers produced and their unique properties.The students enjoyed this experience, which broadened their understanding of paper as both a support surface for artwork and as an art itself.

Last Modified: November 27, 2018