The Combat Paper Project

Artist Residency
Friday, September 25 – Monday, 28, 2015
FREE!
(Full schedule below)

Drew Cameron, an Iraq war veteran, is co-founder of Combat Paper, a project in which veterans and the non-veteran community use traditional hand papermaking techniques to transform military uniforms into paper, prints, books, and art.  “All of our experiences are encoded within the material items we carry about. With clothing, and military uniforms, our personal geographies, memories, and accomplishments are carried in the woven threads. Through the hand papermaking process, the clothing is deconstructed, transformed, and altered into paper sheets that accentuate those individual and collective stories.”

Co-sponsored by Wesleyan’s Department of Art and Art History, Office of Equity and Inclusion, Friends of the Wesleyan Library, and Center for the Arts.

SCHEDULE:

Friday, Sept. 25 – Monday, Sept. 28
“New Works by Drew Cameron of Combat Paper”— exhibit case in Usdan University Center

 Saturday, Sept 26 — during Middletown Day / Military Service Appreciation Day

•  1-3 pm: Interactive Demonstration – a demonstration of some steps of the papermaking process, including “breaking rag” using donated military uniforms and the portable paper mill — Under the tent by the football field.   Open to the public.
• 4-7 pm: Interactive Workshop (breaking rag for papermaking) — Usdan, Room 108
  Open to the public (Posse Veteran Scholars*, other students and community veterans encouraged to come)’

Sunday, Sept. 27

• 1-5 pm: Interactive Workshop (papermaking and stencil printing) – Usdan Multipurpose Room — Open to the public (Posse Veteran Scholars, other students and community veterans encouraged to come)’

Monday, Sept. 28

• 4:15 pm: Artist Talk – “The Combat Paper Project” – Usdan 108 –Open to the public.
  In his talk, Drew Cameron will share the story of Combat Paper, the practice of hand papermaking and how this collaborative project has become an integral part of the emerging veteran artist movement.  This talk is the culmination the residency with Wesleyan’s Posse Veterans, other Wesleyan students, and community members.

For more information, please contact libfriends@wesleyan.edu.

* Posse Veteran Scholars: In an effort to dramatically increase the number of veterans it enrolls, Wesleyan is entering into a new partnership with The Posse Foundation, Inc.  Through its newest initiative, the Veterans Posse Program, the foundation identifies talented veterans who are interested in pursuing bachelor’s degrees, and places them at top tier colleges and universities, where they receive four-year scholarships. Wesleyan is only the second institution to partner with Posse in this brand new initiative, and brought its first “posse” of 10 veterans to campus in fall 2014, with 10 more veterans entering in the fall of 2015.