Pulping and screening: Students hand-make paper on Library Mall

Students and passersby had the chance to hand-pull paper during an annual workshop held on Library Mall on Sept. 29. Student organization Holding History hosts the event each year to engage students and the campus community in the hands-on process of pulling paper. Using recycled rags and local wheat straw, participants made sheets of paper under the instruction of master papermaker Robert Possehl. Students enrolled in English 430 attended the workshop as part of their study of early modern literature and culture.

Co-directed by Professor of English Joshua Calhoun and Bolz Center for Arts Administration Co-Director Sarah Marty, is a student-driven public humanities program focused on the history of media and book arts.

A woman uses a wooden mallet to pound wood fibers agains the face of a sawed log.

UW–Madison student Libby Markgraf pounds wood to a pulp during Holding History's annual public paper making workshop on Library Mall on Sept. 29, 2022. Taylor Wolfram

Michael Decker holds a framed screen covered in blue paper pulp while talking with Joshua Calhoun.

Professor Joshua Calhoun instructs student Michael Decker on the paper making process. Student organization Holding History puts on the event each year to engage students and the campus community in the hands-on work of pulling paper. Taylor Wolfram

Robert Russehl gestures with one hand while a student begins to pull wet paper from a paper making screen.

Master papermaker and educator Robert Possehl has worked with Joshua Calhoun since 2014 to offer hands-on learning to students. Taylor Wolfram

Andie Barrow and a student hold each end of a paper making screen while talking about the paper making process.

Graduate student Andie Barrow shows a workshop participant how to pull handmade paper. Taylor Wolfram

Yellow tubs and paper making screens sit on a white table.

Holding History is a student-driven public humanities program focused on the history of media and book arts. Co-founders Joshua Calhoun and Sarah Marty, co-director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in the Wisconsin School of Business, work with student administrators and curators to provide mentorship to undergraduate and graduate students to share what they know with a larger audience in engaging and inspiring ways. Taylor Wolfram

Sarah Marty speaks with a student while looking at handmade paper samples.

Sarah Marty, director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in the Wisconsin School of Business, talks to students during the workshop. Students enrolled in English 430 attended the workshop as part of their study of early modern literature and culture. Taylor Wolfram