he published her first book, "Prey," a selection of poems by her then-husband, writer Bruce Wineberg, which she illustrated and printed on her first sheets of handmade paper, made from her old sheets and trousers. Gosin and Wineberg quickly became committed to the idea of creating a press and paper facility where they could collaborate with artists and writers to develop paper and book arts in new and exciting ways. In 1976, Gosin and Wineberg transported their knowledge and tremendous enthusiasm to New York and opened Dieu Donné Press and Paper, Inc., on the sunny fifth floor of 3 Crosby Street, where Soho meets Chinatown, in lower Manhattan. With the help of family and friends, they spent a hectic year building the Mill and Press. Auctions were faithfully attended to gather type cases and a Challenge letterpress; paper moulds were ordered from Amies; a ten pound beater was custom built by a former teacher, Art Schade; a hydraulic press was converted from a baler; and Gosin's cousin built a wet floor. Gosin and Wineberg also spent time that year tracking down sources of cotton and linen rags, pigments, dyes, and other supplies; experimenting with various fiber combinations, coloring agents, and drying systems, and developing a line of handmade paper, as well as a market for their papers and services. In the 1970's, very few people had heard of or worked with handmade paper, so, with missionary zeal, the staff of Dieu Donné set out to introduce the process to artists and educate the public. Through the years, Dieu Donné has worked with art suppliers, offered hand papermaking classes through the New School and the Center for Book Arts, and given demonstrations at the Mill. Dieu Donné's New York City home has placed it in the center of the contemporary art world. Gosin adds, "Locating the Mill in the center of New York City was critical to the identity of Dieu Donné. Our customers, as well as our staff, are international. We have never simply made a line of handmade paper; we are first and foremost a custom shop. Which means that our activities range from helping an artist from Barcelona make one of a kind large-scale paintings in paper pulp to producing conservation paper for the Bodleian Library, in England." Paul Wong, the Mill's artistic director, had been a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, with Gosin. In 1978, he came to Dieu Donné as its first paid apprentice. Wong and Gosin shared the desire to develop hand papermaking as an art form. They spent several years experimenting with various fibers and coloring agents to develop methods of creating art in paper pulp. In the early 1980's, they focused on collaborating in paper art and producing custom paper. At Dieu Donné, the relationship between making production papers and collaborating with artists is crucial. "In a way they seem to go hand-in-hand," Wong states. "For example, things we learned by working with artists would inspire a certain kind of paper, and vice-versa, so it is a very good interface of activities. By working with artists we developed very specific techniques--in watermarking, pulp painting, and the formation of exceptionally thin Western papers--that I feel were unprecedented at the time." As Wong and Gosin continued to work with artists and conduct research, it became clear that the Mill could better achieve its goals by reincorporating as a not-for-profit organization. In 1988, Dieu Donné Press and Papermill, Inc. was renamed as Dieu Donné Papermill, Inc. and received not-for-profit status, which it felt would put it in a better position to raise the funds it needed to continue research and outreach programs. After two years of organizing a Board of Directors, establishing a new corporate structure and pursuing funding resources, Dieu Donné launched a number of programs to provide a wider range of services to the public. In 1990, the Workspace Program was initiated to offer emerging artists, from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, the opportunity to create new projects in paper. This year, four artists were invited to participate. One Workspace artist, Wen Yi Hou, originally from Shanghai, produced a series of work based on her interpretation of the I Ching. Hou says of her experience in the Workspace Program, "I felt that the medium would give a new face to my art, and it did! Although I was previously unfamiliar with handmade paper, Paul gave me a lot of suggestions, both technical and aesthetic. Working at the Mill was a wonderful, happy experience." Dieu Donne Papermill has a multi-faceted education program, consisting of apprenticeship and internship programs, classes, and workshops for adults and children, studio tours, and lectures. The Mill has an informal apprenticeship/work exchange program for students and artists interested in learning all aspects of the papermaking process. Through participation and observation, apprentices learn about the preparation, formation, and drying of handmade paper and handmade paper art. They assist the staff in cutting rags, changing blotters, preparing pulp, and limited sheet-forming. The Mill also offers internships in arts administration to students, both high school and college-level. These internships are project oriented and are designed to relate to the Mill's programs. Interns assist Mina Takahashi, the Mill's Program Director. In addition to adult education, Dieu Donné offers on-site papermaking workshops for children from the age of six and demonstration-lectures are available for groups of high-school students. This year, the Mill launched "Responsive Hands," a new community outreach program, with two workshops at the Henry Street Settlement, an arts educational facility in New York City. Artist Kenneth Polinskie and Takahashi spent two days working with forty-five children, age six to ten, teaching them how to make handmade paper collage. Last year, the Mill established a lecture series which focuses on the history of papermaking, paper conservation, and papermaking as a vehicle for artists' expression. The series attempts to increase awareness about papermaking and give historical perspective to the development and use of paper in art and bookmaking. The Mill has hosted the lectures at several New York arts organizations, including the Small Press Center, Cooper-Union, and Granary Books. The 1990-91 series included lectures by Helen Frederick, Winifred Lutz, Joe Wilfer, and the late Leonard Schlosser. Another activity of the Mill's is its exhibitions program. Despite having produced handmade paper art in collaboration with many artists, Dieu Donné has had limited opportunities to bring it to the viewing public. Through the exhibitions program, Dieu Donné hopes to encouage a better understanding of what can be accomplished in paper and inspire artists to work in this visual art form. "Dieu Donne Press and Paper: Book Projects" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1986, exhibited books by the photographers Andre Kertesz and Michael Singer. In 1991, "Dieu Donne Papermill: 15 Years" at the Center for Book Arts, included the work of Polinskie, Michael Mazur, Barbara Schwartz, and Ming Fay. Along with its educational and artist-oriented programs, Dieu Donne has continued to make production and custom papers for artists, conservators, and publishers of fine books, who require permanent, durable, and aesthetically appropriate and unusual papers for their work. These papers have been used for conservation treatment and binding, painting, drawing, printmaking, and book projects, and are sold in paper supply stores internationally, as well as at the Mill. The Mill's ability to embrace the technical and aesthetic challenges of contemporary artists in handmade paper is perhaps its greatest contribution to the arts. Custom artists' papers have included 40" x 60" sugar cane sheets for Richard Artschwager, 100% silk rag paper for Chuck Close's "Thumb Print" drawings, lithography papers for Jasper Johns and Susan Rothenberg, and a custom watermarked paper for a print by Jim Dine. What makes Dieu Donné stand out as a papermill today? Tim Barrett, from the University of Iowa's Center for the Book, has noted: "...while many mills around the world today employ commercially selected and prepared pulps, which make their paper similar in many ways, Dieu Donné has employed linen and cotton rag, prepared in-house, for many of its papers. This approach is in keeping with a centuries-old tradition of in-house fiber preparation during the history of hand papermaking, which has tended to give papers from individual mills their own distinctive character. Such is the case with Dieu Donne." While some consider it a matter of personal aesthetics, Barrett feels that this is an important consideration that has distinguished Dieu Donné. It is true that Dieu Donné has traditionally made their paper from rags, but over the years they have expanded their use of fiber to include Japanese fibers, abaca, silk, and alternative forms of cotton and linen, so as not to limit the types of paper they could make or the purposes those papers could be used for. In 1992, Dieu Donne will expand its commitment to the development of papers used in the fields of book and paper conservation. The Mill has received partial funding for a research project which will allow them to implement a paper conservation survey that will, for the first time, establish production standards for both Eastern and Western papers. A Project Conservator will conduct a survey of the American Institute for Conservation's Book and Paper Specialty Group in order to determine the current uses of archival papers, evaluate the current availability of conservation papers, and determine the needs for new, specialized grades of papers. The survey will lead to a testing program in which Dieu Donné and other mills plan to develop production methods for the papers which are found to be most urgently needed. Advisors to the project include papermakers and conservators Tim Barrett, Kathryn and Howard Clark, John Krill, Cathy Baker, and Jesse Munn. All of Dieu Donné's programs depend on the support of those who are committed to the future of papermaking. The Mill receives some funding but this represents only a portion of operating costs. With a new membership program, Dieu Donné hopes to enlist the support of individuals who want to be involved in shaping the future of hand papermaking. Among other incentives to membership, the Mill is planning special members' events for the upcoming year, including a paper-casting demonstration with artist Winifred Lutz and a walking tour on the history of papermaking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For fifteen years Dieu Donné Papermill has been the driving force for hand papermaking in New York City. "Its goals," according to Paul Wong, "are to remain viable into the twenty-first century, to advance the art of hand papermaking through research and collaboration, and to create a diverse range of handmade papers of the best possible quality."  

‍