Overall, the 1992 Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum (FDHPM) proved to be extremely rewarding. The panel discussions, slide lectures, and tour covered a broad range of subjects and interests, providing information, inspiration, and general food for thought for artists, educators, papermakers, book artists, and historians. The orchestration of events was amazing on all levels and everything started, somehow, on time. One difference from other recent FDHPM meetings was that everything but the tour took place at the hotel, including all the meals. Having meals at the hotel provided three opportunities a day to eat and socialize together, which was a unifying factor during the whole conference. The great convergence of papermakers began with a slide introduction, followed by a presentation by Evelyn Garlington and Bob Patterson, of the Institute for Paper Science and Technology, on the status of the American Museum of Papermaking in Atlanta, Georgia. They reported that only a portion of the Dard Hunter collection (which the Institute owns) would be on display in the technically and educationally oriented museum, scheduled to open in 1993. Heated discussion followed concerning the naming of the museum and its lack of focus on Dard Hunter's collection. Information and history about the naming of museums and explanations of the function of the museum within the Institute of Paper Science and Technology proved to be somewhat soothing, although many Friends still felt they would like to see the Dard Hunter collection play a larger role in the museum. The great kick-off for the conference followed with a spiritual and somewhat humorous paper/sound parade, ritual, and reading, led by the organization's honorary paper shaman, Dorothy Field. This spiritual bonding was further fueled by plenty of food and drink. The conference continued Thursday with Tim Barrett and Bobbie Lippman conducting an introductory lecture and three panel discussions focusing on teaching papermaking within fine arts programs, apprenticeships, and individual classes. Barrett pointed out in his opening remarks that the theme of papermaking and education had not been addressed at a Friends meeting before, and the future of the craft and its growth and quality depends on education. Lippman presented the results of the education survey sent to members of the Friends earlier in the year. As an educator, I found this to be illuminating. One of the most important points raised by the survey results is that K-12 teachers service the greatest numbers of students and, therefore, they need the most support. Also, I was surprised to learn that the greatest emphasis in teaching papermaking is on techniques for the creation of art, rather than for sheetforming paper. Some provocative dialogue took place after the panelists presented their material, and the consensus was that more time could have been allotted for discussion. Among the concepts that surfaced throughout the day were: the interdisciplinary nature of papermaking and its place in a curriculum; the existence of papermaking at most schools as an offshoot of another program, often printmaking or fibers; the importance of solid, introductory level papermaking courses to a papermaking curriculum; and the need for further education to increase awareness of hand papermaking. The topic of teaching papermaking sparked a lot of interest and chances are there will be more panels and workshops about teaching at future conferences. The last panel discussion of the day, "Making a Living as an Artist, Craftsperson, Small Business Person," was moderated by Wavell Cowan, who had the panel function in a workshop format. Cowan's ideas about small businesses and the individual anecdotes and explanations from the panelists concerning their businesses were eye-opening as well as entertaining. A member of the audience pointed out the advantage of having a forum for exchanging information, so everyone in the field can continue to develop and grow. No FDHPM Annual Meeting would be complete without the Olympian and theatrical sporting event of the year, Bowling for Dullards. After being glued to a chair, drinking lukewarm black coffee, and listening for ten hours, what could be a bigger shock to the system than putting on a kooky outfit, picking up a bowling ball, and drinking a couple of cold beers? While some of the Friends were relaxing at the bowling alley, others were back at the hotel participating in the open slide carousel that took place each evening of the conference, for which there was a lot of positive response. Friday's schedule was even more packed than Thursday's, to the point of being overwhelming. Twelve slide lectures, one thousand slides, and fifteen cups of coffee. Although most of the lectures were worthwhile, three stand out in particular. Marilyn Sward presented slides of works by artists who combine photography and darkroom techniques with hand papermaking, and she discussed the pros and cons of various darkroom techniques. She also talked about the possibilities of the book as a format for photo/handmade paper imagery. Tim Barrett discussed his research on flax fermentation, beating, and washing, and I was surprised by the simplicity of the fermentation process and by the impact of washing on the color of the finished paper. Michael Durgin gave the last presentation of the day, showing slides of pages from The Paper Maker (published from the 1930s through 1970), which were new to me. This publication was amazingly innovative in terms of design and layout, and included articles by and about Dard Hunter. Many of the presentations are being prepared by the Friends as a publication of post-prints, for those who might want more detailed information. Saturday was a day of business and tours. In the morning, new officers for the organization were announced, some changes were made in the bylaws, and new ad hoc committees were formed. The group was also officially renamed Friends of Dard Hunter, Inc., reflecting the dissolution of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum with its absorption into the American Museum of Papermaking. The planning committee talked about future meetings and proposed locations for the next three years. Discussion followed about the reorganization of the Friends for the purpose of becoming a "bottom up" organization, where the members have influence and take on responsibility and the executive committee organizes the members, rather than officers making all the decisions and then doing all the work. The positive response to this new approach was apparent during the meeting as members eagerly volunteered to serve on he ad hoc committees. In the afternoon everyone received their keepsake packages, which were housed in beautiful boxes made by Dianne Reeves. After these were distributed, everyone piled into buses and headed for the University of Iowa campus for an impressively choreographed tour of the University of Iowa Center for the Book and the Oakdale papermaking research facility, conducted by knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff and faculty. We were shown not only the facilities but also the books which were produced there. The presentations and the book collections were truly inspirational, and it was a treat to finally see the Oakdale facility, including the demonstrations and the paper testing lab. We returned to the hotel for an evening of revelry and the annual auction, organized by the indefatigable Bill Drendel. It was back to business again at Sunday's planning meeting, with general ideas about conference plans tossed around, including requests for more panel discussions and fewer presentations. Then it was time to say goodbyes and head back to Cedar Rapids Airport. Tim Barrett, Bobbie Lippman, Doug Stone, and everyone else who worked on the 1992 Annual Meeting should be commended. This was the best conference so far. It was stimulating, forward looking, organized, inspirational, and fun. There was a lot of constructive discussion, lots of familiar faces, and some new ones. It seems that after a few years of growing and shifting, the Friends are figuring out what to do, and the results are impressive. I'm looking forward to the next gathering in Atlanta. See you there.
