Haglin receives grant for mobile papermaking studio
West Central Initiative and Springboard for the Arts have teamed up to commission a new mobile artist tool that will be available for community events and businesses in West Central Initiative starting this summer. The project, “Paper Plains,” is being created by Moorhead artist Anna Haglin (MSUM School of Art professor) and Minneapolis artist James Kleiner, who were selected through a competitive proposal process.
Paper Plains will be a mobile artist tool that turns one of west central Minnesota’s livability challenges — the decline of Native Prairie — into an opportunity for creative expression and community building. Paper Plains will invite community members to create paper from invasive plants from the region. The mobile papermaking equipment will travel from place to place in west central Minnesota, providing an interactive experience for participants of all ages in papermaking, stenciling and more.
“I feel like we’ve been invited on an incredible adventure. We get to make art with our neighbors! The kinship that happens during that shared creative experience is unparalleled. I hope that the warmth and communal energy of Paper Plains will inspire other West-Central Minnesotans to bring more creativity to their own lives,” Haglin said.
Haglin is an interdisciplinary artist based in Moorhead, MN. Community engagement and the environment are topics she frequently addresses through her artwork. She spent many years training as a book artist, printmaker, and sculptor before becoming the assistant professor of printmaking at Minnesota State University, Moorhead.