Large Format Papermaking Collaborative Art Project / Visiting Artist
3rd – 6th January, 2017
Lyford Cay International School, The Bahamas

Sonia designed this papermaking course as a community project involving the 350 students at the Lyford cay school under their chosen theme of “Unlocking the Future”.

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Working with 18-20 groups of students at a time, Sonia introduced papermaking tools and materials before enlisting their assistance in beating the fiber, mixing the pulp, and then together forming 4 foot by 6 foot sheets of paper. Students then embedded messages written on scraps of paper about their “keys to the future”, along with gold and silver punched-out key shapes for a decorative element. Each student, even very young ones, contributed in some way over the four-day period, creating a total of twelve large sheets.

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Sonia trimmed down and bound all final sheets into a single book for their Lyford Cay Annual Gala Dinner & Auction.

“Throughout the entire process of this large-scale project, Sonia was organized, encouraging, and enthusiastic and managed to get students really involved in the processes. Even now, two years since she was here, they still talk about what they learned. Sonia was also able to involve teachers in the processes. She moved seamlessly from one age group to another, adapting her style to suit the needs of her students. Her practice not only taught our students where paper comes from but also invaluable teamwork and cooperation skills.” – Gillian Watson, Secondary DP/MYP Visual Arts Teacher at LCIS

Workshop photos courtesy of the Lyford Cay International School.