Tom Greensfelder
Paper Models
October 26th, 2024
1pm to 4pm
About the Workshop
When I tell people that I've been collecting paper models for almost 25 years, the first thing I'm asked is "What are paper models?"
This workshop will not only enable you to answer that question, but you will also be able to proudly display a paper model that you built yourself.
Back in the late 19th and early 20th century before plastic took over almost everything, when a young adult or child wished to make a model of something, they could go to their stationery or toy shop and purchase a printed sheet of paper usually already colored in (sometimes by hand!) of almost anything they could imagine. Paper models could range from the simple—or as the French would have it, "Facile Constructions"—of a car or house to the complex multi-sheet highly-detailed models of a cathedral or dreadnought. Although relatively unknown nowadays as a craft, paper models have enjoyed something of a renaissance thanks to the internet. High quality images that you can print out yourself are easily found and there are many sites around the world devoted to sharing techniques and creative builds. Further, this hobby is one of the simplest when it comes to tools and materials, beyond the model itself one needs only a pair of scissors, an xacto knife, a straight-edge, a scoring tool, and some glue, et voila!
During the workshop I will give a brief overview of the history of paper models and a short demonstration of technique. Everyone will get two paper models to construct... a "Old Knight's Castle" from Denmark and "Ali Baba Entering the Cave of the 40 Thieves from Spain;" both issued in the 1920s.
About the Instructor
Tom Greensfelder is founder of Greensfelder Design, where he has served clients from cartoonists Nichole Hollander and Lynda Barry to myriad arts organizations. He has taught at SAIC, Loyola University, and the Newberry Library and served on boards including Artists Book Works, CCCBPA, Chicago Calligraphy Collective, and, for 17 years, Teatro Vista (Chicago’s only equity Latino theater company).