Paper Making at the DuPage Children’s Museum

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The DuPage Children’s Museum kicked off a new artist in residence program where visitors got their hands first making paper.

Five-year-old Annabelle Lettow is busy.

Lettow exclaims, “I’m making pulp!” and she’ll tell you exactly how to do it too.

“You take it out, squeeze it, and then just start pounding,” she said.

The pulp making station is just one of  many in this studio at the DuPage Children’s Museum along with the Paper Press, the Pulp Play Station and of course the main attraction.

“And then we have our pulling and couching stations, pulling is making a piece of paper and couching, today they are adding pulp paint with different stencils and colors and shapes and patterns,” said the Museum’s Art Specialist Theresa Suchy McGraw.

Claire Reynes guides the paper making process along as the first guest of the Artist in Residence program, which invites kids to learn, interact and work with a professional artist. Reynes studied paper making abroad and fell in love with the process and now loves watching the kids work with the materials.

“It’s great working with kids of all ages because there is no messing up. It is all happy accidents, all the time.” said Reynes.

Happy accidents that help kids and adults play and collaborate in the open-ended process of creating art together.

“I think its unlike anything they have experienced. So sensory and engaging. The look of shock of magic that just happened,” added Reynes.

As for Annabelle, well she likes to do it because, “Because it’s just fun!”

Claire will be with the museum until August 9 and the art that is made through the program will come together and create a piece to be displayed at City Hall in September.

Naperville News 17’s Allie Kaleta reports.