Shawn Sheehy: Paper Engineering Boot Camp

Workshop Description

A student may have an idea for a pop-up artist book. The student even has a theme…maybe a story line, maybe illustrations and text? Is that student ready to take the first step toward bringing dimension and movement to their ideas?

In Paper Engineering Boot Camp, students will build a handful of foundational paper-engineering structures—some pop-ups, some movables—that will serve as physical warm-ups and creative building blocks. Following that, students will receive a series of problem-solving prompts that will help them apply their specific idea to the foundational structures. If a student doesn’t have a specific idea but would simply like to play with pop-ups, they will find the experience to be useful and engaging.

This workshop will involve creative expression, experimentation, open-ended time for problem solving, and play. We will consider a range of approaches, some favoring math/geometry and others favoring intuition. Let’s invent!

Materials/Equipment to be Provided by Students

• Bonefolder
• Steel ruler
• X-Acto knife/blades
• Self-healing mat
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Awl
• Microspatula
• Tweezers
• Optional:
  • Screw punch
  • Other punches of various sizes and shapes
  • Dry markmaking tools: colored pencils, markers, pastels
  • Alternative materials: decorative papers, fabric, stickers, etc.

See Materials Glossary for definitions and images

Materials/Equipment to be Provided by Instructor

• 80 lb. cardstock in various colors
• Alternative materials for experimentation, like decorative papers and image books
• Roll of ¼″ 3M 415 double-sided tape
• PVA

Instructor Biography

Shawn Sheehy has been teaching book arts courses and workshops since 2001. His broadsides and artist book editions have been collected by such institutions as Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Chicago, the Library of Congress, the University of California–Los Angeles, and Harvard University. Sheehy’s trade pop-up books Welcome to the Neighborwood and Beyond the Sixth Extinction (both mass-market versions of previous artist books) were published by Candlewick and have won numerous awards. Sheehy served as director of the Movable Book Society from 2018 to 2023. Aside from degrees in education and design, he holds an MFA in Book Arts from Columbia College Chicago.

Instagram: @shawnwilder