In a rare event these days, I will be teaching a class on Innovative Book Structures during the second session, August 10-14, 2026, of the inaugural Montana Institute for the Book Arts sponsored by the University of Montana. Session one will be held in Missoula, MT, the second session will be held at the historic Flathead Lake Biological Station, just south of Glacier National Park. Additional information: umt.edu/um-press/MIBA The class I will be teaching is Paper in Motion: Getting Up off the Page. Movable devices in books have had a job to do from the very start. As early as the 14th century, these devices helped the viewer calculate religious holidays with a volvelle or go on a pilgrimage with lift flaps, and in later times they were used for scientific and educational purposes. Paper engineering can play a primary role in the presentation of content to the reader. In this session, participants will explore various moveable devices and structures, while considering how to make use of these techniques in their own work. A variety of movable, sculptural, pop-up and dimensional possibilities such as wheels, flexagons, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-ups, tunnels, and other aspects of paper engineering will be presented. The emphasis will be on experimentation and creating models rather than finished products. We will also discuss how the content of an artist’s book can be reflected in its form and view examples of pop-up and movable artists’ books.
