North American Hand Papermakers' Mail Art Exchange
The Mail Art Exchange program was introduced in 2021 by Maria Welch in order to foster connections across the NAHP membership base and beyond. In 2025, Maria Carolina Ceballos introduced a collaborative element to the exchange, enhancing the potential for meaningful connection between papermakers and artists working with or on paper. We hope that this program continues to be a fun and engaging way to form community and share our love of paper!
What is the Mail Art Exchange?
The NAHP Mail Art Exchange is a fun and engaging way to share our work and ideas with other papermakers and artists.
Keeping in mind that collaboration and community are central to our organization, we wanted to continue the interactive element that Maria Carolina Ceballos introduced in the 2025 Exchange. We invite papermakers and artists working on or with paper (painting, printing, writing, etc.) to join the exchange as either a papermaker or a collaborating artist. We hope to recruit between 10 and 14 pairs of participants for this exchange.
Beyond forming new collaborative relationships, your participation also aids the NAHP Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance for conference attendees.
Call for Entry: NAHP 2026 Collaborative Mail Art Exchange: Rooted in Fiber
How does it work?
The papermaker will make an edition of four (4) pieces of paper with a maximum size of 4x6x1/4 inches. The papermaker will then mail the pieces to the collaborating artist and they will intervene on the paper, maintaining the maximum size. The artist will then ship 3 of the 4 pieces to NAHP’s address, and keep the remaining piece for themselves.
NAHP will ship each papermaker a copy of the finished piece they made the paper for at NAHP’s expense, using regular mail service for letters (including for international mail).
With the two remaining sets of collaborative pieces, NAHP will box and send one set off to the organization’s archives. The remaining set will be enclosed in a handmade box, and put in the annual auction benefiting NAHP’s scholarship fund at our 2026 Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD.
We hope this project continues to help foster connections across the wide world of papermaking. Thank you for participating in this essential NAHP program and supporting members in their ability to attend the annual conference year after year.
Call for Entry: NAHP 2026 Collaborative Mail Art Exchange: Rooted in Fiber
For questions and inquires related to the 2026 Mail Art Exchange contact our Vice President of Membership & Outreach, Isa Diaz-Barriga at isa@nahandpapermakers.org