The Language of Pop-Ups

Who hasn't been surprised by the magic of a pop-up book? Begin with basic tools and explore techniques for building noun-like pop-ups (formal structures) and verb-like pop-ups (movement and/or animation for those forms). Build a variety of simple, versatile forms and engineer various ways of lifting those forms. Once grasped, this language of pop-ups encourages the invention of new combinations of forms and lifts. Take home a bound collection of working models and a better understanding of pop-up engineering.

Shawn Sheehy couples his talent in paper engineering with an interest in themes of sustainability, balance, and biological and cultural evolution to produce pop-up books that fuel thought in all ages. He has taught workshops in such diverse places as The Paper Studio in Tempe, BookWorks in Asheville, and the Center for Book Arts in New York. Along with his teaching and book arts work, Sheehy designs the poetry broadside series published by Oneiros Press. He is a co-founder of the Vespine Gallery in Chicago. Sheehy earned his MFA in Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College.