UWSP: Students partner on paper project

Contact: 715-346-3046; Fax 715-346-2042, www.uwsp.edu/urc

A partnership between two colleges at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is saving money while giving hands-on experiences to students in graphic arts and paper science and engineering.

The College of Natural Resources Paper Science and Engineering Department has created a formula for paper that can be used by graphic design students in the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC). The inks used by the art students had required a paper that had to be imported at a high cost. The new 20- by 30-inch paper sheets are now available to students on campus and plans are in the works to offer the paper off campus as well.

The paper was created by Associate Professor Don Guay and his paper science and engineering students, with assistance from the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology pilot paper machine and pulp provided by COFAC Dean Jeff Morin.

“We really enjoyed the collaboration between the two disciplines,” said Guay. “Students who normally work on paper have had the opportunity to watch paper be made and our students had the opportunity to help tweak the paper to meet the needs of the art students. It has been an enjoyable experience and we hope to continue the partnership.”

As a thank you to the Paper Science and Engineering Department, students of Art Professor Bob Erickson’s screen printing class used the new paper to create 16 art prints with paper as a theme. The prints will be on display in the Trainer Natural Resources Building on Sunday, April 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during UW-Stevens Point’s Festival of the Arts.