Hello from Tucson
As you may have heard, Cave Paper has been going through some big changes. As the new owner and operator, I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself to you.
I have been working with Amanda Degener over the past year on a plan to purchase the Cave Paper studio and relocate the operation to my hometown of Tucson, Arizona. We are both dedicated to my continued training in producing Cave’s signature papers.
As the second generation owner of Cave, I am honored to be learning from an artist who has made such critical contributions to the hand papermaking community. Cave Paper is nearly synonymous with the spirit, creativity, and craftsmanship that Amanda has channeled into her work over the last 25 years, not to mention the community she has created through her internship programs, collaborations, co-operative work, Hand Papermaking Magazine, and involvement with the formerly-named Friends of Dard Hunter.
While Cave's next iteration in Tucson will undoubtedly take on its own character, I am committed to consistently providing the same high-quality papers, custom projects, and quality service that are at the core of Cave Paper. I also want to assure you that in time I plan to open the studio for internships, workshops, and exhibitions, and I look forward to engaging with you remotely until then.
New to the world of hand papermakers, I come to Cave Paper with a background in art as well as organic agriculture, a love for physical work, craft, and community. I was born in Tucson in 1987, although I spent most of my childhood and young adult life in the northeast. I graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Humanities and Art in fine art and creative writing, where I was encouraged to play with a variety of mediums, explored my interest in bookmaking, and began to experiment with making my own paper however I could (in the bathtub at my apartment, or in an inflatable kiddie pool I snuck into my studio...) After graduating, I moved to Maine for an apprenticeship on an organic farm and quickly fell in love with the work. I spent four years co-managing a small organic vegetable operation Dig Deep Farm, founded by my friend Dalziel Lewis, providing year-round produce to our CSA members as well as our weekly farmers market. While I will always feel deeply connected to Maine, I returned to Tucson to be closer to family and have set my roots here. Diving into hand papermaking has been an experience of connecting the dots for me, and I look forward to the work ahead of me.
Over the past year (pre-pandemic), I was lucky enough to take a workshop at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, tour the Brooklyn studios of Pace Paper, Dieu Donne, and Carriage House Paper as well as the papermaking studio at Arizona State University, and attend the annual conference of Friends of Dard Hunter (now North American Hand Papermakers). I have been consistently inspired by the innovation and creativity of the papermakers I have met, and it has been a very welcoming experience to step into the papermaking community.
And, I am looking forward to meeting you! Thank you for being a part of Cave Paper, and for honoring your own creative and innovative spirit. I hope you are staying safe and healthy, and finding meaningful ways to engage with your communities right now.
We will continue to roll out updates to our website and social media over the next month. Join our mailing list if you would like future journal posts sent directly to your inbox (I promise not to bombard you). I plan to show you around our new studio, look deeper at our process, feature artists using Cave Paper, and highlight other papermakers. Stay in touch!
Sincerely,
Zoë Goehring
