Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed). © Shawn Sheehy. All rights reserved
Say the phrase “pop-up book” to people and often the first thing to pop (pun intended) into people’s minds are children’s books with animal characters, pull tabs and that creaky noise pop-up books tend to make.
However pop-up books are not just for children. In fact, the earliest form of this book was created for adults, not children (Van Dyk et al., 2010). And while we may like to think that pop-ups are a modern-day invention, this format has been in existence for 800 years (Van Dyk et al., 2010).
Shawn Sheehy is an environmental educator and a book artist whose specialty is pop-up books about the environment. Through his work, Shawn brings attention to ecosystems and ecological topics such as population dynamics, resource allocation and speciation.
Shawn has a degree in education and a Masters of Fine Art in Book and Paper Arts. He has taught English to second graders in Mexico, environmental studies at YMCA camp, and various community-level arts and crafts classes.
Shawn began teaching classes in the book arts while in grad school. Over the years, he gradually shifted the focus of his classes to paper engineering because he likes the challenge of teaching this subject.
Shawn’s next workshop will occur on September 27 in Salt Lake City. His workshop will precede the meeting of the Moveable Book Society. In this workshop, Shawn says he will “focus on integrating pop-up structures with movable structures, with the goal of creating a sense of animation in the pop-ups.”
Shawn will also teach two classes about vegetable pop-up cards on October 26 and November 2 at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Then in April 2013, he will teach his wildflower workshop at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Information about these learning opportunities can be viewed in Shawn’s listing at Classes Near You > Illinois.
Join me in welcoming Shawn Sheehy, our featured guest for September!
Literature Cited
Van Dyk, Stephen, Elizabeth Broman, Ellen G. K. Rubin, Ann Montanaro and Elizabeth Periale. 2010. Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn. Brochure. The Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition Gallery, National Museum of American History. Washington, DC. June 2010 – October 2011. Web. http://www.sil.si.edu/pdf/FPPT_brochure.pdf [accessed 31 August 2012]
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