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One Fold At A Time: Bringing Origami To 180 Libraries Across The State

For teacher and artist Gail  Martin the journey to the libraries and the surrounding countryside of Vermont is just as special as sharing her passion for Origami. Thirty libraries down and 150 to go!
photo by Photo Provided
For teacher and artist Gail Martin the journey to the libraries and the surrounding countryside of Vermont is just as special as sharing her passion for Origami. Thirty libraries down and 150 to go!

Tuesday August 19, 2014

By Cookie Steponaitis

Origami is an ancient art form and creative process where color, paper, creativity, patterns and symmetry converge with each new fold bringing discovery and allowing the process of play. Created with the invention of paper by the Chinese around 100 A.D. and arriving in Japan around the sixth century, paper was at first an expensive commodity and strictly regulated for use in ceremonial events. During the 1600’s the art form became more recreational and creative with the first printed set of directions and origami patterns appearing in 1797 with the Thousand Crane folding.
Bristol origami artist Gail Willis Martin traverses the state of Vermont and has a unique goal of teaching origami in each of Vermont’s approximately 180 libraries. She cannot honestly pinpoint the exact date and time when origami became a part of her world, but puts it at about fifteen years ago. “I started teaching an informal class at Bristol Elementary School,” shared Gail Martin. “From there it just began to take on a life of its own.” Martin is a self-appointed paper collector and always on the lookout for unusual paper that folds nicely. She makes and sells origami earrings and wallets at the Farmer’s Market in Waitsfield and feels passionately about taking her origami on the road and meeting Vermonters in their libraries, encouraging both the art form and the use of one of America’s most treasured resources.
“When I travel to a library I always tell the people attending the workshop that I have three goals,” reflected Martin. “First and foremost I want them to have fun and to realize that part of the origami process involves asking others around them how to do certain steps or what results they are getting. Second, I want them to go home with a product that they are proud of and lastly to see them want to do more origami.” Martin is a long time teacher and library assistant and uses her summer months to the fullest. She has been to Vermont’s southernmost library in Pownal, up to Enosburg Falls and a fun stint at the Addison County Field Days. “I think I am going to have to be more systematic about it if I intend to reach my goal,” remarked Martin. “At present I have been to about thirty libraries around the state and after the workshop I always ask the librarian for cool places in the area to explore. I have walked trails that end at waterfalls too beautiful to mention and strolled into small shops and eateries all around the state.”
With 180 the magic number Martin plans on organizing areas of the state, perhaps beginning with the Northeast Kingdom and visiting as many libraries as she can in a couple of days by sending out notices saying when she will be in the area hoping to keep increasing the number of times she brings origami to people while moving toward her goal. When asked to share the average age of her students, Martin simply laughed and added, “There is no set age. In one workshop I had a ninety year old woman who was legally blind working with another adult and kids around six or seven. Origami really has no upper age limit and as long as they are old enough for the eye to hand coordination they come away from the experience happy and wanting more. My goal is for them to be successful.”
Martin shared that she simply cannot imagine origami ever getting old for her and is already focusing on new plans and libraries to come. A firm believer in children developing manual literacy, origami helps build skills that are no longer taught by many who used to share needlework, sewing and hand crafts with each ensuing generation. While ancient in origin, technology has had an impact on this art form and Martin shared that in the future origami will be able to fold itself. Although the future may have origami more mechanized, for origami artists like Martin the thrill is in the process where paper, art, beauty and creativity merge. As origami enthusiast Michael Lafosse concluded, “Origami is a metamorphic art form, you get that piece of paper, you don’t add to it, you don’t take away from it, and you CHANGE it.”
For any library interested in contacting Gail Martin she can be reached through Facebook or by browsing through the guidebook of traveling Vermont artists. Patience is on her side and slowly, with purpose and passion as her origami travels the state and is passed on to new audiences of interested Vermonters, Martin adds to her count and 180 becomes 150 and the countdown continues. A connection to life for all who have dreams and want them to be realized, origami might suggest the thought that instant is not necessarily the best path to take.


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