I attended the 2024 paper doll convention in Indianapolis. I confess that it was all a little bit of a blur, but I am going to try to recap it as best as I can in brief here. Julie has a nice write up, too.
It was such a great event! Sharry & Micheal O’Hara and Beth & Kevin Wilkins really knocked it out of the park. Truly, their hard work make it all possible. I’ve helped organize conventions before and I know how complicated the logistics are, so it really was a feat that they did it all and it ran so smoothly.
Preparing for the Convention & Flying out on Thursday
On Wednesday and Thursday, Brunhilde, the fancy printer I have, was hard at work printing off my paper doll prints on beautiful paper from Red River Paper. I used the Matte Polar paper and printed a mix of one page and two page sets. I didn’t print many copies, focusing instead on variety. I packed as light as possible, so just a carry on bag. It did mean that everyone saw me in the same outfits the entire time- I didn’t dress up for anything, but maybe I will next time.
All packed up, I headed to the airport to fly out at 2:30 am on Thursday morning. Because it’s a nearly a four hour flight to Seattle, I had to take a red-eye if I was going to make it to Indianapolis in one day. (Time zones are really annoying when flying to and from Alaska.)
My flights went smoothly, but my second flight got a bit delayed and so I didn’t get to the hotel until after 7:30pm. I slipped into the back of the opening reception to eat some tasty food (the food was good at the whole event) and listen to the end of Beth Wilken’s talk on 1920s history.
Friday
Julie’s workshop was Friday morning, I had a fun time gluing little pieces of paper together. (I do like playing with paper.) Then I slipped out of the event to run a quick errand (I’d forgotten contact lens solution and needed that to get through the next few days) and returned in time to see Brenda Mattox’s amazing talk on historical 1920s clothing using examples from her own collection. So very cool!
This was followed by a great talk from Kwei-lin Lum whose site- Flat Doll– was a big influence on me as I’ve moved through the paper doll world. One of the things she talked about was the idea of paper dolls as “an arrangement of parts” with the connections between those parts (the doll and her clothing) largely being suggested, rather than stated. This has always resonated with me. The idea that each piece of a paper doll is part of a story being told through suggestion rather than overt means. Her artist’s statement on Flat Doll is wonderful reading about paper dolls and art.
Saturday
Saturday was sales day, but I overslept and ended up panicked running downstairs to set up my table in just a few minutes. I got everything set up and tidy though. My one page sets sold the best (which surprised me). I also sold out of all the copies of my book that I brought.
On Saturday evening, I had dinner with several very folks from all around the country. I won the centerpiece, but I had no way to get it home without mangling it, so I passed it on to another lady who was there. Eileen Rudisill Miller was honored with a Fanny Gray Award for her contributions to the paper doll world. It was really a wonderful moment.
Highlights from the trip for me all about getting to meet and see people. I didn’t purchase much and I was sort of exhausted by the end of it, but it was also super fun and I am so happy I went.
Next time, I need to pace myself a little better. But I always say that after events like this, and I never seem to do it. Big thank you to everyone, especially the organizers- Sharry & Micheal O’Hara and Beth & Kevin Wilkins- who made it all possible.
Thank you for the news.