Chemistry You Can Make: Exploring Papermaking Through Chemistry and the Arts
December 5, 2026 - 3-hour professional development experience for chemistry educators
Hosted as the Western Division Meeting, this event is FREE to all NEACT members. Join NEACT today to participate. This event is is in collaboration with BRAINworks (Berkshire Regional Arts Integration Network) and the Crane Museum of Papermaking. This event is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Facilitators:
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Nicole Ager, Chemistry Teacher at Pittsfield High School
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Dr. Lisa Donovan, Professor, Arts Management - Fine & Performing Arts Department at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
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Jenna Ware - Museum Director at Crane Museum of Papermaking
Location: Crane Museum of Papermaking, 32 Pioneer St., Dalton, MA 01226
Due to the proximity to the paper mills, registration for this event must be completed by November 28, 2026 to allow time for registrants to complete visitor screening, including a background check (U.S. citizens) and restricted-party screening (all visitors), as applicable.
Founded in 1801, Crane & Company, Inc. (Crane Currency) is located in Dalton, Massachusetts and is the oldest, continuously run paper manufacturer in North America. Crane Currency is a specialty mill that has produced paper requiring highly technical specifications, mostly from cotton and other natural and synthetic fibers. Company products have included 100% cotton social stationery, commercial printing papers, reprographic papers, synthetic fiber non-wovens, and currency and security papers. Crane Currency has been making currency paper for the United States government since 1879. (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ota-case-study-crane-company-inc)
What happens when we approach a familiar material not only as something to analyze, but as something we can manipulate, design, and use to communicate ideas?
Join fellow educators for an immersive exploration of papermaking through the lenses of chemistry and art. Building on the excitement from the 2025 NEACT Summer Conference Workshop Chemistry and the Arts: Exploring the Art/Science Relationship, participants will investigate paper as both scientists and artists, exploring how chemistry and the arts can influence what a material is, what it can do, and what it can communicate.
Through hands-on investigation, papermaking experimentation, and reflection, participants will explore some concepts such as the chemistry of fibers, cellulose, polymers, intermolecular forces, water, pH, pigments, additives, and/or material properties. Along the way, participants will experiment with creating papers designed for particular scientific or artistic purposes, investigate how changes in materials and processing affect paper's properties, and use arts-based approaches—including movement, poetry, visual art, sketching, or other creative processes—to explore and communicate chemical ideas. Exact details and procedures are still to be determined and subject to change as interest dictates.
Throughout the experience, an Artist-Chemist Field Notebook will invite participants to document observations, questions, data, sketches, unexpected results, revisions, and reflections while considering:
Where are we acting as scientists? Where are we acting as artists? Where do those processes overlap?
The goal is not to learn how to make paper. Rather, we will explore what happens when scientific and artistic ways of knowing come together around a shared material—and how that experience might translate into meaningful chemistry learning for our students.
Come prepared to investigate, make, collaborate, get a little messy, think differently about the relationship between chemistry and the arts, and creative inquiry.
NOTE: About 7-10 days before the event, registrants will receive an email with the subject “You're invited to Crane Currency Dalton”. Please keep an eye out for the email and contact the museum if you do not receive one (remember to check your spam folder). Once you receive your email, click on the black box labelled ‘register now’. If you have difficulty completing your registration, please contact me for assistance. This information is required to complete visitor screening, including a background check (U.S. citizens) and restricted-party screening (all visitors), as applicable. You must complete your registration to be able to visit the Crane Museum located at Crane Currency.
