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Guild of American Papercutters Guild of American Papercutters

About Us

The Guild of American Papercutters is a membership-based community that promotes awareness about, preserves the heritage of, and advances the art of papercutting.

Jen Hudson

The Guild of American Papercutters (GAP) was founded in 1988 by a group of papercut art enthusiasts, meeting for the first time at the Hershey Museum of American Life in Hershey, Pennsylvania. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to papercutting and paper work as an art form in all its historical and contemporary styles. The Guild was originally established for members “from all the countries of North America.” By its tenth anniversary, it had over 500 members, located in 48 states in the USA and in 16 other countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as Dick and Sukey Harris wrote in the 11th volume, first number of First Cut (Winter 1998). Our members range from beginner to highly skilled amateur and professional full-time artists and teachers; we have members, too, who don’t cut but are papercutting enthusiasts, researchers, historians, and collectors.

In 2009, twenty-one years after its founding, members established the National Museum of the Guild of American Papercutters in affiliation with Laurel Arts at the home of the Philip Dressler Center for the Arts in Somerset, Pennsylvania.  This is the first American museum devoted to papercutting as an art form. The museum has a permanent collection of papercuts as well as changing exhibitions. 

The Guild of American Papercutters exercises no artistic or business control over its members other than the encouragement of personal artistic growth and ethical business practices. Membership is welcomed — the Guild has no jury requirements and conducts no competitive art contests. We welcome you to join our community! And if you have questions, please feel free to contact us.

Presidents of the Guild

  • Steven Woodbury
  • Kerch McConlogue
  • Paul Trattner
  • Paul D. Beal
  • Sharon Schaich
  • Nancy Cook
  • Kay-Marie Buchanan
  • Shannon Reinbold-Gee
  • Kathy Trexel-Reed
  • Marie-Helene Grabman
  • Carolyn Guest
  • Andrea R. Martin
  • Jenn Ross
  • Mindy Shapiro
  • Randall Williams (current)
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New Members receive a $10 discount for a GAP workshop! AND if a current member REFERS A FRIEND, they get the discount, too!
New Members receive a $10 discount for a GAP workshop! AND if a current member REFERS A FRIEND, they get the discount, too!
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Take a 2-minute tour of the artwork in GAP's National Museum in Somerset, PA

GAP is proud to be a member of the Arts Coalition of the Alleghenies! Check out their new website to see some of their exciting events, past and present.

The GAP Logo Story

Read the story, get the stickers!

GAP Logo - calligraphy "Guild of American Papercutters"
GAP Logo – designed by Blanche Turner with calligraphy by Karen Shain Schloss

A Word from our Museum Director

https://youtu.be/MDfcsR3A6s8

Laurel Arts’ Imagination Garden

Lovely local TV coverage of Laurel Arts’ “Imagination Garden,” with a few glimpses of GAP’s National Museum, whose home is within the Laurel Arts Center in Somerset, PA.

The Imagination Garden

A Home for Paper Artists

Through its publications, traveling exhibits, papercutting conferences, workshops, and demonstrations, members of the Guild of American Papercutters (GAP) seek to spread and celebrate the art of cutting paper. Whether you actively design and cut in paper, or simply appreciate the finished works of papercutters, we invite you to join our community. Our worldwide membership embraces all styles, materials, cutting methods, and experience levels. However you work, whatever your style, you will find kindred artists in the Guild of American Papercutters.

Guild of American Papercutters
P.O. Box 384
214 S. Harrison Avenue
Somerset, PA 15501
USA
Email: GAP@papercutters.org

814.443.2433

Volha Baburyna: A GAP Member in Belarus Talks about Roots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8LcY-kCTBM
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