Educational and inspirational sessions offered for NSS exhibitors and attendees 

Cohoes, NY – Mohawk is pleased to announce a rare pop-up exhibit to highlight The Strathmore Archive at the 2016 National Stationery Show, May 15 – 18, 2016, at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. 

The Strathmore Archive exhibition and educational sessions will be held in booth #2657 during show hours for registered NSS attendees and exhibitors. The exhibit is sponsored by Mohawk Fine Papers (booth #2656), which has served as steward of the legendary brand since acquiring the Strathmore line in 2005. 

Mohawk uncovered a treasure trove of over 7,000 pieces of rare, historic and beautiful Strathmore paper promotions called The Strathmore Archive. Individually, every object is an example of well-considered graphic design. Together, the collection chronicles over a century of timeless American design and style.   Mohawk has curated and hand selected over 30 pieces of historic design ephemera for display at the 2016 National Stationery Show.

“It’s an honor for the NSS to host The Strathmore Archive exhibit and celebrate the creativity and endurance of paper throughout the decades,” said Patti Stracher, NSS show director and vice president of Emerald Expositions.  “Mohawk’s exhibit and sessions add another facet to the Show’s celebration of 70 years in the industry.”

“This carefully preserved collection contains extremely rare printed materials which brilliantly display a century of graphic design, type, printing methods and paper making. The collection memorializes the collaboration between a paper manufacturer and the most influential designers of the 20^thcentury,” said Chris Harrold, vice president business development and creative director, Mohawk. 

“All design is inspired by what has come before, and The Strathmore Archive is a visual feast of over 100 years of great American design. Mohawk is proud to be in a position to share these incredibly beautiful artifacts with design, paper and stationery enthusiasts at the 2016 National Stationery Show,” said Harrold, who is managing the curation of the collection.

Harrold continues, “We have received quite a lot of interest from art historians and very prominent members of the design community who are eager to see these extremely rare pieces, and we believe NSS exhibitors and attendees will be truly inspired by the vast array of design, letterpress, color and fine paper that will be on display.”

Harrold will host a series of inspirational and educational sessions for NSS exhibitors, exploring how American paper companies, including Strathmore, slowly shifted from selling paper as a commodity to promoting it as an essential design element in the early 1900’s.  Strathmore Paper relied almost exclusively on well-known designers, illustrators and typographers of the era to demonstrate to printers how paper was much more than a substrate, but a critical element to overall design, on a par with illustration, color and type.

Educational sessions for exhibitors will be held at The Strathmore Archive booth #2657 on Mon. 5/16, Tues. 5/17 and Wed. 5/18, before the opening hour of the NSS from 9:00 – 9:30 am and for buyers during show hours on all days.   Each session will cover a unique topic related to the Archive and will provide an overview of American Design, color and taste through the prism of the historic Strathmore brand.

The presentation will also include background about Strathmore’s brand heritage, including key graphical elements, which were inspired by the flora of Scotland’s Strathmore Valley. Strathmore’s founder Horace Moses adopted both the Strathmore name and the valley’s natural icon—the thistle—as symbols of quality for his papers.

Strathmore papers have been crafted to the same exacting standards since 1892 and used by designers and printers for over 120 years. Since acquiring the Strathmore brand in 2005, Mohawk has continued to manufacture this iconic portfolio of papers in their two upstate New York fine paper mills.