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A Bit About Kate
(aka “Madame Pop-Up”)

KateEdited.jpg

I was always an "art kid" but the magical world of secret codes and spy stuff also intrigued me. This led to a fascination with language learning

and a future as a bona fide language geek. In terms of my formal education, I went back and forth between visual arts and languages. Book arts classes were harder to come by, so I cobbled together that part of my arts education by travelling around taking all kinds of workshops including papermaking, alternative bookbinding, pop-up making and letterpress printing in addition to weekly classes in traditional bookbinding. 

 

Alongside my involvement in the book arts, I work part-time as an adult English as a Second Language teacher/tutor (TESL certified) and language coach. The arts and languages sides of me have happily coexisted and occasionally come together in projects that employ books and pop-ups as a vehicle for language learning.

 

Based in Montreal, I’ve also lived and worked in Western Canada (Vancouver), Europe and Japan.

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I'd love to hear about your adventures with arts and languages!

Selected Learning Experiences and Qualifications

  • Artist in the Quebec government Culture in the Schools program

  • Artist in the  ArtistsInspire program
     

  • Mentoring from Paul Johnson, book artist, author, educator

  • Apprenticeship in bookbinding with children with Pierre-S. Tremblay 

  • Traditional bookbinding classes with Louise Genest and Nicole Billard

  • Pop-up mechanisms with Celia King and Ed Hutchins

  • Artists' book workshops with Keith Smith, Claire Van Vliet, Reg Beatty
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  • Cambridge CELTA certificate in teaching English as a Second Language to Adults

  • BFA classes in fine arts (photography and art history) at Concordia University, Montreal

  • BA in Humanistic Studies (languages, arts, sciences) from McGill University, Montreal

Kate’s Workshops - Some Highlights
 

I have had the chance to make books or pop-ups with 9,000+ kids in over 85 schools around Quebec and in Vancouver.

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Other Workshop Venues

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  • La Biblioteca Infantil de Oaxaca, Mexico

  • Montreal Central Library (La Grande Bibliothèque)

  • Montreal Children's Library, Richmond branch

  • German School Baie d'Urfé, QC

  • The Visual Arts Centre Summer Camp, Montreal

Workshops with Adults
 

  • Ino Community Centre, Kochi, Japan

  • Au Papier Japonais, Montreal, QC

  • Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal, QC

  • Iota Press, California

  • Island Mountain Arts, Wells, BC

My Books and Pop-ups
 

  • My artist books have been exhibited in Montreal and Vancouver.

  • I have created pop-up and book props for theatre and film.

  • My commissioned work includes editions of poetry chapbooks and artist books.

Workshops In Schools: A Bit of History

colleague Pierre

The Hardcover Book project originated in the 1970s with Pierre Ouvrard, a master Canadian bookbinder who, as a favour to a teacher friend, visited her elementary school classroom one day a year (for 20 years!) to help the students bind their stories into hardcover books. 

 

In 1996, he passed on his techniques to Pierre-S. Tremblay, who greatly expanded the project under the banner "Apprenti relieur" (Bookbinder's Apprentice) and worked with over 50,000 children across the province of Quebec until his retirement in 2021.

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 I had the good fortune to meet and apprentice with Pierre “Monsieur PST!” in 2003 and have been leading bookbinding workshops ever since--adding pop-up, artist book, and mail art workshops along the way.

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In 2013, we were joined by Montreal bookbinder Cécile Côté who continues to give workshops in schools and in her studio.

 

The onset of the pandemic  2020 brought with it a silver lining: the opportunity to learn techniques for teaching visual arts online. Video conferencing has proven to be another effective way to teach and it has also meant that more people have access to workshops.

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