Schwarzman Session - Healing and Transformation Through the Art of Papermaking

Schwarzman Sessions are peer-led gatherings where conversations generate collaborations and move ideas into action. Because seats are limited, registrants will be automatically placed on the waitlist and will be notified via email if they are selected to participate. 

On Friday, September 11, 2026—the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks on America—join the Peace Paper Project in honoring service members through the art of papermaking.

Join Drew Matott, Master Papermaker and co-founder of the Peace Paper Project, and Holly Hermes, Bissell Director of the Yale Office of Veteran and Military Affairs to hear about strategies for connection through art and how using papermaking as a form of community engagement and art therapy with former military personnel led have led to transformative benefits for those affected by trauma.

Art-making activities allow populations affected by trauma with a means to process memories and emotion through symbolic expression. According to Art Therapist Gretchen Miller, “Art-making provides a safe means for expressing and communicating traumatic experiences which often cannot be reconciled through verbal language.”  Papermaking has gained significant momentum in the spheres of Art Therapy and trauma intervention. 

This Session will be followed by an Interactive paper making demonstration where attendees can make paper from pulped military, police, and first responder uniforms; hospital scrubs; discarded face masks; and retired American flags from 1:30-3:30pm. All Session attendees are welcome to attend!

The Peace Paper Project's visit to Yale is supported by Yale Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education which is healing and Advancing a Vision of Empowerment and Nonviolence (SHARE | HAVEN), Yale Health, Yale MacMillan Center's Collaborations to Study Materiality and Objects (COSMOS), Yale Library, Beinecke Library, Yale Schwarzman Center, Yale School of Art, and Yale Office of Veteran and Military Affairs.

Learn more about The Peace Paper Project 

The Peace Paper Project is an international community arts initiative that uses traditional hand papermaking as a form of trauma therapy, social engagement, and community activism. Founded in 2011 by master papermaker Drew Matott and art therapist Gretchen Miller, the organization helps healing populations cope with trauma by transforming significant textiles into handmade paper. With its portable papermaking studio, Peace Paper collaborates with hospitals, shelters, and community centers around the world and has engaged more than 50,000 people in this process.