ARTS AND COMMUNITY Folder in chief BY LIZ GOTTHELF

For Lee Orme, folding a page of a book doesn’t mean dog-earing a corner. Instead, it means the step-by-step process of taking a book and changing it from pages of text to a sculpture. Now, through her project Fold-A-Book for Peace, people are creating art and building community through that very same process. With Fold-A-Book, Orme hosts book-folding sessions, where participants sit around a table and create book sculptures; Orme provides the books, which she gets from discard boxes at used book stores, thrift stores, the free shelf at the library, and from friends.

As the pages get folded, the books take on new forms. The finished product sprawls open accordion-like, the angles of the folds creating different shapes. Some are methodically folded, almost like origami, with a distinct pattern, and look like Chinese lanterns. Others are less structured and are more freeform.

They are all works of art that reflect the individuality of the sculptor, and Orme marvels at the way each person’s folds can create something unique. A lifelong artist, she taught herself how to fold books after reading an article about it in a magazine, and she believes that there is no wrong or right way to fold a book. "The project is not about judging," she says, "but about finding a person’s individual creativity."

The idea of book folding as a means of building peace came to Orme on November 5 as a reaction to the negativity surrounding the presidential election. She felt she needed to do something proactive. "I want to use the project to bring people together because it is more productive and constructive to work actively for something that you truly believe in than to concentrate and put energy in something that you are against. When you use your energy positively, you become more creative."

It seems to be working. People who have never done art before are making sculptures, and they are telling their friends. The project is growing by word of mouth and Orme is optimistic that she will reach her goal of 1000 sculptures by June, so that they can be displayed in a location during the monthly First Friday Art Walk.

Until then, she’ll keep bringing people together, fold by fold.

To schedule a book-folding event or for more information on the project, contact Lee Orme at (207) 874-0970 or foldabookforpeace@yahoo.com