reception with the artists: Friday November 1

HOLD ON/LET GO is a participatory community art project and exhibition by Iowa City artists Heather Steckler and Harper Folsom. The project explores the intersection of memory, purpose, and the act of releasing the things we carry with us. What conditions make it okay to release control over physical possessions, and how does giving up that control allow us to have agency in other aspects of our lives?

Over the past several months, Heather and Harper worked with their Iowa City neighbors to collect objects that residents were holding onto, but wished to let go of. Items might have been inherited from loved ones, accumulated at a meaningful stage of life, or simply been too difficult to throw away. Some participants wanted as many people as possible to appreciate a precious memento, and some never wanted to look at their object again. All varieties of items and ephemera were collected and incorporated into this exhibition. Harper and Heather also provided opportunities to collaborate and repurpose objects through papermaking, cyanotype printing, and collaging during free community workshops.

This exhibition is a culmination of time spent with objects received from Iowa City community members, and the stories embedded within them. The work showcases the creative efforts of the artists’ collaboration with each other, and with the community as a whole.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Harper Folsom is an interdisciplinary, paper-based artist living and working in Iowa City. Her practice combines handmade paper, book forms, prints, collages, and site-specific installations. By focusing on themes of collecting and archiving, her work investigates what it means to treat discarded things with tenderness.

Harper graduated from Coe College in 2022 with a BA in Studio Art, and was awarded the Marvin Cone prize for most outstanding body of work. She worked with the Cedar Rapids Public Library to develop an ongoing artist residency program, and served as the inaugural artist-in-residence. Currently, she is an MFA candidate and Iowa Arts Fellow at the University of Iowa Center for the Book. She is an active and enthusiastic member of both Public Space One and the Iowa City Press Co-op. @harperfolsom

Heather Steckler is an interdisciplinary artist originally from New Jersey. Her work utilizes print, collage, and paper to explore the way we preserve memories through the images and objects we hold dear to us.

Heather received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 2019. She has served as a board member at the Soapbox Community Printshop and Zine Library and as both a Fob Holder and Events Coordinator at Second State Press. Heather has spent time living in abroad in Japan and recently completed a residency at Studio Kura in Itoshima, Japan.

Heather is currently based in Iowa City, where she is pursuing her MFA in Printmaking and a Graduate Certificate in Book Arts at the University of Iowa. @heathersteckler