The Opening Reception for Jane’s solo exhibition at NY2CA Gallery last Saturday was a wonderful evening of art, music, food and conversation at NY2CA Gallery, 617 First Street, Benicia, CA. Jane gave a Gallery Talk responding to questions about her works from gallery director Vickie Marchand. Many people attended and also enjoyed live music by local musicians and great food in the gallery’s back patio area. Jane’s work remains on view in the gallery till June 21, and the NY2CA Gallery is open Thursday through Sundays, Noon to 5 pm. Jane will be there in Benicia at the gallery again on June 6 for the Benicia Arts Festival day to conduct a public art activity at the gallery. The public is invited to make a “house” for a public art installation of over 100 handmade paper and wire mesh “houses” in the patio and garden area behind NY2CA Gallery.
See the gallery’s website at https://ny2cagallery.com for information about the exhibition and the Benicia Arts Festival.
Here are some photos of the gallery reception on Saturday, May 16, 2026, for Jane’s exhibition taken by Timothy S. Allen:
Site Botanical – Banana, 2006, Handmade paper from Taiwan banana leaves, collage with real banana leaves, acrylic paint and gel, digital photo of banana display in local market by Timothy S. Allen, 72 x 25 inches, two sided suspended work.
Jane will also be at NY2CA Gallery in Benicia for the Benicia Arts Festival on Saturday, June 6, 2026, to conduct a public participatory art activity to make over 100 handmade paper “houses” for an outdoor public art installation in the area behind the gallery. People are invited to come make their own handmade paper “house” during the public activity from 11 am – 4 pm on June 6.
Jane’s 1998 installation of 200 handmade paper birds on a barn in New York State. There will be a “Bird Watching in Benicia” installation of flying and standing “birds” in NY2CA Gallery’s storefront window area as part of Jane’s 2026 exhibition, “The Work of Earth and Hand”, May 14 – June 21, 2026.“House” example for public art installation “Houses – Building Community” at NY2CA Gallery, Benicia, public participation activity on June 6, 11-4 pm“Chiayi Houses”, 2005, mixed media installation of hundreds of handmade paper and wire mesh “houses” for public art installation for Chiayi Lantern Festival, sited on unused railway platform in downtown Chaiyi City, Taiwan, each “house 6″ x 4″ x 4”, handmade paper pulp, wire hardware cloth, wire, tea candles.
Jane Ingram Allen, a Fulbright Scholar artist in Taiwan in 2003-04 and 2005-05, announces that the Tainan Art Museum in Tainan, Taiwan, now has 34 of her handmade paper mixed media artworks in their permanent collection. The works were created by Allen during her two years on the Fulbright grant working in 14 different communities all over Taiwan. The Tainan Art Museum will keep the works in their archival storage and have them available for research and exhibitions. Allen hopes that the Tainan Art Museum will have an exhibition of her “Made in Taiwan” works in 2027.
These works are part of an ongoing series of map-based works that Allen calls “site maps.” The “site maps” are a record of her experience of a particular place and time and are made entirely from materials collected in that place. They are based on tourist maps, road maps, historical maps, geological maps and cultural resources that depict the particular characteristics of a place, as well as her personal experience of a place. Each “site map” is made up of multiple sheets of natural plant fiber handmade paper Allen made from local plants and joined with natural fiber string so that the constructions will fold up like maps. These are mixed-media works that use acrylic painting, drawing, collage and other techniques. They are two-sided and hang in space so that viewers can travel around them and look through them to get another view of that particular place.
Collaborating Artists Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback will present the 6th exhibition of their “In Deep Water” project at Delaware Valley Arts Alliance Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY, June 28 – August 3, 2025.
Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback began this work together in 2020 to express their concern about the growing environmental crisis relating to climate change and water, the most essential element for life. “In Deep Water” has been presented at 3 different venues in Northern California and one in New Jersey and also in Taiwan, with new versions and more panels added at each place to make it site specific The “In Deep Water – Confluence” art installation will consist of 27 panels of handmade paper and printmaking with controlled burning that are joined by threads and suspended in space to surround the viewer in a blue watery world where rivers come together, symbolically representing the hope that the world can all come together to preserve the environment and deal with climate change. The presentation in Narrowsburg, NY, will be designed for the DVAA gallery located in the downtown area along the banks of the Delaware River, and the exhibition is happening at the same time as the community’s annual Riverfest celebration of the Delaware River.
Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, “In Deep Water – Rising”, Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, CA, 2022Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, “In Deep Water – We’re in This Together – Taiwan”, 2023-24Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback installing “In Deep Water” at Sonoma Community Center, Sonoma, CA, in January 2022.
My exhibition of 80+ handmade paper artworks created in Santa Rosa and at artist residencies around the world are on view at Spring Lake Village Art Gallery, 5555 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, CA, till May 30, 2025. The show is open every day for viewing, and visitors should contact Spring Lake Village Art Committee Member, Les Saldanha, saldanhales@hotmail.com or cell phone 707-367-1874.
The opening reception is Saturday, April 12, 3:45 to 5PM with an Artist Talk in the Auditorium and reception in the Art Room immediately following.
Here are some photos of the exhibition at Spring Lake Village taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen.
My Solo Exhibition in Santa Rosa, CA, continues through April 30, 2025, and a new date has been set for the Artist Lecture and Opening Reception.
Jane Ingram Allen – Handmade Paper Art
March 3 – MAY 30, 2025 (THIS EXHIBITION IS NOW EXTENDED TILL MAY 30, 2025)
Spring Lake Village Art Gallery
5555 Montgomery Drive
Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Opening Reception & Artist Lecture:
New Date, Saturday April 12, 3:45 – 5 pm
This solo exhibition is a survey of selected works I created with my handmade paper over the past 25 years. It includes works from my travels as an artist to many different countries and parts of the US as well as works made since moving to California in 2012 to the present.
One of 80+ handmade paper artworks in this exhibition, Fire and Water 6, 36 x 24 inches, handmade kozo and abaca paper, dye, thread, acrylic gel, holes and controlled burning, made in Santa Rosa, CA, 2025.
Hope to see you at the Reception on April 12, 2025! Or, contact me at info@janeingramallen.com or by cell phone: 857-234-2432 to view the exhibition at another time before it closes on April 30, 2025.
Spring 2025 Papermaking Art Classes in Santa Rosa, CA, are all Full!
Contact me at info@janeingramallen.com if you want to receive my Fall 2025 Schedule of Papermaking Classes at my studio in Santa Rosa, CA.
Workshop Participant making paper with Kozo fibers.
Exhibition Announcement:
Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, In Deep Water – Confluenc
Opening reception and Gallery Talk: June 28, 4-6pm
This exhibition will be the 2nd exhibition on the East Coast of our “In Deep Water” project about water and climate change. This collaborative project with printmaking artist Jami Taback began in 2020 and has also been presented at 3 venues in Northern California and in Taiwan. The presentation in Narrowsburg is happening at the same time as the community’s annual Riverfest that celebrates the Delaware River. For more information: https://delawarevalleyartsalliance.org/exhibition/jane-ingram-allen-jami-taback-in-deep-water/?back=ago
Jane Ingram Allen & Jami Taback, In Deep Water – Taiwan, installation of 36 panels of handmade paper and printmaking joined with threads, Live Forever Foundation Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan, 2023-24
The WEAD (Women Eco-Artists Dialog www.weadartists.org) juried online member exhibition “Lands and Symbiotic Futures” has concluded.
I had one work selected for this online exhibition, “Living Leaf for Pepperwood Preserve”, an outdoor installation consisting of a large handmade paper leaf in the shape of a Pepperwood tree leaf with seeds for native grasses in the pulp to grow over time in symbiotic relationship with the land.
Jane Ingram Allen, Living Leaf for Pepperwood Preserve, 3 x 10 x 1 feet, handmade paper, dye, soil, seeds for native grasses, wood boards, 2023-24, installed at Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA
Spring Lake Village’s Covid 19 outbreak is almost over, and the reception and artist’s talk for Jane’s exhibition has now been re-scheduled for Saturday, April 11, 2025.
You are invited to the reception for the exhibition “Jane Ingram Allen – Handmade Paper Art” at Spring Lake Village Art Gallery, 5555 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95409. The new date for the reception and Artist’s Talk is Saturday, April 11, 2025. The Gallery Talk will begin in the Auditorium at 3:45 pm, and the reception will follow in the Art Room.
Visitors who want to attend should contact Jane (857)234-2432, email: info@janeingramallen.com or the Art Committee Contact Les Saldanha (318) 557-1434, email: saldanhales@hotmail.com
The exhibition continues through April 30, 2025, and tours can be set up for any day of the week or on Saturdays or Sundays. Visitors should stop at the gate for instructions on parking and how to get to the art gallery.
This image shows one of more than 80 works in the exhibition that Jane has created from 2000-2025.
Jane Ingram Allen, Bali Site Map, 45″ x 78 inches, handmade paper from plants of Bali, threads, acrylic paint and collage with materials from Bali, Indonesia, made at Bali Purnati Center for the Arts, Bali, in 2009.
Gallery Hours: M-F, 8:30 am – 7:30 pm, Sat. & Sun. 8:30 am – 3 pm
Visitors should contact Jane or the Art Committee Contact below to schedule a visit or a Gallery Tour. Please stop at the gate for parking pass and directions to the art gallery when you arrive.
Art Committee Contact: Les Saldanha, Cell phone (318) 557-1434, email: saldanhales@hotmail.com
Opening Reception and Artist Lecture for Spring Lake Community Residents and Special Guests
Saturday, March 8, 3:45 – 5 pm. Opening and Artist Talk POSTPONED because of COVID Outbreak at Spring Lake Village in Santa Rosa, announced on March 4, 2025!
Lecture 3:45 pm in Auditorium; Reception in Art Room immediately following.
Jane Ingram Allen, Kinmen Site Map – Blue Butterfly, 48 x 75 inches, two-sided, handmade paper from plants of Kinmen, thread, acrylic paint and gel, other materials collected on Kinmen, made in Kinmen, Taiwan, 2005
New Class Added – My Kozo/Japanese Papermaking Class on March 22, 2025, is already full, so I am adding another class the following Saturday, March 29, for more people who are interested in learning Japanese hand papermaking techniques and using Kozo fibers. The wonderful exhibition at the Sonoma Valley Museum, “Book Becoming Art” has generated lots of interest in Japanese papermaking!
Celebrating Kozo – Exploring Japanese Papermaking
Dates: Saturday, March 29, 10 am to 4 pm
Class Fee: $175 (includes materials and equipment)
Instructor: Jane Ingram Allen
Location: Jane’s home and studio, 5017 Maiden Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95409 (in the Rincon Valley area on Santa Rosa’s Northeast side).
Learn to make paper with Japanese Kozo (paper mulberry bark) and other plant fibers in the Japanese way to create unique handmade paper that can be super thin but still very strong and used for everything from clothing to sculpture. This class will use some of the Kozo fiber I order from Mino City, Japan, where I was an artist in residence for 3 months in 1999 and returned in 2009. Also, other locally-available Mulberry tree fibers and various plant fibers will be used in the Japanese way to create unique handmade paper. We will use an authentic sugeta (wooden frame and bamboo woven screen) as well as Western molds & deckles (wooden frames and nylon screening) and formation aid from powdered polyethylene oxide and from okra juice. The class will cover preparing fiber, preparing the vat, adding formation aid, various ways of sheet forming and drying handmade papers as well as creative and unique ways to use the long fibers of the paper mulberry and other plants. Information about getting kozo fibers and a Japanese-style sugeta as well as growing and gathering your own fibers for Japanese papermaking will be shared in this workshop. No experience required, but some papermaking experience will be helpful.
To register for the class: Send check or money order for the class fee by mail to Jane Ingram Allen, 5017 Maiden Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95409, or pay the fee with a credit card using PayPal (www.paypal.com) and send money to info@janeingramallen.com Class size is limited to five people! Jane will contact you by email as soon as your money is received, and she will be in touch to send complete instructions for the class and handouts as we get closer to the date.
Jane Ingram Allen, Open Sky, made in Costa Rica with mulberry bark handmade paper, 2023
My artwork “Poppies in the Sky” is featured in FEMINA 24, a group exhibition of 15 selected regional female artists at Sofie Contemporary Arts, Calistoga, CA, https://gallery.sofiegallery.com. The show opened on Nov. 7, 2024, and continues to Feb. 14, 2025. Sofie Contemporary Art is open on Calistoga’s main street from Thurs. – Sun. 11 am to 4 pm. I am also happy to report that one of my works in the exhibition, “Poppies in the Sky”, has been purchased by a collector from Virginia visiting in the Calistoga area.
Jane Ingram Allen, “Pepperwood Leaves, 2022 installation
“Pepperwood Leaves – a Re-installation” is now on exhibition at Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA. My art installation is part of the group exhibition titled “The Majesty of Trees” curated by Ben Benson, Pepperwood’s Cultural Resources Coordinator, and the show will extend into January 2025. My “Pepperwood Leaves” installation consists of multiple handmade paper Pepperwood tree (California Bay Laurel) leaves in shades of orange and purple with seeds for native grasses in the pulp. This work celebrates the Pepperwood Tree that the Preserve is named after. This work was originally created in Fall 2023 as part of my Creative Sonoma, Art Surround grant project. This re-installation of the work is just outside the gallery entrance on the 2nd floor of the Dwight Center for Environmental Science, located at 2130 Pepperwood Preserve Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. For an appointment to see the art gallery, email: iluevano@pepperwoodpreserve.org There will be educational programs and talks by the artists later in November and December.
“Living Leaf for Pepperwood Preserve” in WEAD online exhibition “Lands and Symbiotic Futures”. My outdoor installation “Living Leaf for Pepperwood Preserve” was selected for the online curated exhibition of WEAD (Women Eco Artists Dialog) www.weadartists.org. The exhibition is available for online viewing and runs from Oct. 2, 2024 into 2025. My artwork “Living Leaf for Pepperwood Preserve” was also part of my Creative Sonoma Art Surround grant project at Pepperwood Preserve in Fall 2023, and was on view through January 2023 on the grounds in front of the Dwight Center at Pepperwood Preserve. The work was a transformative piece with seeds for native grasses in the paper pulp that sprouted over time to produce an 8’ x 10’ living Pepperwood tree shaped leaf in the landscape. This WEAD online exhibition titled “Lands and Symbiotic Futures” Is available for viewing at this link: https://www.weadartists.org/exhibitions
Zoom talks by some of the artists in the exhibition are scheduled for Nov. and Dec. 2024. Visit the WEAD website for more information about the exhibition and the Artist Talks: https://www.weadartists.org/artistspresentations
Jane ingram Allen, “Legal Pad with Grocery List”, 1975
My work is added to the collection of the Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, CA.
A curator from the Crocker Museum of Art in Sacramento, CA, recently visited my studio in Santa Rosa, CA, to see my work in person. The curator was especially interested in my early feminist works in weaving and fiber arts from the 1970s when I lived in the South Bay and taught weaving and fiber arts at Foothill College and Canada College. I also showed the Crocker Curator my later and current works in handmade paper that still make use of many fiber materials and techniques. My work from 1975 “Legal Pad with Grocery List” is now part of the Crocker’s collection and will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at the Crocker about feminist works from the 1970s.
“Jane Ingram Allen and Jami Taback, ”In Deep Water – Taiwan”, 2022-24
“In Deep Water” with collaborator Jami Taback will be exhibited in NY State in Summer 2025. Our “In Deep Water” installation artwork with handmade paper and printmaking will be exhibited at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY, June 28 2025 to August 3, 2025. I am hoping to travel to Hawley, PA, where Jami moved in March 2024, to visit her and help with the site installation in nearby Narrowsburg, NY, and also participate in some public programs for this exhibition. We were honored to be selected by the DVAA for this important slot in their 2025 exhibition schedule, since this is a time when many visitors come to the beautiful area along the Delaware River for the community’s annual Riverfest. For more information see the website at https://delawarevalleyartsalliance.org
Jane Ingram Allen, Fire & Water 5, Burning Forest, 2024
My new Series “Fire and Water” continues. My handmade paper series of works in 2024 using handmade paper, stencils, dye, burning and hole making continues with another piece that features burned tree trunks and orange and smoky blue handmade paper. This work, #5 in the series, is about 4 feet square and hangs suspended in space to experience the holes and the translucent kozo fiber handmade paper.
Jane Ingram Allen, Handmade Paper Sculptures – Bird Watching in Japan, 1999
New Papermaking Art Classes to be announced in 2025. The Fall 2024 papermaking classes I taught at my Santa Rosa, CA, studio will be ending for the year with the Nov. 2 class in Sculptural Papermaking. Watch for my next email in early 2025 with a Schedule of Spring 2025 classes in hand papermaking.
Jane Ingram Allen Art Projects 