"If This Wallpaper Could Talk" Co-creators: (L to R) Shane Wynn & Karen Starr

A book about Akron's wallpaper... and the people who love it.

You can tell a lot about a city’s heritage and collective personality from the style choices of its residents. If This Wallpaper Could Talk is a new book project by local artists Karen Starr and Shane Wynn that will explore Akron’s culture and character through the mediums of wallpaper, storytelling, and photography.
 
Part arts-and-culture book, part local history book, If This Wallpaper Could Talk will be rich with alluring portraits and lively stories providing a unique glimpse into Akron’s most interesting wallpaper from the past and the present, as well as the people who cherish it. 

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​Partial funding for this project is a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its 2016 Knight Arts Challenge. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge funds ideas that engage and enrich Akron through the arts. The other half of the funding was matched in donations locally from GAR Foundation, Akron Community Foundation, Summit County Historical Society and by individuals via IndieGogo.
We are so grateful for our supporters, that have allowed us to bring this art project to life.

As part of the submission for the Knight Arts Challenge, the team identified a few Akron wallpaper stories that they felt would be a good representation of what the book would eventually become. A sneak peek of three possible wallpaper stories are below...

Meet a
wallpaper-loving Akronite:
Claudia Lynn - Private Residence

A sneak peek from Claudia's
pages of the submission:
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Claudia is a firm believer in surrounding herself with things that not only beautifully improve the aesthetics of her surroundings, but that also add to the quality of everyday life. "I think that with wallpaper, and with anything you select, it’s what gives you joy. These wallpapers really give me joy every time I look at them."

Meet a
wallpaper-loving Akronite:
Danny Allen - Chop & Swizzle

A sneak peek from Chop & Swizzle's
pages of the submission::
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Q: How does this wallpaper reflect your personality?
A: “I love that it’s dark, but it has an elegant pattern to it. There’s a lot going on with it, there’s a lot going on with me, yet it’s very elegant, very simplistic.”

​Meet a 
wallpaper-loving Akronite:
Rebecca Wehr - Hower House

A sneak peek from Hower House's
pages of the submission:
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Rebecca, on the wallpaper in the dining room of the Hower House: “It has an optical illusion effect. As you travel around the room, some areas you can see the polka dots and some you can’t. But as you move around, those areas change. The patterns and colors change depending on where you are standing in the room.”