How the heck did the idea for this book come about?
One morning, Karen Starr (who is an interior designer) was preparing for an appointment with a long-time
residential design client. Over the years, Karen and this particular client had enjoyed adding
fun and funky wallpaper accents to various rooms throughout the client's home.
So Karen was daydreaming all about wallpaper - and was then thinking about how Akron has such a rich history
and connection to wallpaper - and BAM! The book idea was born:
A style book about Akron's wallpapers.
(Yes, it is totally "a thing" here.)
And just as soon as she saw the vision of the book, she immediately knew that the book would be about more
than just Akron's wallpaper— that it would also be about the Akronites who are caretakers and lovers of it.
And as soon as she knew that, she knew the perfect person to photograph the
portraits of the people standing in front of their wallpaper: Shane Wynn.
Karen and Shane had been involved in many arts-based community projects together in the past,
and Karen long-admired Shane's unique way of capturing the essence of not only people but of spaces.
Perfect.
If This Wallpaper Could Talk is a marriage of Karen’s passion for interior design and storytelling,
Shane's passion for portrait photography, and their shared passion for the people of Akron.
We encourage people to submit possibilities for the project with the hashtag #wallpaperselfies
(seriously, send us your worst/best wallpapers with you in them, selfie-style)
to our Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram page, or by emailing us here.
residential design client. Over the years, Karen and this particular client had enjoyed adding
fun and funky wallpaper accents to various rooms throughout the client's home.
So Karen was daydreaming all about wallpaper - and was then thinking about how Akron has such a rich history
and connection to wallpaper - and BAM! The book idea was born:
A style book about Akron's wallpapers.
(Yes, it is totally "a thing" here.)
And just as soon as she saw the vision of the book, she immediately knew that the book would be about more
than just Akron's wallpaper— that it would also be about the Akronites who are caretakers and lovers of it.
And as soon as she knew that, she knew the perfect person to photograph the
portraits of the people standing in front of their wallpaper: Shane Wynn.
Karen and Shane had been involved in many arts-based community projects together in the past,
and Karen long-admired Shane's unique way of capturing the essence of not only people but of spaces.
Perfect.
If This Wallpaper Could Talk is a marriage of Karen’s passion for interior design and storytelling,
Shane's passion for portrait photography, and their shared passion for the people of Akron.
We encourage people to submit possibilities for the project with the hashtag #wallpaperselfies
(seriously, send us your worst/best wallpapers with you in them, selfie-style)
to our Facebook page, Twitter page, and Instagram page, or by emailing us here.
About the project team
I'm Karen Starr, co-creator and storyteller of this book project.
I am an interior designer and artist living in Akron, Ohio, where
I co-own Hazel Tree Interiors, a local interior design/picture framing studio
and gallery of locally-made furnishings and art. (Buy local, buy art!)
I also love to co-create fun and useful local events, groups and networks
that celebrate the amazing city I call home, like: GAINS, The Greater Akron
Innovation Network for Sustainability; Free Akron Outdoors Movies;
and Highland Square PorchRokr Festival.
I'm Karen Starr, co-creator and storyteller of this book project.
I am an interior designer and artist living in Akron, Ohio, where
I co-own Hazel Tree Interiors, a local interior design/picture framing studio
and gallery of locally-made furnishings and art. (Buy local, buy art!)
I also love to co-create fun and useful local events, groups and networks
that celebrate the amazing city I call home, like: GAINS, The Greater Akron
Innovation Network for Sustainability; Free Akron Outdoors Movies;
and Highland Square PorchRokr Festival.
I'm Shane Wynn, co-creator and photographer of this book project.
I am an editorial and fine art photographer specializing in all things local.
I contribute to 10 local publications, am the business owner of
Shane Wynn Studio and pursue art whenever possible.
I am a 2016 Akron Art Prize winner and am currently completing a
photography series for the 2015 Knight Arts Challenge entitled #overlooked.
I'm Anita Marron, graphic designer of this book project.
I get to take all these gorgeous images and text and tranform them into something
beautiful and interesting. I am a visual artist working to make my hometown an
exciting and vibrant place to live. As an owner of Vive Productions, I help businesses
and organizations to visually tell their stories through web and print media.
I lend my talents to causes and organizations close to my heart.
Highland Square Neighborhood Association, PorchRokr Music and Art Festival,
Highland Square Film Festival, and Cascade Locks Park Association are just the latest.
I'm Sharon Best, editor of this book project.
As an Editorial Associate at AkronLife Magazine, I get to write about
fun new people, places, and events in The 330. As a Faculty Tutor at
The University of Akron, I get to help emerging writers hone the craft
of rhetoric and storytelling. As a long-time friend of Karen Starr,
I occasionally get to be a part of creative Akron-centric projects, like
A is for Akron and If This Wallpaper Could Talk.
Now, if only I could resurrect the Oxford comma.