How Rare Books and Museum Objects Are Inspiring Contemporary Craft
The latest exhibit at the Penn Museum Library asks Penn students, faculty, and staff to think about archeological artifacts and rare books in an entirely new way.
On January 16, faculty, students, and staff from across the University of Pennsylvania gathered in the Penn Museum Library to celebrate the opening of a new exhibition. Objects on display included a stuffed animal Chnoubis, earrings inspired by Egyptian columns, and a plastic figurine of a mythic monster. Visitors could even take chocolates in the shape of tiny replicas of the Penn Museum's beloved Sphinx of Ramses II. All these items have one thing in common: they were inspired by the library's rare books and objects in the Penn Museum's collections, and crafted by Penn students, faculty, and staff in makerspaces across campus.
Re/Make History: Crafting the Past with 21st-Century Technologies asks contributors and viewers to think about archeological artifacts and rare books in an entirely new way—not just as remnants of another era, but sources of contemporary inspiration. "Library books, museum objects, and existing arts can serve as starting points for learning and creativity," said Deb Brown Stewart, head of the Penn Museum Library and one of the exhibit curators, in her remarks at the opening. "We encourage Penn students to pause long enough to reflect on art, to marvel at how it engages our senses through colors, textures, and materials, and to imagine the people for whom it once held meaning."
Bringing this vision to life took years and required the collaboration of departments across the University of Pennsylvania. Its success demonstrates the way that the Penn Libraries facilitates interdisciplinary connections, fosters resiliency and creativity among its students, and extends the reach of Penn's intellectual heritage to new audiences. Here's a look at how it came to be.
A collaboration is born
Re/Make History is the culmination of a four-year collaboration between the Penn Museum Library and the Education Commons.
"Deb was one of the first people I met when I started working at the Penn Libraries in 2022," said Christine Kemp, Program Coordinator for Technology and Play at the Education Commons. "We took a walk through the museum and just started talking about ways we could collaborate." Kemp and her Education Commons colleague Tex Kang had been tasked with the goal of creating new programming for the Libraries' makerspace that would introduce Penn students to fabrication technologies while inspiring creative, innovative thinking. It only made sense that those programs should also be inspired by the books and other items in Penn's collections.
One of the earliest sources of inspiration was a chain necklace she saw on display in the Penn Museum's Eastern Mediterranean gallery. Kemp had a growing interest in jewelry-making herself, and the necklace made her wonder what would happen if students were given the tools to create their own version. With that goal in mind, she launched her first Intro to Metals course in the fall of 2023. To craft that workshop, as well as subsequent ones that followed, she turned to Lexi Voss, then the Visualizationist at the Holman Biotech Commons, who has a background in metalworking.
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As the collaboration grew and deepened, the idea for the exhibit began to take shape. The curatorial team, which came to include Stewart, Kemp, Kang, Voss, and Taylor Caputo (Director of the Engineering Studios @ Venture Lab, School of Engineering & Applied Science), turned to The Grammar of Ornament to guide their thinking. This 19th century book, written by architect and art historian Owen Jones, explores art and design from across the world. "He was deeply concerned that the rise of mass manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution was a threat to artistic skill, craftsmanship, and creative expression," noted Stewart, adding that it felt appropriate to revisit this landmark text at another moment of sudden technological change. "He hoped his book would inspire students and artists, and it did. It even inspired us!"
Crafting with the Penn community
Most of the creative works on display in Re/Make History were crafted by students who attended workshops at the Education Commons. In each workshop, participants were shown an artifact from the Penn Museum or an illustration from a book in the Penn Museum Library and asked to create something inspired by it—a pair of earrings, a metal charm, even a plastic toy. "It was an opportunity to have the students not just look at museum objects and rare books as historical artifacts, but also use them as sources of inspiration," Stewart reflected.
Students who attended the workshops weren't just studying anthropology or art—they came from fields like data science, cultural resource management, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and more, most with no experience using the sort of tools available in the Education Commons. "It was especially rewarding to be able to see a flat sheet of copper or silver be turned into a finished piece of art," said Rachel Kim (C'28), who attended one of the workshops. "Although it may seem daunting to use a jeweler’s saw or a hydraulic press at first, I believe that with the proper guidance anybody can gain proficiency in these tools."
At least one object on display in the exhibit was a project of the entire Penn community. Over nearly a dozen workshops, students, faculty, and staff replicated the gold chain that had first inspired Kemp, link by link. "It was amazing to see how different people from different backgrounds came together to learn and make art pieces," says Anant Aggarwal (SEAS, '26), who attended multiple workshops of jewelry-making.
"Students have been looking forward to [seeing the belt] and will be happy to visit the Museum Library to see their work on display," added Kang.
GenAI, creativity, and the power of human artistry
When Stewart and Kemp began their collaboration in 2023, they had no idea that their project would come to fruition in the age of Artificial Intelligence. "This exhibit turned out to be just so well-timed, given the rise of generative AI and the questions students are asking about image and text generation," said Stewart. As they developed the list of objects they planned to display, they discovered the ways that AI tools could help them create works of art—and came to understand the limits of this new technology.
In particular, AI tools became helpful as Kemp started to create 3D art objects based on 2D photographs and illustrations from rare books in the Penn Museum Library's collection. One of the most complicated projects involved creating a 3D printed figurine of Anzu—a creature from ancient Mesopotamian myth that almost exclusively appears in two-dimensional illustrations and reliefs.
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In order to translate a 2D relief carving into a fully realized three-dimensional figure, Kemp found herself required to answer questions that ancient artists may have never considered: how many limbs does Anzu have? Are its wings meant to be more like butterfly wings, with two distinct, differently sized, components, or are they more like symmetrical bird wings? Could a three-dimensional model be made to stand upright without rendering the figure unrecognizable?
After consulting with Penn Museum keepers to answer her initial questions, Kemp used Chat GPT to create a rough model, but that was only the beginning of her work. Before she could 3D-print her creation, she had to refine the model by hand using two different CAD programs, all the while checking with experts each time she iterated. "[Anzu] has a lot of detail, and I wanted to make sure we were representing him as accurately as we could." It was this careful interplay between technology, craft, artistry, and scholarship that led to her finished product.
According to Stewart, herein lies the importance of Re/Make History. "Instead of abandoning creative processes to technology, let’s look at technology’s strengths and limitations. Let’s talk about the ethics of its use. We hope to set our students up to use technology and modern fabrication methods confidently as tools in service of our uniquely human, creative visions. These are ways we can prepare students for tomorrow."
Cultivating an artistic community
Re/Make History will continue to shape curators, participants, and the entire Penn community for years to come. The collaboration that began between Stewart and Kemp grew to involve staff from the Penn Museum, the Holman Biotech Commons, and Venture Lab, along with businesses like Potter USA, which supplied jewelry dies and impressions. "This is a great example of a project that needed a 'big village,'" said Kemp.
"We created this cool little artist community," added Voss. "People would experience one workshop and say, 'oh, this is so cool, I want to do more of these.' Or they would say, 'wow, this space is awesome' or 'this tool is awesome.' From taking a single workshop, they wanted to join our community. We're bringing the crafts back to Penn."
Re/Make History: Crafting the Past with 21st Century Technology is on view through June 30, 2026 in the Penn Museum Library, located on the third level of the Academic Wing of the Penn Museum. Penn students, faculty, and staff may enter the Penn Museum and its library for free with Penn ID. Find information to plan your visit.
Date
April 8, 2026