Pop-up book creator elicits laughs at Mazza Museum conference

FINDLAY — How does one make a pop-up book? They throw a bunch of paper into a machine, and voila, Matthew Reinhart joked.

“Done! Easy! Give me money,” Mr. Reinhart shouted as the audience broke into fits of laughter.

Mr. Reinhart — a paper engineer and the creator of best-selling blockbuster pop-up guides for Star Wars , Game of Thrones , Transformers , Frozen , and more — presented at the Mazza Museum’s 30th annual Summer Conference on Tuesday. His presentation was a fascinating trapeze act that swung between humor and earnest passion as he walked the audience through how he produces pop-up books.

The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum, which holds the world’s largest collection of original picture book art, uses its annual summer conference as a means to unite educators and book lovers to learn the behind-the-scenes of authors and illustrators.

“It’s truly been a place where teachers and librarians come together to share insights on what they are doing in the classrooms,” said Ben Sapp, the director of the Mazza Museum. “What sparks those conversations and those ideas are the talks given by the authors and the illustrators, and them sharing their works and the inspiration behind it.”

In a dynamic presentation, featuring a large-scale projector with videos of various pop-up books, Mr. Reinhart described his creative process. First, he comes up with a concept design and a manuscript. Next, he sketches a prototype, perfects the die lines, and crafts a template. Finally, it is time for final color and artwork.

“Making a pop-up book is a team effort,” explained Mr. Reinhart. Editors, marketing staff, graphic designers, and the manufacturing team must all collaborate to produce a final product.

Mr. Reinhart recalled the simultaneous joy and agony of creating Star Wars pop-ups. He is such a huge fan, he wanted to get them just right, he said. He recalled the way he listened to Disney princess music for six months straight as he crafted a Disney princess and Frozen pop-up, much to his husband’s chagrin. He even revealed that he is currently working on a Godzilla pop-up.

For Edie Wannemacher, a Mazza Museum volunteer and conference attendee, Mr. Reinhart’s talk was a highlight. She loved the way he walked the audience through each step of production.

“He’s very animated. I just love the way he went from one thing to the next to the next,” said Ms. Wannemacher. “I think everybody loved his presentation.”

Ms. Wannemacher is one of more than 8,000 individuals from 40 states and five countries that has participated in the Mazza conference over the past three decades.

“This place truly has become almost like a reunion or a family gathering where people continue to come back,” Mr. Sapp said.

Dan Chudzinski, the curator at the Mazza Museum, believes the conference is a powerful opportunity to cultivate “care” in the public.

The word curator means “to care for” in Latin, Mr. Chudzinski said. He believes part of his job is to give the public a reason to be interested in the nearly 20,000 pieces of art the museum has to offer.

“One of our jobs at the Mazza Museum — and it’s a wonderful responsibility — is to share the story behind the storytellers,” Mr. Chudzinski said. “I can think of no better way to do that than to bring the creators of these stories — whether they are illustrators or authors or both — here, so that you can see the very human side of what goes into creation.”

Mr. Reinhart did not shy away from showing the scope of error and humanity that goes into his work. He recalled multiple times where he built a pop-up over 20 times to ensure it was just right.

“I am so thankful to get to continue making messes for my career,” Mr. Reinhart said.