OrigamiUSA (sometimes abbreviated as "OUSA") is the largest origami organization in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with offices located at the

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. It was founded in 1980 by

Michael Shall Michael Shall (November 15, 1949 – February 9, 1995) was a teacher, practitioner, and promoter of origami (paper folding). He helped launch one of the largest American origami organizations, OrigamiUSA, in 1980. Life Shall was born in 1949 and gr ...

Alice Gray Alice E. Gray (June 7, 1914 – April 27, 1994) was an American entomologist and origamist. She worked as an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York for 43 years, writing, illustrating, and creating large model ...

Lillian Oppenheimer Lillian Rose Vorhaus Kruskal Oppenheimer (October 24, 1898 in New York City – July 24, 1992) was an American origami pioneer. She popularized origami in the West starting in the 1950s, and is credited with popularizing the Japanese term ''origami ...

, Robert E. Neale, and others as the Friends of the Origami Center of America and was renamed OrigamiUSA on July 1, 1994. Since its founding, OrigamiUSA has been fully non-profit and volunteer-based and is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

corporation. OrigamiUSA organizes the largest origami convention in the world each June in New York City, and in addition publishes a magazine, ''The Paper,'' an annual collection of origami diagrams, and a website, and also provides educational materials and supports numerous other activities that spread the art of origami.

Mission

The mission statement is the following: "OrigamiUSA's mission is to share the joy and appreciation of paperfolding, preserve its history, nurture its growth, bring people together, and encourage community among paperfolders."

Services and activities

OrigamiUSA provides a variety of services to its members and to the world origami community: *Annual Convention: typically held on the last full weekend of June at

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in Queens, New York since 2016, Annual Convention is the largest origami convention in the world. Prior venues were

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and

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in New York City. It is attended by some 800 people each year and provides typically 30 parallel sessions of origami instructional classes for an entire weekend, as well as special seminars on design and folding techniques. Special guests attend every year from far off-places; previous guests include Kade Chan from Hong Kong,

Tomoko Fuse Tomoko Fuse (, ''Fuse Tomoko'', born in Niigata, 1951) is a Japanese origami artist and author of numerous books on the subject of modular origami, and is by many considered as a renowned master in such discipline. Fuse first learned origami whi ...

from Japan, Nick Robinson from the

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, and

Toshikazu Kawasaki is a Japanese paperfolder and origami theorist who is known for his geometrically innovative models. He is particularly famous for his series of fourfold symmetry "roses", all based on a twisting maneuver that allows the petals to seem to curl ou ...

from Japan. *''The Paper'': the print magazine of OrigamiUSA, ''The Paper'' is published roughly quarterly for all members, contains articles about origami activities and new, unpublished diagrams. Members receive ''The Paper'' by mail. *''The Fold'': the online magazine of OrigamiUSA, ''The Fold'' publishes continuously throughout the year, with new articles averaging once a week. OrigamiUSA publishes this magazine for members and visitors with a mix of members-only and open-access content consisting of articles, diagrams, videos, animations, and more. *The Origami Collection: a book of diagrams published annually for the latest creations by folders from around the world. *Special Folding Fun Sessions: six one-day special sessions of origami instruction, held at the

. Each session is one day, with both morning and afternoon sessions. *The Source: an online (or mail-in) origami one-stop shop, selling common and hard-to-find origami books, videos, CDs, paper and other supplies. *Reference Library: a visitation-only reference library, housed at the

, where rare and out-of-print materials may be examined. *Lending Library: A lending-by-mail library, whereby members can borrow origami books by mail for a nominal fee. *Origami by Children: an annual competition that allows children eighteen and under to submit their models for exhibition across the country. Children whose works are selected to be exhibited will win various prizes, including a free year's subscription to OrigamiUSA's print magazine, ''The Paper''. *Holiday Tree: a tree decorated with hundreds of origami figures sent in by OrigamiUSA members and origami aficionados from all over the world which is displayed in the rotunda of the

. which has become an annual tradition in

, each year decorated with hundreds of origami figures. *Website: OrigamiUSA's officia
website
containing information about the organization, diagrams, and registration information for the various conventions and folding sessions sponsored by the organization. *Pacific Coast Origami Convention (PCOC): held in odd-numbered years in various places along the West Coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in concert with a local organizing origami group in the host city; convention site changes. Past convention locations include Phoenix,

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, Bellevue,

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, and

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. *World Origami Days: a 2-1/2 week celebration of the international community of origami World Origami Days is held each year from October 24–November 11, with the goal of making origami as visible as possible by teaching a class, folding on the bus, giving origami to friends, exhibiting your models, etc. October 24 is the birthday of Lillian Oppenheimer (1898-1992), who founded the first origami group in America. She was also one of the founders of the British Origami Society and OrigamiUSA. A dynamic woman, she was delighted in the magic to be found in a piece of paper and wanted to share it with the world. November 11 is Origami Day in Japan, where the origami crane has become a symbol of peace. Special Conventions OrigamiUSA has sponsored several conventions in the past on an irregular basis: *The 2nd Conference on Copyright in Origami in 2009 in

*The 4th International Conference on Origami in Science, Mathematics, and Education in 2006 in

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, CA *The 3rd International Conference on Origami in Science, Mathematics, and Education in 2001 in Monterey, CA *The Conference on Origami in Education and Teaching (COET) in 1991 and 1995

Board of directors

The OrigamiUSA Board of Directors is elected annually, with members serving staggered two-year terms. Elections occur in the weeks leading up to Annual Convention, with results announced during the Annual Meeting, which occurs during Annual Convention. Current board officers (2016) are: *Chair: Marcio Noguchi *Vice Chair: Patty Grodner *Treasurer: Jason Ku *Secretary: Char Morrow *President/CEO: Wendy Zeichner Current board members (2017) are: * Patty Grodner (2016–2018) * David Kandel (2016–2018) * Marc Kirschenbaum (2016–2018) * Char Morrow (2016–2018) * Marcio Noguchi (2016–2018) * Michael Montebello (2016–2018) * Jason Ku (2017–2019) * Kathleen Sheridan (2015–2017) * Sunil Dhavalikar (2017-2019) * Wendy Zeichner (''ex officio'')

Notes and references

External links

OrigamiUSA's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Origamiusa Origami American artist groups and collectives