Legion Paper and Stonehenge - updated

Further to yesterday's post about the closure of the paper mill on the Housatonic River which makes Rising Fine Art Papers I've been given some more information about future supplies of Stonehenge fine art papers (and Rising Museum Board and other Rising products) which seem to be under threat.

[Plus see the latest update below regarding an e-mail from Legion Paper received since inital publication of this post]

The manager of the mill - which has closed - advised a member of Wet Canvas that Stonehenge would continue to be 'made' by Legion Paper. I've done a bit more digging as a result and found out the following:

Legion Paper sources fine art papers. It is a wholesale distributor rather than a manufacturer. Legion is the largest supplier of Fine Art, Museum Board, Decorative and Digital Art Papers in North America, stocking over 3500 papers from over 50 mills worldwide. It deals with the manufacturers and mills which produce paper and then sells the paper on to retail distributors who can fulfil its minimum value requirement for all orders.

• Legion Paper are identified as the exclusive distributor of Stonehenge in the USA
  
• To date, Legion Paper has not made any news announcement about future supplies of Rising Art Papers.
  

I believe Stonehenge is probably a trademarked brand name and its production process may well be patented - presumably owned by Rising Fine Art papers Now owned by Neenah Inc). I've certainly always heard Stonehenge referred to as Rising Stonehenge paper - meaning it is branded as a Rising Fine Art paper. If I'm correct, then this would mean that anybody wanting to produce it would need to have a licence and access to the specification for how it is produced.

What's less clear is whether any mills (and if so, which) besides the Rising Paper Mill on the Housatonic River actually produce Stonehenge paper. It's entirely possible that other mills produce it - or may be able to do so in future. Do please comment if you have any useful information to add.

I'm not familiar with Legion Paper. However I'm sure some of my USA readers will have heard of this company. This is a link to the Stonehenge page on the Legion Paper website which provides more information. I certainly found the Legion Paper website very interesting in relation to the range of fine art papers they supply - and I'm sure most readers interested in sources of fine art papers will find brands which interest them here.

A Legion Fine Art Papers press release in July last year about Rising Museum Boards identified Marc Schotland as being the primary contact (with e-mail address) for further information about this Rising product. Maybe a man who can throw some light on what is going on?

Update from Legion Paper (midday 23.4.07.)

I've received a very helpful reply to my e-mail enquiring what was happening from a very nice man called Joshua Levine at Legion Paper. This clarifies the situation nicely - and anybody who's been thinking about having a small anxiety attack can now rest easy!

Thank you for your e-mail. There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there and I appreciate your bringing it to our attention. We will send a more "formal" response shortly, but for now you can rest assured that Stonehenge, as well as Rising Museum Board, will continue to be available in the future (with no disruption in supply). Michael Ginsburg, the President of Legion Paper, created this paper with the Rising mill in 1975. As such, we own the Stonehenge brand name as well as the "formula" for making the paper. It is very much a part of our family and isn't going away!

In your blog, you noted correctly that we are not a manufacturer. We do, however, work with the most of the world's top paper mills to create papers to our specifications (Stonehenge, Lenox, Somerset and Coventry are just a few). (Joshua at Legion Paper)

I'll publish the formal response when I get it. Thanks Joshua!

Links to on-line suppliers of Stonehenge paper

In the meantime, and for future reference for my imminent order of some more black stonehenge - here are some links to the page devoted to Stonehenge paper on various on-line art supplies sites. These may be sites which can advise as to what's happening as to future supplies.

• Dick Blick (stocks sheets of white in all sizes, plus black, cream, fawn, grey, natural and warm white plus drawing pads)
• Jerry's Artarama (stocks sheets in all colours - as above - plus 20 sheet packs, 100 sheet packs, drawing pads and a 50" x 10 yard roll in white only)
• Art Supply Warehouse (stocks all colours in 20 sheet or 100 sheet packs)
  

Those indicating they stock Rising Stonehenge (ie made by Fox river Papers) include:

• MisterArt (stocks supplies in all colours except black plus roll of white - as above)
• Daniel Smith (stocks white, natural, warm white and cream - minimum order of 10 sheets)
  

Links:

• Legion Paper
• Legion Paper - Stonehenge paper

Technorati tags: art paper, art supplies, coloured pencils, colored pencils, paper