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Sculptural paper artist Dawn Wohlford discovered handmade paper during a National Art Educators conference in 1983, while attending Truman State University. She returned to college to read everything she could find about the medium and began experimenting with makeshift equipment. After earning a BA, she attended Arizona State University to learn the finer points of the craft. Then she moved to Colorado where she became an apprentice to Raymond Tomasso. She gave workshops in Vail and Leadville and produced 150 sheets of nearly identical denim papers for a limited edition book, Strange Papers, assembled and bound in Germany. She earned an MFA in sculpture from the University of Colorado in 1988. She moved back to her hometown in Iowa in 1998 where she became the Visual Arts Director for Quad City Arts, where she oversees two galleries and a public sculpture program. Additionally, she serves on the Acquisitions Committee for the Figge Art Museum and occasionally teaches classes. After caring for her home and family, she creates art in the late hours of the night. She consistently exhibits her work in regional exhibitions.