FINDLAY — Books that pop up, spin, and fold will also wow at a new Mazza Museum gallery to be dedicated to the clever, fanciful art of paper engineering.

Located at the University of Findlay and billing itself as the largest museum of original artwork by children’s book illustrators, the Mazza is converting 325 square feet of storage and work space into a room that will display pop-up art and other examples of books with paper art.

The Laiho Gallery, named after docent Ginny Laiho and her husband, Rikhard, who funded the expansion, will open this fall.

Construction work began in January to prepare the area. In February, a museum contingent traveled to New York City to pick up a collection from Matthew Reinhart, children’s book author, illustrator, and paper engineer.

He has indefinitely loaned to the museum his own original art and page prototypes as well as more than 200 books from other artists.

Museum Director Ben Sapp approached him last summer when the artist came to Toledo’s Main Library, which exhibited his work. Mr. Sapp asked if the museum could showcase one his pop-up works. Mr. Reinhart offered his collection.

“Space is a premium in New York, and I’ve known everyone at the Mazza in Findlay for quite a long time. They’ve always been big supporters of me,” he said, in a telephone interview with The Blade.

He likes that the new gallery will allow others to enjoy the works, noting that art education is important.

“Children need to understand what goes into making books in general,” Mr. Reinhart said.

Museum officials, who declined to specify the expansion project’s cost, have begun to hang works from the collection, and the walls are filling up with three-dimensional displays of paper cutting and folding ingenuity.

A paper-made stagecoach from Mr. Reinhart’s book Cinderella: A Pop-Up Fairy Tale gallops across one wall. Pop-up creations from a Star Wars-themed book will cavort with characters from his other books inspired by fairies and dragons.

A challenge for Mr. Sapp has been to figure out how best to show off the intricate engineering feats that spring from the page.

Most of the museum’s more than 9,000 works are two-dimensional illustrations that hang easily from walls. The museum displays about 350 works at any one time, and most of the pieces are switched out every June.

When the new gallery opens, visitors with iPads will be able to watch a video that shows how books with paper-engineering techniques are made.

Beyond pop-ups, paper-engineered books include pages with flaps, die-cuts, movable pieces, and fold-outs, as well as volumes with volvelles, or rotating paper wheels.

Mrs. Laiho said her appreciation for paper-engineering grew when she began training as a docent. A museum volunteer for about 15 years, Mrs. Laiho has spent time learning about the art’s history and is pleased that the museum will soon be able to share more of the marvels.

“There are very few places in the word that have a gallery dedicated to total paper engineering, and we’re very excited,” she said.

The museum plans to open the gallery Nov. 12, and Mr. Reinhart is expected to attend. Additional details have yet to be announced.

General admission to the museum is free.

Contact Vanessa McCray at: vmccray@theblade.com or 419-724-6065, or on Twitter @vanmccray.

First Published May 26, 2015, 4:00 a.m.