Stephanie Alaniz was born and raised in South Texas. Stephanie has been addicted to creating since she was able to hold a pencil in her small baby hand. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2016 from Texas A&M Corpus Christi with an emphasis in Printmaking. Stephanie is currently attending West Virginia University in pursuit of her Master of Fine Arts.  She has exhibited in numerous national and international exhibitions. She has attended Frogman's Printmaking Workshop for the last four years, of which three years she assisted faculty.

Most people do not recall any moment in their lives before three years of age, and at age seven memories begin to fade, known as “childhood amnesia.” Everything is a breath of fresh air to a child, as almost every experience can be new, exciting and mesmerizing.  Preservation of memory is an important part of the human experience because it helps us recognize instances that define us.

The fear of losing memories is often met with melancholy because they allow us to keep the past alive. In response, we succumb to the influences of time and gradually create artificial moments to
replace them. 

My work explores the pliability of the human mind between imagination and memory recollection. Children and childhood relics reflect innocence and discovery in order to preserve its importance, but also mirror the space between the perpetual and the ephemeral.

Crystala Armagost was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania and attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where she completed a BFA in 2003 with duel training in 2D (Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking) and 3D (Sculpture, Installation, and Site-Based) work. 

She challenges the boundaries of traditional print media through exploration with wax, iron-based inks, patinas, and debris and photographs collected from nature and urban spelunking.  The works that evolve from Armagost’s process range from limited edition screen prints, complex variable editions, and one-of-kind layered pieces. Her mixed media work uses a variety of print techniques and found object to merge 2D and 3D materials.

Armagost’s work has been shown in the Pittsburgh area for over 15 years.  Her work has also been exhibited throughout North America including Wilmington, New York, and Toronto.  She has worked at many positions within the Pittsburgh arts community including as an instructor at the Carnegie Museum of Art, and as an artist collaborator for exhibits at the Andy Warhol Museum.  She has been a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh since 2006.   

See more of Crystala's work here. 

Jo-Anne Bates has transformed the process by which she produces monotypes: incorporating shredded junk mail for texture; tearing and folding the print before running it through the press multiple times; introducing text –words, sayings and statements used by and about black people; and adding lines of colored ink to her two dimensional sculptural type prints. “Exploring methods of creating philosophical road maps by making connections with color, shape, text, and more recently, texture, continues to be an ongoing and necessary challenge for me in creating these new monotypes.”

MICHELLE L. BROWNE obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking and Painting from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Making large paintings with dyes on silk for many years, Michelle returned to printmaking, studying alternative methods of lithography in Villa Pignano, Tuscany Italy in 2005 with Master Printer Lisa Mackie under the auspices of Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, New York. Browne studied carborundum printing with master printer Susan Hover Oehme summer of 2008 at Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, New York. And she studied screen-printing on glass with Master Printer, Susan Taylor Glasgow at the Pittsburgh Glass Center summer of 2009.

In 2011 Michelle was a resident artist at the Guanlan Original Printmaking Base in Guanlan, China and has been a resident printmaker at Artists Image Resource located in Pittsburgh, and in December 2015 worked with master printer Javier Cabrera in Mexico City.  As a long time member of the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, Michelle’s exposure to triennial Fiberart Internationals and to visiting fiber artists has inspired her to combine printmaking and fiber techniques. An ongoing collaboration with Leslie Golomb resulted in a series of silkscreened and pieced quilts that began life as block printed images of anonymous girls. From that series, Betsy in the Forest won second prize at Fiberart International 2010, and recently two quilts were exhibited in The Faces of Politics:In/Tolerance at the Fuller Craft Museum in Massachusetts. Michelle exhibits regularly in Pittsburgh galleries, and is preparing for a one-person show of her prints on fiber in the near future.

See more of Michelle's work here. 

Nancy Flury Carlson has a BA in Art from Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. She has been a member of the Pittsburgh Print Group since 1997.  Exhibits include The New Collective (2016-2017) at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Black (2013) at the Martha Gault Gallery of Slippery Rock University, and the Pittsburgh Print Group group show (2009) at the Merrick Art Gallery in New Brighton, Pennsylvania.

Like many people, I first made a linoleum block print in the seventh grade. For most people that’s a one-time experience, but I always came back to it. While linocuts are predominant in my work, I sometimes use other relief media as well as monotype approaches. I love color but also love the starkness of black and white. Working in black and white is a way of making order out of chaos, answering for each part of an image: Is it there or isn’t it? Is it on or is it off? What arrangement of black and white will represent the texture, the gray, the shadow? The best part is the surprise, the moment the paper is pulled from the block, and the work is seen for the first time after all that time spent drawing, carving, and inking. And don’t forget the smell of the ink.

More recently I’ve been using LEGO™ plates as a relief medium for printmaking. Using a large rectangular plate as the base, I place smaller round, square, and rectangular plates on top, inking them in stages to make multi-layer multi-color prints. This is a highly structured medium, a departure from my usual free-form approach to printmaking, yet the results can be unexpectedly lively.

Casey Connelly's evolving print series “Paris, Appalachia!” examines the farcically provincial conception of his community that he has constructed in his mind. It inhabits the space between embarrassment and pride, past and future. Using memories, overheard and de-contextualized snippets of conversation, family histories, found photographs, and other ephemera as source material, Casey presents highly-illustrated tableaux which, cumulatively, reconstruct the community of his past on the basis of his present understanding. These micro-narratives strike a balance between The Bizarre and The Familiar to present a recognizable portrait of a vestigial culture undergoing a prolonged period of stasis.  

See more of Casey’s work here

My prints are hand pressed from a variety of surface textures. This allows me to preserve the unique visual rhythms and “inner space" of each object on paper. The works on this site incorporate textures from scratched wood, exposed wood grains, cracked glass, Romex wire insulation, duct tape and slate tiles. An example of this process can be seen in the print “Interface”. The inspiration came from a broken window pane. I carefully removed it from the frame in order to preserve the “smash” that issued from the point of impact. Through hand printing, I captured each facet in its intricate web of fractured glass.

See more of Haylee’s work here.

Biography:

Doug Eberhardt is a printmaker, illustrator, and educator living in western Pennsylvania. Doug received his BFA in Printmaking from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and his MFA from SUNY New Paltz in 2012. In 2013 Doug received a residency and printmaking fellowship from the Wassaic Project in Hudson Valley New York. The Wassaic Project features Doug's artwork in their annual summer exhibition. He has worked as an independent illustrator for organizations such as NPR and the Storm King Art Center. He teaches introduction to printmaking and screenprinting at his alma mater Edinboro University.

Artist Statement:

Doug's prints combine brutalist structures and fantastical animals with traditional landscapes and naturalistic illustrations. His landscape prints mimic paintings of the Hudson River School of the early 19th century. Screen-printed layers of monochromatic colors build believable atmospheric perspective. Warm and cool gradients create luminous space and depth. Monolithic geometric shapes invade these landscapes. The landscapes combine picturesque elements of romanticism with absurd science fiction. The cold man-made perfection of the structures creates a dichotomy against organic perfect of nature. Landscapes offer a place for thoughtful contemplation. These alien shapes further deepen the viewer's introspection. 

 Doug’s neon prints are a fictional exploration of the unknown possibilities of an afterlife. They portray an unfamiliar world filled with foreign animalia. Neon inks create an alien world where light and color disassociate with our reality. These biological studies mimic those of 19th-century naturalist illustrations, specifically those of John James Audubon. The narrative of this body of work asks if there are rules and hierarchies after death. 

See more of Doug’s work here

Zach Fitchner is an artist and educator living and working in Charleston, West Virginia where he is currently Assistant Professor of Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking at West Virginia State University. His creative research involves prints, drawings, photography and installations and explores themes relating to personal and public identity. 

Born in Atlanta, Zach split his growing up between Sugar Hill, Georgia and Lakeland, Florida where he spent his time in airports and on planes, playing in creeks, and building forts in wooded areas surrounding the local housing developments. Zach’s work has been exhibited in over seventeen states and six countries, and his prints are included in various public and private collections in the United States, Egypt, Slovakia, and Australia.

M.F.A., University of Arizona (Studio Art, Printmaking)
B.F.A., University of North Florida (Printmaking, Drawing, Painting)

See more of Zach’s work here

Abigail is a painter, designer, and publications director, lover of poetry, aesthetics, and religion—forests, libraries, and dogs.

See more of Abigail’s work here

Bio:
Arron Foster received his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking and Art Education from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and his Masters of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking and Book Arts from the University of Georgia, Athens Georgia. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Arron currently resides in Kent, Ohio where he is an Assistant Professor, (NTT) In Print Media at Kent State University.

Statement:
As an artist, I am intrigued by the idea that the land is something that we can use to mark time against, and that through an intuitive approach to observing, studying and documenting specific locations we can be witness to change. Through my studio practice, I ask how our perception and experience of place is mediated by time, change and memory and how these elements play out and unfold across different scales as we attempt to make sense of change. By subsuming emergent trends and placing them alongside traditional tools and techniques, I provide myself the space to cross traditional boundaries and utilize new and different effects in my work. The multiple, in its many forms, echos our varying perception and memories of time and space while congruently creating new experiences and again transforming our memories across time.

See more of Arron’s work here.

Keith Garubba is an artist and educator living and working in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Creating in print media, multimedia installations, and interactive artworks, Garubba takes a multi-faceted approach to investigating questions regarding beliefs and myths in science and art. He is currently a member of the faculty at the Baum School of Art where he teaches a variety of classes to a full range of ages, including comic art to high school students, outreach programming in Allentown School District, and college-level courses for Lehigh Carbon Community College.

Garubba graduated from Keystone College in LaPlume, Pennsylvania as the Outstanding Graduate in 2010.  In 2014, he earned his Masters in Fine Arts from The Ohio State University. In 2016, Keith was awarded the Arts Ovation Award as Emerging Artist of the Year by the Allentown Arts Commission.  Garubba exhibits his work regularly throughout Pennsylvania and the US, holds leadership roles in regional arts organizations, and visits higher education institutions across the country as a visiting artist offering talks and workshops.

See  more of Keith's work here

Barbara Broff Goldman is a printmaker, bookbinder/book artist and fiber artist.

She is a founding member of the Pittsburgh Book Arts Collective. She studied graphic arts at Allegheny Community College, and then continued her search for the right medium at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, where she discovered her fascination with intertwining three different mediums. Printmaking became her main medium as it enhanced her books and fiber art.

Recent Exhibitions include Biennial International Print Exhibition, Vancouver, British Columbia, Dundarave Print Workshop, Society of Northern Alberta Print Artists, University of British Columbia, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, 46th Annual Art of the State Exhibition, Second Place Award, To Speak Her Heart, Two Person Exhibition, American Jewish Museum/JCC Pittsburgh, Hebrew Union College Museum, New York City, Industrial Past, Merrick Art Gallery, Group Exhibition, New Brighton, PA Haiti, Photopolymer Gravures by Barbara Broff Goldman, Christine Frechard Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, Impressions, Pittsburgh Print Group, Framehouse & Jask Galleries, Pittsburgh, To Speak Her Heart, Two Person Exhibition, Cleveland State UniversityGalleries.

Leslie A. Golomb obtained a B.F.A. with University Honors in printmaking from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1975 and a M.F.A. in printmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1978. As a student in 1972, she accepted an invitation to study at the renowned Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Faculty at the summer residency included Jacob Lawrence, Louise Nevelson, and Philip Pearlstein among others.

She served as founder and director of the American Jewish Museum/JCC Pittsburgh from 1996 – 2006. The museum was accepted as a member of the Council of the American Jewish Museums and received guidance from the National Foundation of Jewish Culture.

Prominent awards include recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts, PA Council on the Arts, and PA Humanities Council. In 2011, Leslie was a prize -winner of the China Guanlan International Print Biennial where she successfully completed a six - week artist in residency.

Noted recent exhibitions include Prints Tokyo 2012, Invitation to Celebrate 80th Anniversary of Japan Association, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, New Prints/New Narratives: Summer 2013, International Print Center of New York, Honors 2014, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China, International Print Triennial Krakow, Poland 2015, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art, Impact 9, International Print Conference, Contemporary Copperplate Photogravure, Akira Baba, Leslie Golomb, Taida Jasarevic, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China, 2015 Guanlan International Print Biennial, China Printmaking Museum, 2015 International Print Conference, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, The Faces of Politics: Intolerance, Fuller Craft Museum, 2016 Brockton, MA, LIGHT MATTER: Art at the Intersection of Photography and Printmaking, 1954-2017, Grunwald Gallery, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 2017 and 6th Guanlan International Print Biennial, China Printmaking Museum, Shenzhen, China, 2017.

See more of Leslie's work here. 

Max Emiliano Gonzales, also known by his artist name GEMS, can be classified as an activist, art educator, muralist, graffiti writer, printmaker, curator and much more. Originally from the Southwest side of Chicago and raised in latino communities, Max brings a unique perspective to Pittsburgh as a queer identifying, Chicano artist. 

Max was brought to Pittsburgh in 2012 to attend Carnegie Mellon University's Fine Art program on a full ride scholarship. Max went on to graduate in 2016 with honors while primarily focusing in printmaking and interventionist activism. After graduating, Max began working for the University as the Assistant Technician in Printmaking, as an Undergrad Printmaking TA, and as a Precollege Printmaking Instructor.

Max has since gone on to work at a local printshop, Clockwise Tees while regularly guest lecturing on printmaking and urban/graffiti/street art. Max has lectured, taught and run workshops at many locations including The University of Pittsburgh, Winchester Thurston High School, Youth Places North Side, McKeesport, and Homewood, Assemble Pgh, and The Environmental Charter School.

Max is also a member of Boom Concepts, Flower House Gallery, Wicked Pittsburgh, Hemispheric Conversations: Urban Art Program,  and Pullproof Studio.

See more of Max’s work here

BIO

Richard Hricko’s work presents composite views that honor nature, industry and the course of growth and decay. He has exhibited work nationally and internationally in museums and galleries including, the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in New York, Tanks Art Centre in Australia, PH21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary, and the National Academy Museum in New York. Over the past year he has had two solo shows, “Growth and Survival” at Art at Wharepuke Gallery in Kerikeri New Zealand, where he also completed a two week residency, and “Urban Growth” at C.R. Ettinger Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. Recently, he won the Juror’s Award from Judith Brodie, Curator and Head of American and Modern Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, for his woodcut “Root II” at The Boston Printmakers 70th Biennial Show. Richard holds a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology School of Art and Design and an MFA from Tyler School of Art. He lives and works in Philadelphia, PA where he is a Professor and the Program Head of Printmaking at Tyler School of Art of Temple University. In the mid 2000s he co-founded the Crane Arts Building, where he currently maintains his studio. He also co-founded and serves on the board of Second State Press, a community printmaking studio. Presently, he is creating a body of work applying his photogravure ideas and processes to largescale woodcuts. By utilizing the latest technologies with the hand working methods he has been mastering over the past 40 years, he is working towards a method of printing, which unconditionally honors nature and industry through it’s imagery and method of production.

See more of Richard’s work here

Tressa Jones is an artist and printmaker originally from Boston, MA, currently based in Pittsburgh, PA. She received her BS from the University of Massachusetts, completed Post- Baccalaureate studies in Printmaking at New Mexico Highlands University, and earned a MFA from the University of Montana. Her travels and creative research, which include residencies at Kunstnarhuset Messen in Ålvik, Norway, the Vermont Studio Center, and research on the landscape and Land Art of the American West, fuel her artistic investigations of time: and its manifestations in the body, landscape, and built environment.

See more of Tressa’s work here

Katie Kaplan is a visual artist born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, currently living and working in Philadelphia. In her current multi-disciplinary practice, she has a focus on exploring printmaking at the intersection of sculpture, installation, fiber arts, photography, and video. Her current focus in printmaking is creating a personal language of symbols that draw from mythology, art history, western esotericism, religious iconography, girl culture, herbalist and plant folklore, all reimagined through personal narrative and queer femme lens.

She has shown work in solo and group exhibitions at galleries, community spaces, and print shops across the United States. Recent accomplishments include completion of the Post-Graduate Apprentice Training Program at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, the Cindi Royce Ettinger Scholarship at Second State Press, a teaching artist grant from The Picasso Project, and The Denbo Fellowship at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center. Currently, she is an Artist in Residence at 40th Street AIRSPACE in West Philadelphia. For over six years, she has worked as a professional teaching artist and community artist, work that is critical and intrinsic to her art practice as a whole. Kaplan received a BFA with Honors and Outstanding Merit in Sculpture from Pratt Institute in 2011.

See more of Katie’s work here

As a storyteller, Patricia Kennedy-Zafred creates thought provoking narratives using fabric, dyes, silkscreens, and ink to develop a visual dialogue with the viewer.  The interpretation of each piece is conceived through the lens of individual experiences, memories, or perspectives.  Her quilts marry a lifelong fascination with photography, history, and stitch, often reflecting faces of pride and dignity, sometimes under challenging circumstances.  The intent is that the technical and physical demand creating them is lost on the audience, as they focus entirely on the nuance or intrigue of the story, transported to another time or place.  Educated in journalism and photography, the making of art has been a prolonged exercise in trial and error, self-teaching and study.  The stories expressed, whether historical or personal, reflect upon our diverse American fabric, possibly reminding the viewer of someone or something they may have forgotten, compelling them to linger, just a moment longer.

Patricia Kennedy-Zafred has been telling stories through the medium of textiles and art quilts for over twenty years.  Her prize winning work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and has been published in books and magazines throughout her career, most recently Artistry in Fiber (Schiffer Publishing, 2017).

Kennedy-Zafred’s work has been accepted into such major juried exhibitions, as Quilt National, Visions, Fiberart International, Artist as Quiltmaker, Fantastic Fibers, Quilts=Art=Quilts, CraftForms, The New Collective, Fiber Options, New Legacies, National Fiber Directions, and SAQA juried exhibitions.  Her work has won top prizes at both International Quilt Festival and American Quilt Society competitions, and most recently received the Purchase Award from the State Museum of Pennsylvania for Art of the State 2016.

See more of Patty's work here. 

The printmaking processes of monotype and intaglio have allowed me to represent a variety of themes and subjects that range from the personal and autobiographical to the symbolic and mythological. My prints echo my artistic process of drawing and painting.  I add layers of shape, color and pattern, and then manipulate, exaggerate, and animate marks. My prints are also about my personal process of remembrance: stepping back, taking stock, reminiscing, moving forward.

I have exhibited paintings in oil, acrylic and pastel and intaglio and monotype prints in numerous galleries in the Pittsburgh region as well as in statewide and national juried exhibitions.  Most recently my paintings were included in the 2014 Pittsburgh Biennial at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.  I am a member of and have exhibited with Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Print Group, Group A and Pittsburgh Society of Artists. I have also taught a variety of painting and drawing classes to adults at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and through other educational and community venues. I received a Master in Arts in Teaching (1976) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1975), both from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. 
 

See more of Paula's work here. 

Laura Krasnow, born in New York City, has lived and traveled throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

In addition to being a freelance photographer, she has worked as an assistant editor in feature films, and been trained in film preservation and restoration. Her artwork has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe, and is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art, and The Brooklyn Museum.

Her passion is art, science and technology. After obtaining an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she returned to school to study math, physics and computer science. Laura has attended seminars at the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics, and the Centre for Brain and Mind, both in Canada.

I use photography, and the embedded marks and symbols, to reconstruct recollections of time and place. For me, defining a sense of place is the allure of the photographic image. The instant, when time and place seem to merge to catch a moment.  But it is the imperceptible connections I seek to define...when something catches your peripheral vision, but is gone when you turn for a longer glimpse. My photographs aim to force the viewer to look beyond the obvious.... to be present and aware of the physical and spiritual light within the subtleness...to reveal the essence beyond the normal visual spectrum.

See more of Laura's work here

Crystal Latimer is a multi-disciplinary artist primarily working in the two-dimensional mediums of painting, drawing, printmaking, and collage. Heavily influenced by her Latina heritage and a lifetime of travel to her mother’s native Costa Rica, her studio practice explores the hybridity and dilution of the Latin American culture.

Crystal’s academic studies have been based out of Western Pennsylvania, obtaining her BFA from Slippery Rock University in 2010, an MA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in 2013, and wrapping it up with her MFA from IUP in Spring 2016. Crystal’s recent publications include features in Art Maze Magazine, Ruminate Magazine, Fresh Paint Magazine, and a podcast interview through Dear Pittsburgh. Her work has been extensively exhibited in the regional area, including shows at the Pittsburgh International Airport, Mine House Factory, Gallery 4, and 937 Gallery, to name only a few. Her international experience includes a group show in Hong Kong, China, as well as an Artist Residency at the Joaquín Chaverri Fábrica de Carretas in Sarchí, Costa Rica, both in the year 2014. Crystal was selected for an Emerging Artist Award at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival in 2016, where she was also presented with a Juror’s Choice Award. Crystal’s work will be on display during Three Rivers Arts Festival 2017, both in the Artist Market and Juried Visual Arts Exhibition. Her work is included in several private collections in addition to the public collections of Indiana State University of Pennsylvania and PNC Bank. An upcoming, self-titled, exhibition at Penn State New Kensington is scheduled for October 2017.

See more of Crystal's work here. 

Christina Lee is an illustrator and designer who recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University. She has also studied Illustration at University of the Arts London, Camberwell College of Art and Graphic Design at the School of Visual Arts. Her work is influenced by kitsch, comics, and a bad sense of humor.

See more of Christina's work here. 

Adam Linn is an artist and printmaker based out of Pittsburgh, PA. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a BFA in Printmaking in 2017. Since then, he has attended the Vermont Studio Center and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center as a resident artist. As a printmaking resident at Anderson Ranch, Adam rediscovered his love for mezzotints, a technique he learned while at RISD. In addition to mezzotints, he has always explored processes very closely related to drawing, such as lithography and screenprinting. While currently working primarily with drawing, he hopes to continue building a body of printmaking work with access to one of the printshops in the Pittsburgh area. 

See more of Adam’s work here

Ignacio Lopez was born and raised in Pittsburgh where he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Studio Arts and Creative Writing.  He has been published in a variety of publications and has been exhibited at the Westmoreland Art Festival and the Hoyt Institute of Art.

See more of Ignacio's work here

Joseph Lupo received his BFA from Bradley University and his MFA from the University of Georgia. His work has been a part of over 80 different exhibitions at the International Print Center of New York, The Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Indianapolis Art Center, and The Contemporary Art Center in Atlanta. Joseph’s work is included in various permanent collections including the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University, the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Texas Tech University, and the Spencer Museum of Art. Joseph served as the president of SGC International from 2008-10. He has received multiple awards and grants for his work as an academic including the “Honorary Member of the Council” award from SGCI (2014), “BIG XII Faculty Fellowship” (2013), “WVU Senate Research Grant” (2008 and 2009), “Excellence in Teaching” (2015), “Excellence in Service” (2014) and “Excellence in Research” (2013) awards from the WVU College of Creative Arts.

My artistic practice explores deconstructionist and postmodern theories of how we understand signifiers and language. In 2005 I began to deconstruct the comic book “The Invincible Iron Man”, volume 01, issue 178, published in 1982. Using comics gives me the opportunity to take apart and reorganize a cultural artifact that is familiar and considered complete. By manipulating aspects of the imagery, text, or story structure, I can challenge our assumptions about fixed narratives, binary definitions, and fixed meaning.

My latest series of prints evolved out of a previous project that alphabetized the same Iron Man comic book. The new work alphabetizes text inside certain word balloons to make absurdist statements that reference William Burroughs, the “cut up” literary technique, as well as DADAIST poetry.

See more of Joseph's work here. 

Samantha Mack is a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in Art and a minor in Professional Writing, currently working for the CMU School of Art Printmaking department under Technician Kellie Hames, and as a studio assistant to local artist Rachel Mica Weiss. Her current works draw on her heritage and relationships and translate them into physical form, creating portals and channels for emotion. She investigates internal and external states of mourning, remembrance, nostalgia, and identity as she re-traces and re-invents the creative practices of loved ones both living and deceased. Mack is interested in generational traditions of making, and in translating these forms into traditional media. By exploring the creative pursuits of those who came before her, she hopes to acknowledge and honor the impact they have made on her life and practice. 

See more of Samantha’s work here

Maria Mangano is an artist who explores the intersection of nature, museums, and science to address issues of wildness, conservation, and humanness. Wildlife, especially the kind familiar to people living in cities, figures largely in her work. Birds, in particular, have always captured her interest because of the fractal-like depth of their physical complexity and their significance in human culture as symbols, augurs, and links to the spiritual world.

A native of Syracuse, NY, Mangano moved to Pittsburgh, PA to attend Carnegie Mellon University, where she earned her BFA in Printmaking/Drawing/Painting. She has exhibited in Pittsburgh at locations such as SPACE Gallery and Artists Image Resource, as well as regionally at the Chautauqua Institute in Western New York and Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati. In 2014 her work was included in Errol Fuller’s book The Passenger Pigeon, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon. Mangano maintains a studio in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Point Breeze.

See more of Maria's work here. 

BIO

William Mathie earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drawing from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.  He has taught at Edinboro University since 1995 and is currently a tenured Professor. Along with teaching, he has served as the Bruce Gallery Director and the Chair of the Art Department at different times.   His artwork has been exhibited and has won awards regionally and nationally.  He has studied Mokuhanga printmaking in Japan with Kenji Takenaka in 2008 and 2011. He is also the current Director of Egress Press and Research, a fine art publishing component of the printmaking program at Edinboro University and he operates a private studio in Edinboro.

STATEMENT

I hope that aspects of my work will seem familiar to the viewer and that they will construct narratives that relate to the texture of experiences in their life. Most recently I have been creating images that investigate evil. I am intrigued with whether evil is situational or something else. If evil is situational the responsibility for evil rests partly with everyone involved in creating an environment that allows an evil act to seem justifiable. And yet an individual can always rise above a situation and step away from an evil act.

I am thoroughly intrigued by the inexhaustible image-making possibilities printmaking offers.  The rich variety of marks, and gritty aesthetic of intaglio, and the graphic nature of relief keep me inspired to create. I also enjoy the generous nature of the printmaking community that is quick to share techniques and approaches to image making. I am constantly excited by work created by other printmakers, mostly my contemporaries, but also a whole line of printmakers from Durer and Hokusai forward.

See more of William’s work here

I am an artist living and working in Pittsburgh, PA. I live with my husband Jordan, our son Lucas, our cat (The Professor of Chaos) and our dog (Sidney). I design and hand print all my work in my home studio. The fabric and prints I create are inspired by my love for design, text, color and texture. Another huge inspiration is my mother, who is a quilter. I use water-based inks for all of my work. I received my Bachelors degree from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and my MFA from West Virginia University. 

See more of Jennifer's work here. 

Maritza Mosquera is an artist, educator and community-transformation partner.  She has developed, organized, and presented new practices in arts education and artist-led community collaborations with several local, national and international organizations.

As an educator, Mosquera’s practice is focused on the individual learner and their place in the larger scope of community. She works with education organizations and schools to create workshops that speak to the schools’ education practices including integrating her practices with English, Science and History; paying close attention to writing, collaboration, presentation and various school curricula like English Language Arts (ELA).

Maritza has created in-school and out-of-school time arts programs for over 30 years.  Past organizations include Chicago Arts Partners in Education, Urban Gateways, Finding History in Ourselves, Dialogues for Democracy, and the Bioneers.  In addition, Maritza has partnered with and taught in various schools and universities across the country including University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, The Fabric Workshop, Perspectives and Noble Academies, Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, Frick International Academy, and Schenley High Schools. 

Currently, Maritza has been collaborating with choreographer Kyle Abraham to develop community engagement programs for his new works, curates dialogue programs for the VOICES program at The Andy Warhol Museum, is mentoring Teaching Artists and is a rostered Teaching Artist for the Pennsylvania Council on The Arts.  She is currently working in her studio in Point Breeze.

Mosquera exhibits her own work nationally and internationally and has received grants from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, The National Endowments for the Arts, The Ford Foundation, and The Multi-Cultural Arts Initiative from the Pittsburgh Foundation. She received her MFA from University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore.  She studied with Agnes Martin and Joseph Campbell at Skowhegan School of Painting in Maine.

Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Tom Norulak attended Carnegie Mellon University and received his BFA degree in 1971. After living in Philadelphia for about 5 years, he returned to Pittsburgh in late1977 and has made Southwestern Pennsylvania his home ever since. 

During the 1980’s Tom established a successful commercial screen printing business. He began his active career as an exhibiting artist printmaker during the early 1990’s. His work has been exhibited throughout the Pittsburgh area as well as in selected national shows at well respected galleries, museums, universities and art centers. He has taught printmaking at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts for over 25 years. He has also taught at Seton Hill University, Carnegie Mellon University Pre-College program, Carnegie Museum of Art and has been a guest instructor and lecturer at other schools and local art groups. 

 detritus: 

1. debris or discarded material 

2. fragments of rock that have been worn away 

3. organic debris formed by the decomposition of plants and animals

As a printmaker, my imagery of the last several years has been of natural and man-made objects which have been altered over the course of time by their interaction with the elements. The subject could be rocks and debris along a riverbank or a hiking trail, an uprooted tree trunk, driftwood, a truck tire, or an inner tube or dead fish washed up on the shores of Lake Erie. It could be abandoned machinery rusting in the woods or architectural vestiges of the past. 

I start by taking photographs of these phenomena, and use the following process to transform them into black and white etchings. Laser prints of the photo images are transferred onto a zinc plate with a solvent, and then etched in nitric acid. Using traditional printmaking techniques such as aquatint, open bites, scraping, and burnishing, the images acquire abstract or surreal qualities, bearing little resemblance to the original photos. 

See more of Thomas' work here. 

As a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s blue-collar culture, I have acquired a strong work ethic that has taken me from the alleys of Hazelwood to the halls of Carnegie Mellon University 1972 (BFA in Design) and Antioch College McGregor 2006 (MA Visual Arts).

Being a member of the Pittsburgh Print Group (and past member of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators) has brought me in contact with many talented, energetic artists that have reinforced my need to create and produce artwork and incorporate this invaluable information and experience in the classroom.

As an instructor at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh for 40 years I have taught many courses in design, history of design, drawing and typography, and the recipient of The Gold Apple Award for an outstanding faculty in the Graphic Design Department, Inez Hall Award for Outstanding Faculty and The Student Choice Award for outstanding faculty.

 Professionally, I have solo and group shows in and around Pittsburgh, Pa, and as a printmaker I received the Juror’s First Prize Award – Heinz History Center - Pittsburgh Recast with the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators, and semi- finalist with The International Biennial Print Exhibit –Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Chuck Olson is a painter who has recently (2015) reentered the world of printmaking, specifically in large scale, multicolored lithography under the advice and expertise of Mr. Michael Raburn, master printmaker, of Amarillo, Texas. Mr. Raburn, who prints for Edwards Ruscha, was commissioned by West Texas A&M University to collaborate with Chuck Olson to realize a series of lithographs; 5 of which were completed over the last 3 years. 

In this digital age of Giclee and JPEG “printing” it seems anachronistic to march back to a hand made print process that finds itself on the cusp of cultural extinction. However, what is old can truly be new again in that the action of hand and eye with traditional materials can reveal cutting edge possibilities within a world of screens in which hands off printing is ubiquitous.

These prints are much like painting in development and effect. They touch on my recurring themes of the monument, the historic landscape, and the object/artifact executed through the course of 28-45 color plates, driven with a painter’s deliberation.

See more of Chuck’s work here

With a BFA in Printmaking, a Minor in Art History, and a Masters in Public Administration, Rachel Saul Rearick is a creative thinker; finding nuances in places and things. Her primary body of work consists of monotypes, using her intuitive process to evoke emotion through the use of color. Most of Rachel's work begins on woodblocks, where she draws upon traditional carving techniques to begin her process.  From there she adds textures and incorporates painterly techniques as well as stitching, as a means to convey abstraction.  Most recently, Rachel began creating artist books comprised on monotype prints.

Aside from her artist practice, Rachel currently works as the Arts, Culture, and History Specialist in City Planning, at the City of Pittsburgh.

See more of Rachel's work here

I am an interdisciplinary artist native to the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, working predominantly in photography, painting, and printmaking. My work focuses on social, political, economic, technological, and environmental conditions in flux, and I am particularly interested in observing and commenting on the American experience in the 21st century. I consider my artist practice as both a philosophic exploration of the human condition and a vehicle for the advancement of progressive values.

See more of Aaron's work here. 

Ann Rosenthal brings to communities over 30 years’ experience as an artist, educator, and writer. She examines the intersections of nature and culture through timely issues, including climate change, nuclear waste, biodiversity, and biophilia. Ann’s work has been shown locally at the Andy Warhol Museum, the Mattress Factory, SPACE, and several area universities and colleges, and has been featured in exhibitions across the U.S. and internationally.

Ann’s essays on eco/community art have been published in several journals and anthologies, including “Redefining Beauty in the Context of Sustainability” in Regenerative Infrastructures, New York: Prestel, 2013. She co-authored a series of articles on Art and Feminism with Vicky Clark for the online journal Pittsburgh Articulate. She teaches mixed media, collage, visual journaling, and printmaking workshops in her studio, and art history and studio courses through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute/University of Pittsburgh.

 In 2016, she initiated LUNA (Learning Urban Nature through Art), an ecoliteracy and art after-school program funded by a Remake Learning grant through The Sprout Fund in partnership with the Kingsley Association and Penn State Extension/Urban 4H. LUNA continues as a community-focused art and nature program, partnering with public schools and environmental and community organizations, including the Frick Environmental Center and New Sun Rising.

 In the first half of 2018, Ann participated in four group exhibitions, including “For the Love of Nature,” which she curated for the John A. Hermann Art Museum in Bellevue featuring herself and four botanical and natural history artists. In May, she co-chaired and presented her work on the panel “At the Confluence of Freshwater Science and the Humanities” for the Society for Freshwater Science annual conference in Detroit. She has been invited to a residency at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest through University of Oregon in September.  She received her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 1999.

Marc Snyder lives and works in Greensburg, PA with his wife Marti Haykin and their two daughters.  He received his Bachelors degree in studio art from the University of Virginia and his Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from Indiana University.  Following his MFA he spent nine years as a college professor, teaching a variety of studio courses and managing the gallery at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, GA.   Since leaving academia he has been active as a printmaker, with a special focus on collaborating with small press publishers.  He has exhibited his work widely over the past twenty-five  years, and has produced over 100 tiny books. 

You can find more of Marc's work here

Matthew Van Asselt is an artist, designer, printer, musician, and director of Pullproof Studio. He recently moved to Pittsburgh from Brooklyn, where he worked as a silkscreen technician while simultaneously running his own small press called Mt. Home Arts. He makes large multi-color prints that reference the natural and built environment. In Pittsburgh he helped found Pullproof Studio, a membership-based community silkscreen shop, and has continued to focus on making artwork and printing collaborative editions with local artists.  

See more of Matt’s work here

My artwork explores the American ideal of individualism from both a personal and contemporary feminist perspective. Points of reference are various essays and journals, from 19th Century American Renaissance writers, poets and artists to personal blogs that proliferate the internet. My main medium is photographic silkscreen printing, but my approach to printmaking is that of a painter. I rarely make editions of my prints, concentrating more on creating “unique” prints that involve many layers, sometimes up to 30 printed and reprinted layers of images, patterns and color. No two prints are ever alike. My practice is heavily reliant on the infinite ways color and form interact to create and redefine meaning.

My most recent body of work uses camouflage patterns as metaphor to explore cultural identity. Specifically, as an exploration of dualities in nature and in a person’s life. What we choose to hide and what we choose to reveal about ourselves. Within the shapes that make-up the camouflage design, I insert patterns and images culled from 19th Century engravings, botanical illustrations, vintage political magazines, and contemporary popular culture.

See more of Tresa's work here. 

The natural world is full of mysterious signs and symbols, both beautiful and frightening hinting at the knowable and the unknowable.  My inner world is fragile, ephemeral and constantly seeking to understand, interpret and find meaning in the messages of the universe.   My work has always been a dialogue between the natural world and my own inner world.  I seek out messages and interpret them through the transformative medium of printmaking.  The resulting images are the meeting place of that dialogue which at it’s best integrates those inner and outer worlds and finds a balance, if not wholeness, as a result. 

For the last twenty-five years I have been actively involved in printmaking and exhibiting my work in the Pittsburgh region and beyond.  I came to Pittsburgh with a BSE in art education from Northern Illinois University and graduate work at the University of Texas in Austin with a printmaking emphasis.  For the past several years I’ve had the privilege of serving as president of Pittsburgh Print Group and have been long time member of that organization.   I am also an exhibiting member of Group A.

I have taught collage and intaglio at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts as well as monitored and worked to maintain facilities for printmaking access members in the PCA print studio.  These experiences have allowed me to make creative connections with many printmakers in the region that has in turn energized and enriched my printmaking practice.   Participation in the printmaking community has also led to some great collaborations prompting experimentation with a variety of methods and materials including prints as part of paintings, prints on glass and on ceramics.  Most recently I have embarked on a challenging long-range collaborative project that explores the elements using the classic materials of paper and ink.   These collaborations have served to stretch my vision as an artist and push back my boundaries while exploiting the endless visual possibilities printmaking provides. 

My individual work is an exploration of themes and ideas that reflect a very inward gaze.   Collage and photo-transfer often serve as the starting points to the expression of both spiritual and emotional concerns and connections.   Captured images provoke and facilitate visual seeking and self-examination.  While drawing and painting are important aspects of what I do, printmaking remains the foundation of who I am and is the heart and soul of my artistic practice. 

Laura Zurowski has lived in three “P” cities: Providence, RI; Poughkeepsie, NY; and most-recently, Pittsburgh, PA. Mis.Steps: Our Missed Connections with Pittsburgh's City Steps, attempts to recreate the journey undertaken nearly 20 years ago by Bob Regan in his books “The Steps of Pittsburgh: Portrait of a City” (2004) and “Pittsburgh Steps” (2015). Mis.Steps began publishing her journey through the city's 739 stairs in July 2017, and the anticipated completion date for the project is 2021.

Pittsburgh has more public stairways than any other city in the United States. Originally built during the city's industrial heyday in the early-to-mid twentieth century, Mis.Steps attempts to portray the heart, soul, and history of these decaying structures through Polaroid photos, Risograph prints, and short creative nonfiction stories inspired by the stairs and the surrounding environment.

In addition to publishing the Polaroids and stories on Instagram and the Mis.Steps blog, a risograph printed ‘zine is published twice a year in collaboration with artist and printer Jimmy Riordan. The first issue was released in December 2017 and can be purchased on the Mis.Steps website as well as at the City of Asylum Bookstore, Copacetic Comics and Printed Matter (online and NYC). The second issue will be available in July 2018.