Past Board Members

Gaby Hurtado-Ramos is an artist and educator making zines, posters, and illustrations dedicated to queer archives and joyful resistance. Gaby grew up in Houston, Texas and later lived lived in Tucson, Arizona. In the Fall of 2021 they were an artist-in-residence at The Printing Museum where they worked in letterpress and risograph making work around Houston lesbian bar history. Inspired by radical printmakers, Gaby believes art should be socially engaged and accessible. Following this tradition, they create illustrations that support grassroots organizing for social change. They have made artwork for organizations and publications including the Highlander Center, ProPublica, and the Tucson Jewish Museum. Gaby is currently pursuing an MFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Printmaking at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Adriana Barrios is a queer, biracial, Latina, artist who grew up on the coastal borderlands of San Diego, California. Barrios received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio and is a Master of Fine Arts graduate from The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Barrios has worked with The Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Santa Reparata International School of Art, and The Chazen Museum of Art. Barrios has exhibited her artwork internationally in Italy and Mexico and nationally in New York, New Mexico, and Texas. Her artwork is in the collections of UW-Madison Graduate School and UW-Madison Department of Special Collections.
Barrios’s artwork presents a visual response to climate change alongside scientific field work that gives meaning to the social consequences of her lived experience. Barrios uses printmaking, paper making, video, and installation as a way to record and respond to the environmental changes currently happening along the California Coastline due to climate change.

Gretchen Schermerhorn is currently the Artistic Director at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, an art center dedicated to the contemporary creation of hand printmaking, papermaking, and the art of the book, in Hyattsville, Maryland. She received her MFA in Printmaking from Arizona State University, and since then has completed artist residencies at The Women’s Studio Workshop in New York, Columbia College Center for Book and Paper in Chicago, Seacourt Print Workshop in Northern Ireland, California State University and the Robert Rauschenberg Residency in Florida. Her prints, installations, and works on paper works have been exhibited around the country and internationally, and her work is part of the Montgomery County Public Art Trust, Anne Arundel Community College’s print collection, and the Janet Turner Print Collection. She has received individual artist awards from both the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. She has taught workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, Snow Farm-New England Craft, Women’s Studio Workshop, and the University of North Texas and is currently is part of the adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University, where she teaches Printmaking and Book Arts.

Denise Bookwalter is an artist and educator. She is founder and director of Small Craft Advisory Press, a collaborative book arts press that pushes the tradition of the artist book. She is Professor in the Department of Art at Florida State University where she is Area Head of Printmaking. Her book works are collected in the US, Netherlands and South Africa. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband and twin daughters.

Artist Susan Czechowski, fell in love with screen printing thirty years ago when she was lucky enough to work on several pieces for Roy Lichtenstein. Since then, she has taught thousands of students silkscreen and printmaking techniques as a professor at Western Illinois University. Outside the classroom, Susan leads art students on annual trips to her native New York City as well as summer sessions to different cities across Europe. In addition to her role as educator, Susan has exhibited her own work in numerous gallery and museum settings across the United States and Europe. She has been awarded residencies and exhibitions at Grafische Werkplaats in the Netherlands, and Prairie Center of The Arts, Peoria, IL. She holds a B.A. in Art and Art History from Washington College and an M.F.A. from Syracuse University—and feels the same excitement each and every time she pulls a squeegee across a fresh sheet of paper.

I am a first-generation American of East Indian descent and spent my formative years between the US and New Delhi. I attended college part-time for many years as a single working mother and received a BFA in painting and an MFA in printmaking. I work in printmaking and encaustic, as well as installation work. I am the Board President of Seattle Print Arts and I run the 2D department at Pratt Fine Arts Center. Being an American growing up in an Indian household I attempt to understand my place in between through making.

Joseph Velasquez was born in Amarillo, Texas, and raised in the San Fernando Valley of California. After his military service, he earned his BFA from the University of Mary- Hardin Baylor, Belton, Texas. Then he earned both an MA and MFA in Printmaking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and. He is the co-creator of a mobile printmaking studio, Drive-By Press, that has traveled over 200,000 miles across the country and has been to 145 Universities where he has lectured and demonstrated printmaking practices.
Joseph’s work evolves around popular culture graphic iconography, community outreach, education, and activism. He is a National Endowment for the Arts recipient: Funded through The John Michael Kohler Arts Center for a Community Arts Project and residency and an Assistant Professor of Art at Florida Atlantic University. He teaches Bookmaking, Screenprinting, Relief, and Intaglio.
Velasquez has exhibited at numerous national and international venues, notably "Air-Land Seed" on the occasion of the Venice Biennale 54th and 55th International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy; South African Museum, Cape Town, South Africa; The Print Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Doujiao Museum of Art, Songhuang Art Village, Beijing China, State Lines: A Survey of American Printmakers, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK. Exhibition of prints from American artists Velasquez met on his mobile printmaking tour.

Claudia Wilburn is a mixed-media artist currently living in Northeastern Georgia and teaching as an Associate Professor at Brenau University where she is the Department Chair for Art and Design and Director of the enter for the Arts and Design. She received her Masters of Fine Art from the University of South Carolina and her BFA from Clemson University. She grew up in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and has lived throughout the South. Her work draws on the connections, paths, family and community present in the Southeastern American experience. Her academic research has been presented internationally and her work has been exhibited all over the US.
Selected Exhibitions and Presentations: Wilburn presented her body of work titled Navigate by Reckoning in a solo exhibition at the Batesville Area Arts Council, Batesville, AR in October 2019 and at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center, Gainesville GA, January 2021.
In May 2020, Wilburn was awarded with the Master’s in Teaching Award by Featherbone Communiversity & Brenau University. In May, 2018 she was awarded the Ann Austin Johnson Outstanding Faculty Award at Brenau University in Gainesville, GA. This award is selected by a committee of previous awardees based on recommendation by students and faculty; awardees demonstrate and foster outstanding teaching, enhancing teaching as a profession, and supporting other faculty in the pursuit of excellence.

Mike Smoot currently lives in Southern Vermont and is a Professor of the Practice in Print and Paper at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. He completed Tamarind Institute’s Professional Printer Training Program in 2007 and has worked at a number of professional fine art print studios including Atelier Towson, The Experimental Print Institute, Tamarind Institute, and Landfall Press. He has taught or given lectures and demonstrations on printmaking at Towson University, Goucher College, East Carolina University, Southeast Missouri State University, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Georgia State University, Valdosta State University, UMass Amherst, Bennington College, Keene State College, and Smith College. In addition, he has worked with a number of art related community organizations. He believes printmaking’s potentials for sustained collaborative effort, the negotiation of difference, and collective creative action make it a worthwhile pursuit.

Born April 27, 1978, in Denver Colorado to Mexican immigrants, Javier Flores is the
eldest of 3 kids. Raised in a blue collar, middle to lower income level household in Brighton, Colorado helped to instill a strong work ethic, honesty, and integrity. At the age of nineteen Javier was shot in the lower back and subsequently paralyzed. Initially in shock and depression he became distant and suicidal for a time, thankfully saved by family, friends, the visual arts and martial arts.
Flores received his Bachelor of Fine Art from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2008, and his Master of Fine Art from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi in 2017. Since graduating, he worked as an affiliate until 2021 acquiring a full-time position at Front Range Community College. In this role he is the Art Lead for all 2D courses and the Gallery Director of the school.
As an artist, Flores chooses to associate with the idea of Lenguaje Vulgar, or vulgar
language, a reference to cussing in Spanish. The connection of imagery to language is a symbolic reference to the visual lexicon he continues to expand to explore the daily hindrance of his disability among other issues. The implication of swearing or cussing in accordance with his art, is a therapeutic tool which allows Flores to express frustration yet persevere. As a visual artist, Flores pursues a variety of mediums to best translate the biographical narrative approach to image and form making. By re-contextualizing common symbols, the viewer is led to a larger dialogue in which they must access their own personal context in relation to the art. The reflective aspect of Javier’s work is an exploration into identity in the form of culture, ecology, non-toxic masculinity, politics, temporality, loss and ultimately triumph.

Mercedes López was born and grew up in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her early work carries within it the strong presence of rural life and the natural world. Both exerts an enduring influence in her work, which she defines as a visual exploration of the basic forms and structures in nature and how we relate to them as humans.
Mercedes graduated from the School of Fine Arts of Oaxaca where she specialized in traditional techniques of printmaking. She has a Master’s Degree in Art Production from the School of Arts of the Autonomous University of Morelos, where she also did a residency at the Center of Biological Research. During her residency there, she explored the relationship between art and biology.
Parallel to the production of her personal work, she has been co-founder of two art
collectives: Guindhá Casa Taller and Nodo Estudio Visual, taking active part in the

I am a printmaker and book artist living in Indiana. I served as Secretary for the 2020-2022 board and became President the support staggered terms from 2022-2023.

The art of Abdu’Allah and his contemporaries in the early 1980s can be evaluated in a manner that fills an important void within available scholarship on the subject of contemporary art in relation to Afro-British culture. What began as an artistic gesture in the 1980s more fully materialised in the early twenty-first century as a complete conceptual approach that questioned issues of race and identity in relation to issues of cultural diversity and multiculturalism. Abdu’Allah’s work broke away from the British artistic establishment and the rules of institutional representation, particularly insofar as he began selecting his subjects from émigré utopia, Afro-British social consciousness, Muslim identity, and working-class life. He also integrated other views of London, portraying it as a city of dislocated communities that were powerless in the existing world of art.

A Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI native, Tyanna Buie is a visual artist who received her BA from Western Illinois University, and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Buie has attended Artists-In-Residency programs, such as the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, LA, the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY and the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, as well as maintaining a connection to the community by hosting printmaking workshops and demonstrations, while participating in Healthy Neighborhood Initiatives through the production of public art created for underserved neighborhoods and communities in Milwaukee, and Madison, WI.
Buie has been a visiting artist lecturer in Tennessee, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Rhode Island, and Arizona, while continuing to exhibit her works in numerous juried, group and solo exhibitions throughout the country. Her extensive exhibition record includes: The Contemporary Invitational Print and Drawing exhibition at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, The Haggerty Museum of Art, The Racine Art Museum, The Red Bull House of Art, N’NAMDI Center for Contemporary Art, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, The Milwaukee Art Museum, The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Wriston Art Center, the Museum of Wisconsin Art, and the Alice Wilds.
Buie received an emerging artist Mary L. Nohl Fellowship in 2012, the Love of Humanity Award from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the prestigious Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Grant in 2015, the 2019 Kresge Artist Fellowship in the Visual Arts, the 2019/2020 Grant Wood Fellowship in Printmaking at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA, and the 2020 Fellowship.art award, a top accelerator award/program funded through gener8tor.
Buie’s work has been acquired by major institutions and private collections nationally and her work has been reviewed on Hyperallergic.com and featured on Essay’d.com. Currently, Buie is an Assistant Professor/Section Chair of Printmaking at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI.

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

Cat Snapp is an artist and small business owner. Her studio is based in Everett, Washington, a former mill town about forty-five minutes north of Seattle. She earned an MFA in Printmaking from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the University of Central Florida. Through her business, Cat Snapp Studio, she creates and sells a variety of paper goods from letterpress greeting cards and handbound journals to limited edition prints and art installations. You can find her current work at in-person maker markets, in select retail shops, and online. Her art has exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in several public and private collections such as Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and the Rare Books & Texana Collection at the University of North Texas. Her work can be viewed in the publication 500 Handmade Books, Volume 2, by Lark Crafts. In addition to her studio practice, she serves on the City of Everett’s Cultural Arts Commission and teaches print and book workshops in the community.

Aleksandra Janik, PhD (1971) curator, printmaker and photographer, head of the Studio of Digital and Experimental Printmaking, Vice-Rector for Arts, Research and Foreign Cooperation at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw, Poland.
Fields of interests and research subjects: Post-digital Printmaking / Experimental Printmaking / Hybrid Printmaking, aiming at artistic activities and the development of theoretical material; an attempt to present a new classification and re-definition of printmaking; transgression printmaking – photography; formal experiments in combining classical printing techniques with digital printing, with the third dimension – installation-based printmaking, object-oriented printmaking, performative printmaking; formal experiments connected with digital printing on special substrates and attempts to use commercial technology (laser, UV print, lenticular print, hydrographic) in printmaking.

Arron Foster received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking and Art Education from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and his Master of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking and Book Arts from the University of Georgia, Athens Georgia. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally and has held academic appointments at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Nicole Geary is an American artist hailing from the green, swampy lands of Florida, where she earned a BFA in printmaking from the University of Florida. She graduated with an MFA in printmaking from the University of South Dakota. She exhibits in juried print and sculpture shows, international residencies, and regularly participates in printmaking conferences. Geary teaches full time at St. Philip’s College, and is also an instructor at Southwest School of Art for printmaking and book arts workshops. She was a resident in the Artist Lab at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, has been awarded a grant from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio, and completed an artist residency and exhibition in the Mojave National Preserve. Geary lives and works in San Antonio, Texas.

Gail Deery is a Professor of Printmaking, Papermaking and Book Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Maryland.
She is also Co-Director of Dolphin Press & Print, a collaborative letterpress shop housed in the Printmaking Department at MICA. Her artwork can be found in private and public collections including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the French Ministry of Culture in Belgium, the New Jersey State Museum, the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, the Newark Public Library and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. She has received two Visual Arts Grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, as well as a Jerome Foundation Fellowship. She has lectured and consulted on print, paper and collaborative projects both internationally and regionally. Over the past 20 years, she has taken students for intensive study and work trips to South Africa, Belgium, Italy and Spain through various initiatives and study programs. Currently she is conducting research on medieval book forms and contemporary applications thereof as well as the larger discourse that has grown up around the codex.

Margot Myers was born in a remote Alaskan Native hospital during Bristol Bay fall fishing in the late 1970s. Participating in this familial seasonal harvest continues to be a pivotal part of her life and studio practice. Formative training in the mental and physical perseverance required to engage in backbreaking manual labor from a young age has shaped her approach to work and life. Her visual development is influenced by her affinity for wilderness landscape and watershed. Evidence of early exposure to natural rhythms and systems can be seen in her work on paper, fibers and installation. Margot’s most recent body of work addresses the controversial use issues surrounding the resource management of the Bristol Bay Watershed in Southwest Alaska.
Myers earned her MFA in Print from New Mexico State University in 2006. She. has taught print techniques and foundations classes to students of all ages, and in various settings: University, Community College, Local School Districts, Museums and other Arts Organizations. In 2015, Myers opened a print shop downtown Bellingham, WA. Runaway Press is the community’s only open studio where amateurs, emerging and professional artists can use this professional studio to develop their own work and learn from national printmakers. Runaway Press hosts demonstrations, workshops and longer classes in print and fibers techniques taught by visiting and local artists. Recent recognition for Margot’s work include the following: GAP grant from Artist Trust of Washington State, Awagami Paper Award (Japan), Selection for a collaborative science/art Climate Change Project for Museum of Northwest Art (LaConner, WA), a temporary installation for PrintAustin (TX) and inclusion of 6 prints at at Berlin Miniprint Exhibit (Germany).

Valerie A. (Wright) Dibble is a practicing artist, university professor, wife, homemaker and mother of three. She earned her BFA from Arizona State University in 1982 in printmaking and photo processes. She earned her MFA from the University of Florida1991 in printmaking and electronic media.
Valerie is currently a Professor of Art and the Coordinator of the Printmaking concentration at Kennesaw State Univeristy. She has been awarded the Distinguished Teacher, Distinguished Scholar and Distinguished Service awards. She has also received a Governor’s Teaching fellowship and numerous grants. She actively serves by holding positions on local, national and international Boards for various art organizations.

Louise Fisher is an Iowa-based printmaker and a 2019 graduate of Arizona State University. She was the 2018 recipient of the SGC International Graduate Fellowship Award. Louise states about her process and artwork that she is “an interdisciplinary artist working in the expanded field of print; using methods of layering, impressing and repetition for its literal and visual enactment of time and the body. By integrating constructed and celestial time, geometric and organic forms, and digital and hand-drawn printmaking processes, I point to the complexities of our current experience with nature. Through an investigative visual language, I aim to rekindle an appreciation for natural light and ask viewers to consider how their rhythms are impacted by this new incessant LED world.”

K. MacNeil (they/them) is a genderqueer artist, educator and curator who was born and raised in the US. They maintain an interdisciplinary practice that encompasses – but is never limited to – print media, video, performance, and drawing. Their work explores and questions contemporary stigmas surrounding trauma, mental health, and memory.
MacNeil’s work has exhibited internationally in Paris, France and Beijing, China, and throughout numerous institutions across the US including the International Print Center New York, PrintAustin, the Western New York Book Arts Center, and CEPA Gallery. Recently, they were awarded the Awagami Paper Award by the Print Center (Philadelphia, PA) as a semi-finalist in their 94th Annual International Competition.
MacNeil holds a BA in Studio Art from the College of Charleston (2011 magna cum laude), and a MFA in Studio Art from the University at Buffalo (2018). They currently reside in the Niagara Region (Ontario & Western New York).

Blake Sanders, our Web Curator, is a printmaking and foundations Instructor at Southeast Missouri State University. He has been an active member of SGCI since 2005 and has participated conference portfolios, exhibitions—both sanctioned and peripheral—and chaired two panels. His work looks “beyond anthropocentrism, emphasizing humans as a part of a global community—residents, not lords of the manor—who should be good neighbors to each other and all of nature.”