INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES

Tim Abel (MFA, MCAD; MA, New York University) is an installation and book artist who has exhibited work throughout the Midwest, including at MCBA.

Abigail Woods Anderson is a Minneapolis-based artist and educator. She currently works in the Walker Art Center's department of education and community programs. Goals on her horizon include editioning an artist book about water bears and authoring a paragraph on letterpress for Wikipedia’s printmaking article.

Sheila McNellis Asato (MA, St. Mary's University) is a visual artist with more than 25 years experience teaching and exhibiting in USA, Europe and Asia. Bilingual in English and Japanese, Sheila is also a certified embodied imagination coach and the founder of Monkey Bridge Arts. She regularly leads workshops internationally on the relationship between art, dreams and healing. A past board member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Sheila currently serves as a provider at Pathways and is the Healing Arts Program Assistant at the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Hospital.

Linda Back McKay is a poet, writer, teaching artist and motorcycle enthusiast. She is author of The Cockeyed Precision of Time, Ride That Full Tilt Boogie and a new poetry collection titled Of Roses and Fine Cabernets. Her groundbreaking nonfiction work, Shadow Mothers: Stories of Adoption and Reunion, was inspiration for the play Watermelon Hill, produced by the History Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. To learn more, visit www.lindabackmckay.com.

Tom Balbo is an artist who has been exhibiting his cast paper artwork in Ohio and throughout the United States for thirty years. Tom is the director of The Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation, a new book arts center in Cleveland.

Galen Berry has taught marbling for 20 years to over 4000 students. He currently teaches marbling at the new Oklahoma City Museum of Art as well as at schools and art centers across the region. Dozens of Galen's patterns have been purchased by publishers including Random House, Ballantine, Penguin Books and Simon & Schuster for reproduction on book covers and stationery.

Sue Bjerke (BA, Metropolitan State University) devotes full time to printing and binding for pleasure. For over 20 years, Sue also teaches wood carving through community education programs and the Minnesota Wood Carver’s Association, where she is a member and past president.

Mandy Brannan (BA, Loughborough College of Art and Design) was born and raised in England and has traveled and lived in Kenya and California. Over the past 20 years, Mandy had worked in clay, wood and plastics, but since 1991 has concentrated on handmade paper. The designs of Mandy’s papers are built up in layers using traditional Japanese methods.

Kevin Brown is the owner of Smart Set, Inc., a 20-year old graphic arts company in Minneapolis. Smart Set provides services and products for most printing methods. Kevin gives regular lectures and workshops in the area and has served on the advisory board for the Graphic Design department at MCTC.

Sarah Bryant (MFA, University of Alabama) is a letterpress printer and bookbinder specializing in the production of editioned artist's books under her imprint, Big Jump Press. These books have been featured in exhibitions around the United States and have been acquired by special collections libraries internationally. She is currently the Victor Hammer Fellow in the Book Arts at Wells College in Aurora, New York, where she teaches letterpress printing and bookbinding courses to undergraduate students.

Emily Carr Moore (MA, Lesley University) is the Community Programs Coordinator at MCBA. A former elementary school writing teacher, she is excited to help children make connections between writing and book arts.

Janet Carroll (BA, Carleton College) is a Winnipeg paper marbler and book artist who has taught workshops at MCBA since 1996. Janet studied bookbinding at the Roehampton Institute in England. She has a keen eye for color and her skill and precision make her bindings beautiful as well as functional.

Béatrice Coron was born and raised in France but has been living in New York since 1984. Her vast catalog of work includes books, installation pieces, sculpture and large-scale public art pieces. She has exhibited extensively throughout the world and her work is included in collections at the MOMA, The Getty, Walker Art Center, and many other public and private collections. Béatrice teaches regularly at the New York Center for the Book and Columbia College’s Center for Book and Paper Arts and has led workshops at many other institutions all over the world.

Kathy Coulter (BS, Moorhead State University) has 20 years of experience teaching art in public and private schools. She took her first class at MCBA 15 years ago and has been making books with children and leading book residencies in schools ever since.

Dean Ebben (MFA, Pratt Institute) has been working as an artist in New York City for the last 10 years. He has taught at Carriage House Paper in Brooklyn, and recently completed a video art residency at The Outpost in Williamsburg. Other honors include a public sculpture commission for the United Nations Church in Manhattan, and a collaboration with Alison Knowles, one of the original founders of Fluxus. His work is collected and exhibited internationally.

Erik Farseth (MA, University of Iowa) is a printmaker and collage artist. He is the creator of Wipe Away My Eyes, for which he received a 2000 MCBA/Jerome Book Arts Fellowship. He has been publishing zines since 1988, and was featured in the Alt.Youth.Media exhibition at New York's New Museum of Contemporary Art (1996). Erik is a founding member of the Stevens Square Center for the Arts.

Ellen L. Ferrari (BA, Carleton College) is a former Youth Programs Coordinator for MCBA and Family Programs Coordinator at the Minnesota Historical Society. She currently runs Art with Ellen, an art school for children 12 months to kindergarten, and teaches preschool and family classes at MCBA and other local art centers.

Jean Formo: A calligrapher and lettering artist for thirty-five years, Jean is recognized for experimental alphabet design and innovative one-of-a-kind artist books. She has traveled throughout the USA and Canada, lecturing and teaching a variety of calligraphy and book arts workshops. She has been a faculty member at 17 international calligraphy conferences. Jean's lettering and illustration work has appeared in regional and national exhibitions, and is represented in lettering arts books, calligraphy instruction manuals, calendars and in the greeting card industry.

Picasso Gaglione and Darlene Domel (the self-proclaimed Queen of Quick and Easy) have been making rubber stamps since 1979. Turning ornate, vintage imagery into rubber stamps is their specialty, and their passion to share the inherent beauty of simple stamping drives them to teach workshops across the country.

Georgia A. Greeley (MFA, Hamline University) has a background in graphic design, printing, illustrating, and book arts. Both writer and artist, one of her passions is combining word and image. She was Artist-in-Residence at MCBA in 2005 and in 2006 published her first letterpress edition, Among the Displaced by Robert T. Laudon, under her press name, Artichoke Press. Her work is collected and exhibited regionally.

Jennifer Hibbard (MFA, MCAD) binds books as a craftsperson and cuts them apart as an artist. As the owner of Glass-Bound Studios, Jennifer specializes in Coptic binding and leaded glass windows; under her own name, she alters books with a razor blade and sharp wit.

Sam Hiti is an independent comic book creator whose credits include work for Nickelodeon, Disney, Nike and The New York Times, and is working with major Hollywood studios to turn his work into a live action film. Published works include Tiempos Finales, Long Dark Train, Ghoulash, and the upcoming Death-Day.

Mary Holland is a retired elementary music teacher. She became addicted to marbling about 18 years ago and has been marbling on paper and fabric ever since. She has studied under well-know marbling artists/teachers including Galen Berry and Laura Sims, and in addition to MCBA she has taught classes at the Textile Center and Colorful Quilts.

MC Hyland (MFA, University of Alabama) is a poet, papermaker, bookbinder, and letterpress printer, and currently serves as MCBA's Adult Programs Manager. She runs DoubleCross Press, which publishes letterpress broadsides and handmade books of contemporary poetry.

Emily Hoisington (MFA, MCAD) is an artist who works in handmade paper and printmaking. Inspired by her garden, her artwork uses paper and print to build layers that evoke the complex interrelationships of living creatures in the soil. She enjoys introducing students to the possibilities of print and paper, ranging from the subtle inking of Japanese woodcut to the tactile encounter of papermaking.

Jill Jevne has a 20-year career as proprietor of her own bindery, specializing in fine art edition books. She has worked with many notable presses and these books can be found in institutions and private collections worldwide.

Linda Koutsky (BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) is the graphic designer at Coffee House Press in Minneapolis. She is also a book artist and co-author/designer of the book Minnesota State Fair.

Lin Lacy (BFA, MCAD) is a Twin Cities fiber artist who works as a Youth and Community Programs Associate at MCBA. She has studied design at Reitveld Academie in Amsterdam, Holland and has artwork in the permanent collections of the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota State Lottery. She creates both fabric and paper books.

Mary Lee is the owner of Riverlark Studio, focusing on contemporary books and boxes. She is particularly interested in the way that artists’ books combine structure, visual art and writing to make something entirely original. She took her first class at MCBA in 1994 and has studied with Hedi Kyle and many others at Penland, Haystack and Paper Book Intensive. 

Daniel Luedtke is a self-taught printmaker / artist / musician from Minneapolis. Through his studio DNML, he has been producing brightly colored, graphically bold prints since 2006. His compositions often pair abstracted geometric forms with absurdist figurative elements inspired by feminist politics, folk art and kitsch. After completing printmaking residencies in 2008 and 2009, his focus has tended more toward fine-art printmaking, creating larger prints and installations for shows both in the U.S. and abroad.

Curt Lund (BFA, Iowa State University) is a graphic designer, visual artist, comedy writer/performer and MCBA staffer. His artwork in various mediums -- including screenprinting, altered books, mixed media and design -- has been exhibited locally and nationally.

Erin Maurelli (MFA & Book Arts Technologies certificate, University of Iowa) is MCBA's letterpress studio monitor. She has taught classes at the University of Iowa and Highpoint Center for Printmaking, and holds a Master Printer certificate from the Tamarind Institute of Lithography and a BFA in painting and printmaking from Carnegie Mellon.

Bill Moran is the owner and founder of Blinc Publishing, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a third-generation letterpress printer and a printing historian who teaches typography at the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin–Stout. Through the U of M he leads a three-week European type history tour that showcases the birth of printing and rare books in Spain, Germany and Italy.

Jim Moran is the director of The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. He runs letterpress workshops, archives the collection and maintains the museum on a daily basis. He became an active equipment donor and volunteer at Hamilton while operating his Green Bay, WI shop, Moran's Quality Print Shop, where he worked as apprentice, pressman, partner and owner with his father and grandfather for over 35 years.

Paul Moxon (MFA, University of Alabama) is a fine press printer and book designer. He has taught workshops on letterpress and Vandercook Maintenance at universities, art schools and book arts centers across the nation. He maintains the Vandercook website and blog vandercookpress.info. His letterpress work is included in several public and private collections. Examples of his work can be seen online at fameorshame.com.

Paulette Myers-Rich is a fine press book artist, photographer, writer and proprietor of Traffic Street Press. A former artist-in-residence at MCBA, she has taught and lectured at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is the 2009 Minnesota Book Artist Award winner, has received the Minnesota Book Award for fine press twice, and was a finalist for the award twice more. Her work is exhibited and collected nationally and internationally.

Sara R. Parr (BFA, MCAD) is the Studio and Artist Co-op Manager at MCBA, and teaches letterpress and screenprinting. Her work has been exhibited locally and regionally, and her books are part of numerous collections including the University of Washington, Seattle; the University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Union College (Schenectady, NY).

Sarah Peters is an artist, educator and arts programmer. She was a Jerome Fellow at MCBA in 2008, and has served as a paper Studio Monitor as well as a mentor with the Center's By Design teen program. She is interested in unconventional book forms and papermaking techniques.

Jessica Peterson (MFA, University of Alabama) is a book artist and letterpress printer. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Purchase College, The University of Bridgeport and The University of Alabama, and has lead workshops and lectured at Printmaking Council of New Jersey, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Center for Book Arts in New York and BookWorks in Asheville, NC. For more information, visit her website at www.papersouvenir.com.

Amy Pleticha (MFA, MCAD) is the new MCBA paper studio monitor. She recently received her MFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design with an emphasis in Print/Paper/Book.

Jana Pullman (MFA, University of Wisconsin, Madison) has a varied background in the arts as a printer, illustrator, bookbinder and owner of a small book press, Western Slope. She has taught papermaking, binding and conservation workshops nationally.

Karen Randall is a poet, visual artist and proprietor of Propolis Press, which publishes contemporary American poetry in the form of limited edition artist's books. She has taught at Naropa University, New York's Center for Book Arts and the San Francisco Center for the Book.

Jeff Rathermel (MFA, University of Minnesota) is MCBA's Artistic Director. His prints and artist's books incorporate a variety of print techniques, often including sculptural handmade paper elements. His work has been exhibited and collected internationally.

Jenea Rewertz-Targui (BS & BFA, Bemidji State University) is the Program Associate for the East Side Arts Council. She has taught visual art to metro area families and children at schools and arts organizations, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and MCBA.

Regula Russelle (MA, Hamline University) is a former MCBA print artist-in-residence. She is proprietor of Cedar Fence Press and, together with CB Sherlock, co-founder of Accordion Press Collaborations, a series of collaboratively produced fine press artists' books that combine literature and art. Her work is exhibited and collected internationally, and she is the recipient of numerous honors including the 2011 Minnesota Book Artist Award.

Dennis Ruud has three decades of experience in calligraphic arts, and a special interest in old and new methods of manuscript decoration, illumination, gilding and toolmaking. Dennis operates a home workshop in Minneapolis restoring old books, making custom bindings and tinkering with calligraphic projects, and has run restoration workshops for Carleton, St. Olaf and the University of St. Thomas.

Wilber H. "Chip" Schilling (MFA, University of the Arts) studied printmaking and typecasting at the Clearing Press and bookbinding with Hedi Kyle and Daniel Kelm, and is a former artist-in-residence at MCBA. Chip has taught and lectured at CVA and MCAD. He is a Minnesota Book Award finalist in the category of fine press and the 2010 Minnesota Book Artist Award winner. Chip owns and operates Indulgence Press in Minneapolis.

Shawn Sheehy teaches at Columbia College Chicago and has also taught for such organizations as PaperWorks in Tucson, BookWorks in Asheville and The Center for Book Arts in New York. He has produced two pop-up artist books in editions and is in the process of editioning the third. In the Spring of 2010 the limited edition pop-up Welcome to the NeighborWood: A Pop-Up Book of Animal Architecture will be published as a trade book.

Aki Shibata (BFA, College of Visual Arts), born and raised in Japan, is a Youth Programs instructor at MCBA. She has also taught visual art as an artist-in-residence at schools throughout the Twin Cities.

Erica Spitzer Rasmussen (MFA, University of Minnesota) was an Artist-in-Residence in papermaking at MCBA from 1997-98. In 1999 she received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Assistance Fellowship to create new sculptural works made of paper.  Rasmussen teaches studio arts at Metropolitan State University and exhibits internationally.

Roz Stendahl (MA, University of Minnesota) works as a graphic designer and illustrator of textbooks and magazines. Roz has kept written and visual journals since childhood. Her visual journal work is included in An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory. Additional visual journal selections can be viewed at her website RozWorks.com.

Richard Stephens (BA, University of Minnesota) publishes prints and artist's books under his Supersession Press imprint, often in collaboration with other artists and writers. His work can be found in numerous collections, including the Minnesota Historical Society, The Grand Hand Gallery and, in recent years, at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts pavilion.

Cynthia Thompson is Associate Professor of Book and Paper Arts at Memphis College of Art and past artist-in-residence at MCBA. Cynthia is an accomplished papermaker, printmaker and book artist, and has also worked with Dieu Donne Papermill and the Broksky Center.

Todd Thyberg (BS, University of Minnesota) has over 15 years of experience in graphic design and is the owner of Angel Bomb Design. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions as well as the How Magazine International Design Annual.

Anna Tsantir (MFA, Memphis College of Art) has worked with teens as an artist/instructor for the past 10 years in a variety of settings from rural ranch schools in Wyoming to alternative public schools to inner city youth organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. Anna is a printmaker with degrees in Art History, Art Education and printmaking.

Nancy Walden (MFA, Hamline University) is a poet and letterpress printer with a strong interest in Japanese and Chinese culture. She is a member of the Laurel Poetry Collective.

Jody Williams (MFA, Rochester Institute of Technology) is an artist and teacher in Minneapolis, producing artists' books, prints and handmade paper under the name Flying Paper Press. Jody teaches at MCAD and the University of Minnesota. Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally. She is the 2008 Minnesota Book Artist Award winner and a 1995 recipient of the MCBA/Jerome Foundation Book Arts Fellowship.