Parita Shah

Parita is a world traveler and a mid-western baby. She is bothered neither by the searing sunshine of Tamil Nadu, nor the frigid winds of Chicago. Parita’s creative works are generated via art and craft practices such as drawing and bookbinding. Her media comfort zones include drawing, painting, photography, print, bookbinding, paper making, music and more.

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Benjamin Shapiro

Member

Michael Sheets

Six Points Letterpress

Chicago-based. Queer-owned-and-operated. Handcrafted letterpress goods for all of life’s occasions and then some!

Services Offered:

• Printmaking Commissions

Website:

Emma Sielaff

I’m constantly exploring how art can be a medium for capturing and recreating the feeling of a moment. I make work that is vibrant and playful, hoping to leave the viewer with a sense of familiarity, intrigue, and nostalgia. The result is a reflection of my inner self and thoughts. Spanning from papermaking, illustration, zines, and collage—with a heavy influence of the digital—the objects I create are interactive, highly textured, and draw from reused and recycled materials.

The creative process is something everyone should enjoy, with my work, I hope to embody that essence and invite people into my world.

Services Offered:

• Graphic Design
• Illustration

Website:

Katherine N Smith

As a Graphic Designer and painter, Katherine creates easel-size paintings of stylized landscapes that include references to microscopic biological forms and macroscopic extraterrestrial masses. She uses organic shapes, thick layers and bright colors that suggest planets and cellular structures to evoke the processes of many natural systems moving from their creation to decay. These pieces are juxtaposed to Letterpress prints that are personal statements that represent changing thoughts and emotions. Oil paints on canvas and oil based ink on paper show a variety of texture that symbolizes inconsistency, abnormal ideas and anxiety. This series is a timeline showing her discomfort within her environment over the period of one year.

Services Offered:

• Exhibition Opportunities
• Graphic Design

Website:

Kristin Smith

Member

Kristin completed a Master of Design (MDES) at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in 2020. She is a graphic designer, maker, writer, illustrator & collaborator practicing in Chicago. She particularly enjoys analog print processes & bookmaking. Please reach out with any inquiries or to discuss projects or collaborations!

Services Offered:

• Exhibition Opportunities
• Graphic Design
• Illustration
• Printmaking Commissions

Website:

Sondwerk

Member

Sondwerk is a Chicago-based, multi-disciplinary creative werkshop dedicated to promoting peace through art, experiences, and collective action.

Services Offered:

• Exhibition Opportunities
• Graphic Design
• Illustration
• Printmaking Commissions

Website:

Sendy Soto

Member

Gretchen Steele

Member

Michael Sterling

Member

Robert Stokowy

2020-21 Fellow

Robert Stokowy is an artist and composer from Cologne, Germany. His work consists of experimental compositions, text-based interventions, performances and installations. More conceptual works utilize artistic practices such as photography, writing, printmaking and drawing. All projects are framed and connected by an overarching artistic research process, focussing on inner structural characteristics of found or created sonic environments. Using a radically reductive and interdisciplinary approach, Robert’s work investigate modes and possibilities of sonic accessibility. In short art is used as an interdisciplinary tool to understand one’s environment and the human condition.

Services Offered:

• Exhibition Opportunities
• Printmaking Commissions

Website:

meg studer

siteations studio

Trained as a ‘researcher’ and a ‘maker,’ I aspire to craft environments, graphics, and applications that inform and invite engagement. As an illustrator, my passion is integrating big(ish)-data with visual narratives and geographic expression. A curious and creative designer, I move fluidly between places, pop-ups, prints, and full-stack web development. Ultimately, I love drawing out cultural connections and footprints across mediums. I welcome commissions and work well in a collaborative studio environment, creating intense, inquisitive, and impactful designs for wider audiences.

Services Offered:

• Graphic Design
• Illustration
• Printmaking Commissions

Website:

Xzavier Weed

Member

Jordan Wesolek

Member

“Our wonderful city of Chicago offers it’s own beauty aside from the great outdoors. I strive to bring nature to the city and to my fellow Chicagoans. By venturing to some of the most extreme outdoor destinations I am able to find the inspiration for my work, which manifests in the form of high contrast pieces composed of simple lines and dots framed in basic geometric shapes. Because of travel, my appreciation of the city  has grown exponentially and it helps me look at Chicago in a different light. I enjoy correlating the massive towers of Torres Del Paine to our city skyline, the winding hiking trails of El Chalten to the busy bike paths of Lakeshore Drive, and the lava flows of Iceland to the brake lights down Milwaukee Ave. I like to think my work inspires people to get out and to educate themselves of the beauty of our planet which, in turn, will allow them to develop their own correlations between the manmade world and the natural world.” – Jordan W

Services Offered:

• Graphic Design
• Illustration

Website:

Christen Whitehouse

Maison Blanche

I am a stationery designer and illustrator with a focus on color, pattern and texture. I work mostly in the wedding world creating fine art wedding stationery for couples who are interested in non-traditional pieces that reflect their unique personalities. I also create custom illustrations and prefer to work in a loose whimsical style.

Services Offered:

• Graphic Design
• Illustration

Website:

Don Widmer

Don Widmer is a book and paper artist who uses hand papermaking, relief printing, and bookbinding (separately or in combination) to create unique works of art. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago’s Interdisciplinary Arts program, Don launched his paper arts business, Lion of Bali, which exhibits at numerous arts and craft fairs throughout the Midwest. Much of his work is inspired by travel and his background in ethnomusicology. Don primarily uses a technique called pulp painting to create his handmade paper artworks, particularly his images of urban architecture. He has had several residencies at Morgan Conservatory of Papermaking in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Don has recently set up his papermaking studio in Skokie, Illinois.

Services Offered:

• Exhibition Opportunities
• Printmaking Commissions

Website:

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Abigail M. Wood

Abigail M. is a Chicago-based graphic designer, writer, and printmaker. She holds a BFA in graphic design from Columbia College Chicago. She had a haiku published in Columbia Poetry Review no. 26. In 2018, AIGA Chicago awarded her the What’s Next Grant to fund her project Does Cement Make a Sound?; a mixed media print series which aims to highlight the reality of living with mental illness and disability. Regardless of medium, Abigail M.’s work exists to answer the constant and varied questions that typically arise somewhere between a memory and the conscious awareness of a feeling.

Services Offered:

• Graphic Design
• Printmaking Commissions

Website: