LEAD: Letterpress Educators of Art & Design fosters a network of letterpress educators to facilitate sharing of knowledge and expand connections in the community. We provide opportunities to engage discourse, advance research and scholarship, and work to expand understanding of the value of letterpress education as an essential practice in contemporary learning. Letterpress in higher education is primarily taught as a part of the divergent fields of studio art, book arts, printing history, and design as well as through community workshops, printing museums and archives. Several founding members of LEAD will share the role of letterpress in education today, including during a global pandemic, and their individual goals for teaching printing. They will discuss the history of LEAD and their annual symposia Makeready. Opportunities have grown for expanded and deeper connections among printing educators through sharing resources and expertise, communicating the benefits of the letterpress experience through the strength of our international collective.
LEAD: Letterpress Educators of Art & Design
David Wolske
David Wolske is a typo/graphic designer, artist, and educator. His hybrid practice combines the traditions of letterpress and printmaking with digital tools and design thinking. Wolske’s work is exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. He is a 2020 LHM Educator Fellow at the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography at ArtCenter College of Design; the College Book Art Association 2018 Emerging Educator; 2016 Visiting Artist at Hatch Show Print; and a 2014 Utah Visual Arts Fellow. Wolske is currently an Assistant Professor in the College of Visual Arts & Design at the University of North Texas.
Erin Beckloff
Erin Beckloff is a letterpress printer, designer, educator, and filmmaker (Pressing On 2017) who preserves anecdotal and technical knowledge of printing history and culture with a focus on education and community. She serves as an Assistant Professor of Communication Design at Miami University and has an MFA in Graphic Design from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Beckloff has given presentations at ATypI Antwerp, two Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum Wayzgoose conferences, UCDA Design Education Summit, Type@Cooper New York, College Book Art Association Conferences, as well as taught workshops and lectured at universities across the US and UK. Website: letterpresseducators.com/
Katherine Fries
Katherine Fries, a studio artist/educator specializing in printmaking, letterpress, foundations, and painting explores storytelling and preservation through the understanding and use of objects as biography. Fries, Associate Professor of Studio Art at the University of Indianapolis, holds an MFA from Miami University. Fries actively shares her scholarly pursuits in a variety of ways including but not limited to presenting at international and national conferences, exhibiting her artwork locally, regionally, and nationally, as well as collaborating with community organizations and students. Previous conference presentations have included; ATypI: Association Typographique Internationale, College Book Arts Association, and Foundations in Art: Theory & Education. Website: www.katherinejfries.com
Ms. Vida Sačić
Vida Sačić is a Croatian and American artist, educator and typographer. Her work in print media explores the relationship between language and constructions of identity. She has been awarded residencies at The Penland School of Craft, The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum and The Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College in Chicago, among others. Her work is exhibited in solo and group exhibitions internationally and has been presented at TypeCon, UCDA Design Education Summit and CAA 2020 Conference. Sačić is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Website: www.vidasacic.com/