Staff
The Center for Book and Paper Arts staff is a diverse group of practicing artists and arts administrators who are active in the field of book and paper arts in Chicago and beyond. Below you will find a complete list of our staff members with biographies and contact information, and you may additionally be interested to learn about some of their ongoing research projects.
Steve Woodall
Directorswoodall@colum.edu
Since joining the Center for Book and Paper Arts staff in 2008, Steve Woodall has moved to create and implement a new strategic plan, reorganized the staff, reprioritized the Center's programs, and revisited the values of the Center's founder, Marilyn Sward. Under his leadership, CBPA has become more tightly integrated with the Book and Paper MFA program and has given research, publication, outreach, and collaboration high priorities. Woodall served as Education Director and Artistic Director for the San Francisco Center for the Book, 1996-2008, where he developed an extensive program of workshops and exhibitions.
Gina Ordaz
Assistant to the Directorgordaz@colum.edu
The Center's longest-tenured staff member, Gina Ordaz oversees all administrative operations at the Center for Book and Paper Arts. A talented artist, Ordaz has won a college-wide award for staff artistic accomplishment two years running.
Jessica Cochran
Curator of Exhibitions and Programs,Acting Assistant Director
jcochran@colum.edu
Formerly Marketing and Public Programs Director for Art Chicago & NEXT: The Invitational Exhibition of Emerging Art and Director of Exhibitions at Dominican University, Cochran is implementing new exhibitions and public programs initiatives at the Center, including the Spotlight Series and a reading series organized with the Poetry Foundation. She is an active writer and curator; her writing has appeared in Proximity, Newcity, Curating Now, and CS. Recent curated exhibitions include the 2011 MFA Exhibition at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, This is Paul Halupka (Contemporary Arts Council, 2011), and Nomadic Text (What It Is, 2011). She has served on the Junior Board for threewalls and was a juror for the 2012 Fred A. Hillbruner Artists' Book Fellowship at SAIC. She is an adjunct instructor at Dominican University and Columbia College Chicago and is currently a curatorial resident at the Chicago Artists Coalition.
Brad Freeman
Studio Coordinator and Founder/Editor, Journal of Artists' Books (JAB)bfreeman@colum.edu
Internationally-known for his leadership in establishing the artist's book as a fine art medium, Brad Freeman has brought the Center for Book and Paper Arts wider recognition. A prominent book artist and editor of the Journal of Artists' Books, which he founded with Johanna Drucker in 1994, Freeman is a highly-accomplished offset printer. His duties include mentoring two print production fellows each year in studio production techniques, including operation of the Center's Heidelberg offset press. He oversees maintenance and development of the Center's world- class studios.
April Sheridan
Studio Technician/Special Projects Coordinatorasheridan@colum.edu
April Sheridan performs equipment maintenance and oversees studio use by students, volunteers, and community members. As Special Projects Coordinator, she works with a wide variety of outside organizations, including the Poetry Foundation, the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the Chicago Printers Guild, and many others, to form productive partnerships with the letterpress, literary, and artist book communities. Sheridan is an accomplished printer and poet.
Tracey Drobot
Administrative Assistanttdrobot@colum.edu
Tracey Drobot recently completed her MAM at Columbia College Chicago's Arts, Entertainment and Media Management Department with a concentration in Visual Arts, and she received her BFA in Painting in 2003 from Grand Valley State University. Since then, Drobot has focused her interests in the nonprofit arts sector, and she continues to volunteer at a number of local Chicago arts organizations.
The Center for Book and Paper Arts employs students from the Interdisciplinary Arts department and across the Columbia College academic community. Below is a current list of our student workers.
Exhibition Assistants
Jeremy Jennings (BA, Arts, Entertainment, + Media Management, 2012/BA, Audio Arts + Acoustics, 2013)
Keshon Johns (BA, Arts, Entertainment + Media Management, 2013)
Print Production Fellows
Jenna Rodriguez (MFA, 2013)
Claire Sammons (MFA, 2013)
Binding Studio Graduate Assistant
Christopher Saclolo (MFA, 2013)
Paper Studio Graduate Assistant
Elizabeth Gilder (MFA, 2013)
Print Studio Graduate Assistant
Claire Sammons (MFA, 2013)
Studio Access Technicians
Alex Borgen (MFA, 2014)
Liz Isakson (MFA, 2013)
Web, Recruiting, and Academic Administration Support
Kathi Beste (MFA, 2013)