Shari Wilkins Strategic Director
Visual artist Shari Wilkins created the Cleveland Print Room in 2013 as an intervention that is part of her social practice. Drawing on a background in social work and the music business, her art is often issue-based and place-based. She seeks to affect social change through personal work that collaborates with community. Wilkins’ work is in many private collections nationally and in the United Kingdom, with work also held in the public collection of the Cleveland Public Library.
KERRY DAVIS Creative Director
“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” -Emile Zola. Kerry Davis is the picture of an "out loud" individual. He hails from Charleston, Missouri, where he co-founded a community arts organization. Davis is a person of varied experiences: he has been a classroom educator, served on boards and various comittees, worked as a personal assistant, and been a waiter! Kerry says "Community and the fine arts are truly my passion. We should never forget the value of that relationship and continue to perpetuate it."
ORLANDO CARABALLO EDUCATION DIRECTOR
Orlando is a visual artist born and raised in Cleveland’s West Boulevard neighborhood. He has earned a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a Major in Drawing and emphasis in Printmaking. His work is rooted in imaginative world-building that investigates the relationship between personal and cultural identity and the pursuit of meaning in a world plagued by grief, loss, and disinformation. Having worked for a few years doing community engagement work at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Orlando is excited to help build upon the already great work being done at the Cleveland Print Room. As Paulo Freire said, “Dialogue cannot exist without humility,” an attitude that Orlando hopes to bring to the Print Room’s strong commitment to community centered work that teaches and empowers through thoughtful dialogue and experiential action. Outside of the visual arts, Orlando loves walks through nature, making and listening to music, and finding a nice cozy corner to read in, among other things!
Jeff Curtis Gallery Manager
Jeff has been with Cleveland Print Room since before our doors opened, having been involved early on, during the initial planning stages, and helping to get the Print Room facilities ready for business.
Holding a Master's degree in Library and Information Science after majoring in Studio Art and English at Kent State University, Jeff has worked as a professional Law Librarian, and is an active musician, artist/cartoonist, and pinhole photographer, and is currently completing a master’s degree in User Experience Design. Says Jeff, "If you see what looks like an old oatmeal box sitting around the Print Room, DON'T THROW IT AWAY, thanks. That'll be my pinhole camera."
hadley k. Conner teaching artist
Hadley K Conner is a Cleveland-based artist, musician and educator. She holds a BFA from Cleveland Institute of Art and a MAAE from the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Working exclusively with film and traditional photographic materials, Hadley has been showing work both regionally and nationally for over 25 years. During that time period, Hadley has continued to teach traditional photography classes and alternative process workshops in the local area. She continues to spread the gospel of photography and film by teaching in a darkroom full time at a Cleveland area high school.
Aja grant teaching artist
Aja Grant is a Cleveland native visual artist using digital media to create composites inviting viewers to see the blend of the modern human psyche with that of nature and our ancestral instincts. Graduating from Cleveland State with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Art, the blending of the two worlds is common in her works. She holds a deep appreciation for teaching and inspiring others and views inspiration as a reciprocal process.
Lexi Deet Teaching Artist
Lexi was raised in Cleveland Heights until she graduated early from Cleveland Heights High to study abroad in a small town outside of Santiago, Chile. Her passion for photography and creative storytelling led her back to Ohio where she earned Bachelors Degrees in Photojournalism and Spanish with a Minor in Anthropology at Ohio University. Lexi worked on student publications like Soul of Athens, freelanced for papers and magazines such as the Athens News, and even served as First Assistant Camera/B-cam Operator on a feature film directed by Josh Crook; while giving photography workshops to at-risk youth in Trimble County with Kids on Campus. Lexi has made her way back to Cleveland Heights to continue humanitarian and creative pursuits with an emphasis on her favorite medium - photography. She currently teaches photo classes with the Loving Hands Group – providing life enrichment programs to seniors and persons with disabilities – as well as with CPR. She also photographs weddings and other events with the Cleveland Photo Group. Aside from photography Lexi loves reading, dogs, nature and learning new things.
Sally Winter CONSULTANT & SPECIAL PROJECTS
Sally Winter holds a degree in Speech, Theatre and Communication from Baldwin Wallace College. After trodding the boards for a few years, she worked with Playhouse Square in the beginning years, doing a variety of jobs as did everyone! She was on staff at the Cleveland Area Arts Council before moving on to the Ohio Arts Council, serving as the Northern Ohio Field Representative and later as a team member of the International Artist Program. After retiring from the OAC, she joined the Cleveland Foundation's Creative Fusion as the Artist Liaison. She currently happily serves as a consultant to the Cleveland Print Room's International Program. In her spare time she reads, gardens and dotes on her family!
ALISON BRADY TEACHING ARTIST
Alison Brady is a Cleveland native who recently relocated to her hometown after working as an artist for the past 15 years in Brooklyn, New York. After receiving her MFA in Photography, Video, and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts in New York, Alison has done dozens of solo and group shows, earning praise from New York Magazine, Time Out, and The New York Times. Of one of her first earliest solo shows, The New York Times' chief art critic Roberta Smith wrote, “Ms. Brady’s work deals rather explicitly and hilariously with the female predicament.” That same year, Alison was named one of the top emerging artists in the world by the Saatchi Gallery in London. She continues to exhibit nationally and internationally, and her photography is featured in many private and public collections, including Elton John’s collection and the West Collection. In addition to her studio work, Alison has directed photo shoots for a number of commercial and editorial clients, from Marc Jacobs to Tom Tom Magazine and Lady Gunn.
STEPHEN BIVENS TEACHING ARTIST
In Loving Memory.
After 10 years in the United States Marine Corps and leading large teams in the customer service industry, Stephen Bivens has returned to his first love: photography. The essence of life, people, events and architecture interest him. Having traveled the world, and enjoyed many cultures and communities, Bivens brings a life of learning and experience to his work.
He views photography as a way of life and is rarely seen out and about without a camera in-hand. He still works with film on a regular basis and finds inspiration from the greatest photographers of all time: Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Diane Arbus.
Bivens is an established concert, fashion, and portrait photographer whose work can be seen regularly in local galleries throughout Cleveland. Stephen holds a Communications degree from the University of North Carolina.
John W. Carlson Teaching Artist
In Loving Memory.
Always artistically gifted, John began his career as an artist by attending Cleveland’s Cooper School of Art. Inspired by the works of Egon Schiele, Franz Kline, Edward Hopper and Lucien Freud, John strives to find a balance between expressive drawings and boldly executed paintings. John has been accepted into numerous juried shows including the prestigious Butler Midyear Show at The Butler Museum of American Art and recently juried into The Ohio Arts Council Riffe Gallery First Juried Show in Columbus OH. In July of 2015, he was the first non-photographer to show paintings in The Cleveland Print Room. He was nominated for the Cleveland Arts Prize in 2009 and in 2004 his charcoal drawing "Viewpoint" was purchased by the Erie Art Museum and entered into their permanent collection. His work can be found in collections across the United States and in Europe.
Board of Trustees
Tim Arai
Nolan Beck
Alex Coon
David Hagen
Jaelen Hollinger
Mark Noble
Rachel Oscar
Konnie Peroune