Congratulations to the SGCI 2024 Awardees! 

SGCI was honored to present these distinguished artist awards at the Verified By Proof Conference in Providence, Rhode Island 

Lifetime Achievement Award

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. 

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. is an American printer, book artist, and papermaker best known for social and political commentary, particularly in printed posters. From an early age, Kennedy was interested in letters and books and studied calligraphy for several years. At the age of 40, Kennedy visited Colonial Williamsburg, a Virginia living history museum, and was mesmerized by an 18th-century print shop and book bindery demonstration. The incident so influenced that he studied printing at a community-based letterpress shop in Chicago and, within a year, quit his AT&T systems analyst job, which he had held for nearly two decades, to continue printmaking studies.

In addition, he is an educator and journeyman printer who travels the globe teaching people how to print on traditional letterpresses with metal and wood type. He studied under master paper and printmaker Walter Hamady at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Membership voted awardees, left to right:

Savannah Bustillo, Emerging Printmaker Award recipient
Joseph Lupo, Excellence in Teaching Award recipient
Luanda Lozano, Mid-Career Printmaker recipient 

Savannah Bustillo was voted by the membership to be granted the Emerging Printmaker Award, which is given to an early-career artist who exhibits outstanding promise in their contribution to the field of printmaking with demonstrated excellence in their own creative work. Savannah (she/her) is a queer, second-generation, Colombian-American printmaker, bookmaker, and papermaker from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, with a concentration in printmaking and a second major in anthropology. She combines making and anthropological investigation to explore spaces in the margins – where identities not easily reconciled with are placed.

Luanda Lozano was voted by the membership to be awarded the Mid-Career Award, which is given to a mid-career artist who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of printmaking with demonstrated excellence in their own creative work. Luanda Lozano holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from Parsons The New School of Design in New York. Her illustrious career in printmaking began in the early 1990s at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, formerly The Printmaking Workshop. During her time at the workshop, she participated in the printmaking outreach program, which aimed to bring education on printmaking to communities that lacked access to such opportunities, aligning with the workshop’s mission set forth by its founder, master printer Robert Blackburn

Joseph Lupo was voted by the membership to receive the Excellence in Teaching Award, which is granted to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to teaching printmaking and has demonstrated excellence in their own creative work. Joseph Lupo is currently a Professor of Art and Coordinator of Graduate Studies at West Virginia University, and from 2018-21 he was named the J. Bernard Schultz Endowed Professor in Art at WVU. He received his BFA from Bradley University and his MFA from the University of Georgia. His work has been featured at the International Print Center of New York, The Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Indianapolis Art Center, and The Contemporary Art Center in Atlanta. His work has been shown internationally in Italy, Portugal, and Denmark. Joseph’s work is included in various permanent collections including the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University, the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Texas Tech University, the Spencer Museum of Art, and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. 
In addition to cash awards, these artists will receive waived registration, travel allowances and housing to the 2025 conference in Puerto Rico, where they will present their work and research.
Congratulations to these artists and to the finalists nominated for these awards. 

Graduate and Undergraduate Fellowship, Awagami Paper, and Gamblin Awardees, left to right, top to bottom: 

Logan Bishop, a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, is the recipient of the Graduate Fellowship Award. Logan is an artist and educator practicing collaborative printmaking alongside drawing, painting, and sculpture. Originally from Clearwater, Florida, they now live and work in Connecticut.

Hannah Roehr, an undergraduate student at Texas Tech University, is the recipient of the Undergraduate Fellowship Award. She is a printmaker and illustrator from Grand Prairie, Texas, and her work is part of a creative journey that delves into inescapable moments of mystery and tragedy.

Dean Fry, a student at Emporia State University, is the recipient of the Awagami Paper Award.  Originally from Olathe, Kansas, Dean Fry is a queer multidisciplinary artist living and working in Emporia, Kansas, with a focus on printmaking. They are currently pursuing their Bachelor of Science and Education and Bachelor of Fine Arts at Emporia State University. They also engage with the local art community and is a leader of several student organizations.

Edgar Hartley is a MFA candidate at SUNY New Paltz, and is the Gamblin Graduate Award recipient. Edgar is a printmaker and artist born in Lubbock, Texas and received his BA from the University of Kansas. His work is heavily influenced by queer politics and Vajrayana Buddhism and has been exhibited worldwide and collected by museums and private gallerists.

Maria Rivadeneira, a student at the University of West Georgia pursuing her BFA in Printmaking, is the Gamblin Undergraduate Award recipients. She loves to create illustrations and is currently working on using her prints to create animations, flipbooks, and zines in hopes of finding new ways to make her works become interactive and come to life.

Summer Zah has been granted the Emerging Artist Gamblin Award, and is a printmaker and installation artist of Indigenous descent. An enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation, Summer has most recently graduated with her MFA from the University of Oklahoma. She is employed at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City and works for several organizations and tribal nations as an art instructor.