SGC International

CLAUDIA WILBURN

President

Board Member

Claudia Wilburn is a mixed-media artist currently living in Northeastern Georgia and teaching as an Associate Professor at Brenau University where she is the Department Chair for Art and Design and Director of the enter for the Arts and Design. She received her Masters of Fine Art from the University of South Carolina and her BFA from Clemson University. She grew up in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and has lived throughout the South. Her work draws on the connections, paths, family and community present in the Southeastern American experience. Her academic research has been presented internationally and her work has been exhibited all over the US.

Selected Exhibitions and Presentations: Wilburn presented her body of work titled Navigate by Reckoning in a solo exhibition at the Batesville Area Arts Council, Batesville, AR in October 2019 and at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center, Gainesville GA, January 2021.

In May 2020, Wilburn was awarded with the Master’s in Teaching Award by Featherbone Communiversity & Brenau University. In May, 2018 she was awarded the Ann Austin Johnson Outstanding Faculty Award at Brenau University in Gainesville, GA. This award is selected by a committee of previous awardees based on recommendation by students and faculty; awardees demonstrate and foster outstanding teaching, enhancing teaching as a profession, and supporting other faculty in the pursuit of excellence.

MICHAEL SMOOT

Vice President

Board Member

Mike Smoot currently lives in Southern Vermont and is a Professor of the Practice in Print and Paper at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. He completed Tamarind Institute’s Professional Printer Training Program in 2007 and has worked at a number of professional fine art print studios including Atelier Towson, The Experimental Print Institute, Tamarind Institute, and Landfall Press. He has taught or given lectures and demonstrations on printmaking at Towson University, Goucher College, East Carolina University, Southeast Missouri State University, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Georgia State University, Valdosta State University, UMass Amherst, Bennington College, Keene State College, and Smith College. In addition, he has worked with a number of art related community organizations. He believes printmaking’s potentials for sustained collaborative effort, the negotiation of difference, and collective creative action make it a worthwhile pursuit.

JOSEPH VELASQUEZ

Vice President

Board Member

Joseph Velasquez, a Chicano artist and the visionary behind Drive By Press, has embarked on a diverse artistic journey shaped by his nomadic upbringing. His artistic prowess has garnered national and international recognition, with his work featured in published articles and curated exhibitions highlighting LatinX artists. His portfolio includes a wide range of national and international exhibitions.

Despite the thrill of life on the road, Joseph’s heart remains rooted in academia. Currently serving as an Associate Professor of Art at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, he continues to inspire students through his lectures on contemporary print practices and nationwide educational print demonstrations. Joseph Velasquez’s dedication to fostering a new generation of printmakers has made a lasting impact, earning him countless admirers and followers nationwide. 

Website: josephvelasquez.com
Instagram:@dbpjoseph
Email: jvelasquez@sgcinternational.org

KAMLA KAKARIA

Secretary

Board Member

I am a first-generation American of East Indian descent and spent my formative years between the US and New Delhi. I attended college part-time for many years as a single working mother and received a BFA in painting and an MFA in printmaking. I work in printmaking and encaustic, as well as installation work. I am the Board President of Seattle Print Arts and I run the 2D department at Pratt Fine Arts Center. Being an American growing up in an Indian household I attempt to understand my place in between through making.

SUSAN CZECHOWSKI

Treasurer

Board Member

Artist Susan Czechowski, fell in love with screen printing thirty years ago when she was lucky enough to work on several pieces for Roy Lichtenstein. Since then, she has taught thousands of students silkscreen and printmaking techniques as a professor at Western Illinois University. Outside the classroom, Susan leads art students on annual trips to her native New York City as well as summer sessions to different cities across Europe. In addition to her role as educator, Susan has exhibited her own work in numerous gallery and museum settings across the United States and Europe. She has been awarded residencies and exhibitions at Grafische Werkplaats in the Netherlands, and Prairie Center of The Arts, Peoria, IL. She holds a B.A. in Art and Art History from Washington College and an M.F.A. from Syracuse University—and feels the same excitement each and every time she pulls a squeegee across a fresh sheet of paper.

Website: susanczechowski.com
Email: sczechowski@sgcinternational.org

Valerie Dibble

Archives Coordinator

Board Member

Valerie Dibble is a dedicated artist, retired university professor, and a nurturing homemaker, celebrated as a wife, mother of three, and grandmother of two. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Printmaking and Photo Processes from Arizona State University in 1982 and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Printmaking and Electronic Media from the University of Florida in 1991. In 1993, Valerie was one of the original Artists in Residence at Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, and later returned to complete her Arts in Health graduate certificate in 2022.

Website: https://www.valeriedibble.com/

ADRIANA BARRIOS

Board Member

Adriana Barrios is a queer, biracial, Latina, artist who grew up on the coastal borderlands of San Diego, California. Barrios received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio and is a Master of Fine Arts graduate from The University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Barrios has worked with The Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Santa Reparata International School of Art, and The Chazen Museum of Art. Barrios has exhibited her artwork internationally in Italy and Mexico and nationally in New York, New Mexico, and Texas. Her artwork is in the collections of UW-Madison Graduate School and UW-Madison Department of Special Collections.

Barrios’s artwork presents a visual response to climate change alongside scientific field work that gives meaning to the social consequences of her lived experience. Barrios uses printmaking, paper making, video, and installation as a way to record and respond to the environmental changes currently happening along the California Coastline due to climate change.

Website: adrianabarriosart.com
Instagram: adriana_barrios_art
Email: abarrios@sgcinternational.org

JAVIER FLORES

Board Member

Born April 27, 1978, in Denver Colorado to Mexican immigrants, Javier Flores is the
eldest of 3 kids. Raised in a blue collar, middle to lower income level household in Brighton, Colorado helped to instill a strong work ethic, honesty, and integrity. At the age of nineteen Javier was shot in the lower back and subsequently paralyzed. Initially in shock and depression he became distant and suicidal for a time, thankfully saved by family, friends, the visual arts and martial arts.

Flores received his Bachelor of Fine Art from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2008, and his Master of Fine Art from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi in 2017. Since graduating, he worked as an affiliate until 2021 acquiring a full-time position at Front Range Community College. In this role he is the Art Lead for all 2D courses and the Gallery Director of the school.

As an artist, Flores chooses to associate with the idea of Lenguaje Vulgar, or vulgar
language, a reference to cussing in Spanish. The connection of imagery to language is a symbolic reference to the visual lexicon he continues to expand to explore the daily hindrance of his disability among other issues. The implication of swearing or cussing in accordance with his art, is a therapeutic tool which allows Flores to express frustration yet persevere. As a visual artist, Flores pursues a variety of mediums to best translate the biographical narrative approach to image and form making. By re-contextualizing common symbols, the viewer is led to a larger dialogue in which they must access their own personal context in relation to the art. The reflective aspect of Javier’s work is an exploration into identity in the form of culture, ecology, non-toxic masculinity, politics, temporality, loss and ultimately triumph.

Website: lenguajevulgar.com
Instagram: lenguajevulgar
Email: jflores@sgcinternational.org

GABY HURTADO-RAMOS

Board Member

Gaby Hurtado-Ramos is an artist and educator making zines, posters, and illustrations dedicated to queer archives and joyful resistance. Gaby grew up in Houston, Texas and later lived lived in Tucson, Arizona. In the Fall of 2021 they were an artist-in-residence at The Printing Museum where they worked in letterpress and risograph making work around Houston lesbian bar history. Inspired by radical printmakers, Gaby believes art should be socially engaged and accessible. Following this tradition, they create illustrations that support grassroots organizing for social change. They have made artwork for organizations and publications including the Highlander Center, ProPublica, and the Tucson Jewish Museum. Gaby is currently pursuing an MFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Printmaking at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Website: gabyhurtado.com
Instagram: gabyhurtadoramos
Email: ghurtado-ramos@sgcinternational.org

Jonathan Fisher

Archives Coordinator

Board Member

​​Jonathan resides in Atlanta and teaches in the School of Art & Design at Kennesaw State University as Associate Professor of Art and Coordinator of Studio Foundations. He earned his BFA in Art with a concentration in printmaking from The University of North Carolina at Asheville and MFA in the same from Ohio State University. His current work features colorful abstracts that evoke associations to clustering in nature, the solar system, and maps. He’s a heat-and-solar-powered human that enjoys summertime, lakes and oceans. He loves his stand up paddleboard and rarely spends a sunny day inside.

Email: jfisher@sgcinternational.org
Instagram: @jonathanfisherart

Fahimeh Vahdat

Maryland Representative

Board Member

Fahimeh Vahdat, born in Iran, is an American mixed-media installation/performance artist and a women’s, children’s, and human rights activist, including the LGBTQ communities. She is based in the Greater Baltimore/Washington DC region. Vahdat’s work consistently addresses current social issues through a variety of traditional and non-traditional processes such as printmaking, drawing, performance and materials, including fiber, dyes, wood, found and natural materials, paper, canvas, and her own body. Sewing, veiling, handwritten, printed, and spoken words are integral components of her installations and live performances.

In addition to her artistic practice, Vahdat is involved in various community engagement initiatives. She works with Amnesty International, Change.org, and the Howard County Human Rights Office in Columbia, MD. She currently serves on the board of the Southern Graphic Council International (SGCI) and on the Steering Committee for Arts and Culture of Howard County for the next two years.

Social activism, including human rights violation particularly in Iran, violence against women, girls, and the LGBTQ communities—especially domestic violence in both Iran and the USA—has been central to Vahdat’s artistic practice and teaching for nearly 30 years. She views activism in her art as a crucial tool to catalyze social consciousness and encourage various communities and public participation for positive change and healing. In short, Fahimeh Vahdat’s work embodies Healing Art.

Website: https://www.fahimehvahdat.org/
Instagram:
Email: fvahdat@sgcinternational.org

Calvin Custen

Board Member

BS 1978 Frostburg State University concentration in Printmaking and Photography
MFA 1988 University of Tennessee (Knoxville) Printmaking

Honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1972, my path took a transformative turn in the fall of 1973 when, fueled by the G.I. Bill, I enrolled in my first art and printmaking classes. This marked the beginning of a 47-year (and counting) journey immersed in the world of printmaking—a journey that has been a constant source of passion and fulfillment.

Throughout the past 47 years, I have had the privilege of teaching and working on various campuses in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin. It was during these years that I witnessed the incredible rise of computer technology, which became an essential aspect of my career, providing job security and stable income. I successfully established four computer labs on diferent campuses, all dedicated to the integration of technology with the art of printmaking.

Starting my artistic journey at the age of 24, I felt an urgency to catch up on the skills and knowledge I believed I needed. Now, at the age of 75, reflecting on my life’s work, I realize that the true joy and excitement come from the process of creating prints—making marks and making art. This process has been the driving force behind my passion.

Teaching the printmaking process to others has been equally rewarding. Witnessing the
moment students grasp the concepts, watching their faces light up with understanding,
and seeing them navigate their own creative paths has been a constant source of joy and
excitement.

Although retired from academia, I dearly miss the interactions with students and helping them discover their artistic paths and processes. The journey of printmaking and the joy of teaching have shaped not only my career but also my life’s purpose. I look forward to continuing this journey, finding new ways to share my passion for printmaking with others, and embracing the ever-evolving world of art and technology.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calvin-custen-a0a0097
Email: ccusten@sgcinternational.org