Degrees of Innovation (Opening Reception)

Exhibition :: Degrees of Innovation :: Alumni of the Mills College MFA Program in Book Art and Creative Writing
Opening Reception :: October 13, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Exhibition Run Dates :: October 13, 2017 through Janiary 14, 2017
Book Talk :: December 8, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Location :: San Francisco Center for the Book, 375 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco, CA
Tickets :: Admission is free.
The Mills College MFA program in Book Art and Creative writing was launched in 2006 and was the first program in the nation to combine these two disciplines into one degree.  In hindsight, it seems only natural to combine the study of a field that focuses on a vital form of creative content-making with the study of a field that focuses on the history, design, and craft of objects that contain content. But the program at Mills is so much more than the combination of two interrelated disciplines: it offers an innovative interdisciplinary space for students to expand their approach and understanding of each field through the lens of the other, allowing them to experiment with creation of new visions of what a book can be when elevated to the plane of art.
About the Artists
e bond a BFA in graphic design and art history from Moore College of Art & Design and an MFA in Creative Writing and Book Art from Mills College.  For over 15 years, e has worked as both a print and web designer for companies like Anthropologie and Gap Inc. while serving as professor of Graphic Design and Book Art in various college and university art departments.
Zoë Bulick is a poet and book artist originally from Boulder, Colorado. She now lives in Oakland, California where she is completing her MFA in Book Art and Poetry from Mills College.
Robert Borges’ work merges memoir, performance art, and music in the form of print and book art. Borges has over forty total printed works, musical releases, and published works.
Curt Brown is pursuing an M.F.A. in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College.
Isabel Duffy earned a BA in Art from the University of Oregon and an MFA in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College. Currently she teaches letterpress printing at the Oregon College of Art and Craft.
Jessica Gale is pursuing an M.F.A. in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College.
Faith Hale is a contributing editor and instructor at Creativebug. A hand-craft professional since 2006, Faith was co-editor of knit.1 magazine and created designs for Vogue Knitting and Knit Simple magazines. She received an MFA in Book Art and Creative Writing at Mills College.
Ariel Hansen-Strong is a book artist, printmaker, and designer based in San Francisco. She utilizes the form of the book in her work because it calls for an intimate experience of blended text and visuals. Strong received her MFA in Book Art & Creative Writing from Mills College in 2015.
Manar Harb is a researcher, writer, and artist. In 2014, she launched Anonymous Letter Writing, which earned her the Writing and Community Engagement Fellowship from Mills College. She has published poetry, features and articles in both English and Arabic. Harb grew up in Ramallah, Palestine. She is pursuing her M.F.A. in Book Art and Creative Writing at Mills College.
Brooke Hardy is pursuing an M.F.A. in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College.
Lyall Harris holds a BA in Art History from Northwestern University and an MFA in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College. Lyall's artwork has been exhibited in more than one hundred solo and juried group shows and recognized with over twenty awards. 
Kat Howard earned a BA in Creative Writing from Brandeis University in 2006, and worked at the Whitney Museum of American Art until 2010, when she left the museum world to pursue an MFA in Book Art & Creative Writing, which she received from Mills College in 2013.
Shiloh Jines is a poet & visual artist based in Oakland, California. She is the co-author of the hand-bound letterpress chapbook SITE OF IMPACT (Eucalyptus Press 2016). She is currently working on her poetry manuscript, “& if it flows like pity/ then it spills like viscous fluid” and Mills College MFA thesis exhibition. 
Perla Yasmeen Meléndez holds a BA and MFA in Book Art & Creative Writing from the UC Santa Barbara, and Mills College, and a Culinary Arts Degree from Costa Rica's Escuela Gourmet ARCAM. Meléndez has extensive experience teaching art, cooking, and creative writing to youth and adults.
Nora McKinnon is a queer, inter-disciplinary artist and poet based in Oakland, California. Currently a candidate for an MFA in Book Art and Poetry from Mills College, they received their BA in Printmaking and Gender Studies from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Heather Peters (Pratt) is an artist and writer inspired by the impact that nature has on stories. She is a MFA candidate in Book Arts at Mills College, and is responsible for paper-making at Magnolia Editions.
Kate Robinson is a poet and intermedia book artist from Oakland, CA where she co-curates the Manifest Reading and Workshop Series and creates artists’ books under the imprint Manifest Press. Kate was the 2014 Mills College Book Art Teaching Fellow.
Ava Sayaka Rosen is an Oakland-based artist and writer and founder of four eyes press. Ava earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from U.C. Santa Cruz and is pursuing an M.F.A. in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College.
Keri Schroeder is a book artist, writer, and illustrator based out of Oakland, California. She creates limited-edition artist books, handcrafts, and ephemera under the imprint of Coyote Bones Press, est. 2015.