Academic : Design : Studio : Emeritus

Elka Kazmierczak
Visiting Assistant Professor, Communication Design

Elka Kazmierczak is a printmaker, book artist, and editorial designer and illustrator who immigrated from Poland in 1990. She earned an MFA in Graphic Design and MA in Art Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a fellow of the Polish Ministry of Culture and Art (1987-1988).

Recently, she has become an art publisher with her first book titled Art of Survival: Women, Healing, and the Arts (available at www.art4e.org). Her interest is in the role of art on the betterment of the human spirit. She is founding director of Art for Empowerment program at The Women’s Center (Carbondale, IL). The program is developed to empower women and teen survivors of abuse through art making. Her recent exhibition of linoleum prints Breaking the Silence: One Woman’s Tale of Survival was funded by a small grant from Carbondale Community Arts (2005).

During her 22-year career, her designs and prints have earned numerous awards. Her triptych against abuse of women was exhibited during The Chicago Solution Show (2005), a national competition of socially responsible art. Her artist’s book I Wish She Was Dead was exhibited during the Fourth International Columbia Book and Paper Arts Triennial in Chicago (2005). For seven years she was Head of the Illustration Program at the University at Buffalo, NY. Currently, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Besides being involved in the creative endeavors, she conducts research focusing on visual literacy and the role of creativity on life decisions. She has published her research extensively in scholarly peer-reviewed journals, including Visual Sociology Journal, Design Issues, and Journal of Semiotic Society of America. She is a co-chair of the Expert Forum for Knowledge Presentation (www.knowledgepresentation.org) of the International Institute for Information Design and served as a guest editor for several journals, including Information Design Journal and Trickster’s Way.

Portfolio at www.elkadesigns.com