Joe Sanders

Education and Certifications

• BFA - Florida State University
  
• MFA - Arizona State University

Biography

Joe Sanders is an artist, administrator, and innovator. His creative production has focused on printmaking, handmade paper and mixed media installation. His interests include exploring intersections of art, science and technology. Collaborations fuel his work, as does the exploration and improvisation that occurs in the studio. Sanders’ work has delved into mixed media prints and pulp painting, and he enjoys exploring the printed object as a bridge between various medium.

After receiving an M.F.A. degree from Arizona State University, Sanders joined the faculty at the University of Georgia in Athens. In addition to his creative research focus, Sanders has served in many administrative roles. He served as Gallery Director, Graduate Program Coordinator, and Chair of the Printmaking Department in the Lamar Dodd School of Art during his tenure from 1988 to 2006, and he helped establish the Green Street Press letterpress studio and paper mill. He served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Art at Florida State University from 2006 to 2009, where he helped establish the FormLab and Small Craft Advisory Press. He held the Alan F. Rothschild Distinguished Chair of Art position at Columbus State University from 2009 to 2018, where he helped establish the Seaboard Depot Studios, CSU Pasaquan, Animation, and Graphic Design. He recently returned to full time teaching and studio practice.

In service to other arts organizations, Sanders served as Traveling Exhibition Coordinator, Vice-President and President of the Board of Directors for the Southern Graphics Council (now SGC International) and as editor of Graphic Impressions. He served on the Pasaquan Preservation Society (PPS) Board from 2010 to 2018 where he assisted with the stewardship transition from PPS, to Kohler Foundation, to Columbus State University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Printmakers Society.

Sanders’ creative work has been included in numerous national printmaking and book arts projects, and he has shown work in over 180 exhibitions. His prints and handmade books are in many museum, academic and library special collections. His work was recently included in the exhibition “Master Prints in the Permanent Collection,” at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, and the “Book as Art: Pulp” exhibition in Decatur, GA. Curatorial projects by Sanders include “MATRIX: Contemporary Printmaking” a national invitational exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts (MOFA), Florida State University. Sanders enjoys serving as a juror for art exhibitions. He also enjoys travel, collecting art, participating in artist-residencies, writing, fishing, spending time with family, and working at his studio retreat on Dog Island, Florida.

Academic Areas

• Studio Arts: Printmaking and Book Arts