b. 1985 / Philadelphia, PA
Currently lives and works in Ithaca, NY
2019 Edge Capture, Chicago Athletic Association Drawing Room, Chicago, IL
LIQUID TRANSMISSION, CRUXspace, Philadelphia, PA
2018 The Paper Is, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Encapsulated, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
2016 Portable Document, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Untitled, The Printer’s Ball, Chicago, IL (Performance and Installation)
2012 Frequency Illusions, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
2021 The Western Exhibitions Drawing Biennial, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
2020 The Velocity of a Page, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
CMYKings Zines in Four Colors, Antenna, New Orleans, LA
2019 Variations of the Artist Book, Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Printmaking as Resistance, Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, OH
Pushing Paper, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN (Juried exhibition)
2018 WBAC@25, String Room Gallery, Wells College, Aurora, NY
Companion Pieces, Anytime Dept., Cincinnati, OH
Wendy’s Subway Reading Room, Bard Graduate Center Gallery, New York, NY
Conversation Versions, Blue House Gallery, Dayton, OH
COPYING, International Center of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, Slovenia
2017 Graphic Mimicry, Stella Elkins Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
AMPLIFY & MULTIPLY, Coburn Gallery at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
History is Boring, THE MISSION, Chicago, IL
2016 Habeas Corpus, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA), Indianapolis, IN
2x3: A Generative Artwork Residency, A.P.E., Northampton, MA (Performance and Installation)
2015 Temporary Sculpture Park, First Friday Gallery Trail, Lubbock, TX
SAIC @ 150 Years, EXPO CHICAGO, Chicago, IL
Arc Mobile Reading Room, Vietnam Artist’s Book Project, Hanoi, Vietnam
The world is mystical, dangerous, and delicious, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
Melted City 2, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
2014 MEDIA FUTURES, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\, LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery, Chicago, IL
Bottom Feeders and the Distant Self, Slusser Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Surface Tension, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL
Digifabulous, Quarter Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
I Get Up in the Evening, Forum Gallery at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2013 Buddy System Invitational, Breeze Block Gallery, Portland, OR
These Friends, THIS Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Bound and/or Stapled (or not), Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
2012 inaugural, sophiajacob, Baltimore, MD
2011 The World As Text, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
2010 4 x 4, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
Baltidelphia, My House Gallery, Philadelphia, PA / The Hexagon, Baltimore, MD
Copy Jam! 2: Text Edition, The Printer’s Ball, Chicago, IL / Copy Jam!, Art in the Age, Philadelphia, PA
Out Loud: Artist’s Books Performed, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA (Performance)
Democratic Multiple, Gallery 224, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Long Term Interaction, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Master of Fine Arts, Studio Art / Printmedia Department, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2019 Philadelphia Center for the Book 2019 Book Paper Scissors Purchase Prize, Philadelphia, PA
Faculty Development Grant, Wells College, Aurora, NY
Nell Meldahl Scholarship, Paper & Book Intensive 2019, Saugatuck, MI
2018-9 Victor Hammer Fellowship, Wells Book Arts Center, Wells College, Aurora, NY
2018 Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Archives Research Residency, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation,
New York, NY
2017 Ox-Bow Fall Artist Residency, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2016 Artist Opportunity Grant, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Pittsburgh, PA
Finalist, 90th Annual International Competition, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
Artist’s Book Residency Grant, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
2013-15 Enrichment Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2014 Daniel Vandegrift Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
LeRoy Neiman Scholarship, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
Publication Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Roads Scholarship for Research and Travel, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Graduate Travel Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2010 Independent Publishing Resource Center Residency, Portland, OR
2008 Free Library of Philadelphia Artist’s Book Purchase Award, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Lenore Adelman Award in Printmaking, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Artist’s Book Purchase Award, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2006 Edith & Lessing J. Rosenwald Scholarship, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Baylor University Library, Waco, TX
Bennington College Crossett Library, Bennington, VT
Brooklyn Museum Library, Brooklyn, NY
Bucknell University Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library, Lewisburg, PA
The Free Library of Philadelphia, The Print and Picture Collection, Philadelphia, PA
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Independent Publishing Resource Center, Portland, OR
Lowercase Reading Room, Vancouver, BC
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Ohio State University Library, Columbus, OH
Reed College Library, Portland, OR
Ringling College of Art & Design, Alfred R. Goldstein Library, Sarasota, FL
Rochester Institute of Technology Wallace Library, Rochester, NY
Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Temple University, Special Collections Research Center at Paley Library, Philadelphia, PA
University of Arkansas Library, Fayetteville, AL
University of Delaware Hugh M. Morris Library, Newark, DE
University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, MI
University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt Library, Philadelphia, PA
The University of the Arts Borowsky Center for the Publication Arts Archive, Philadelphia, PA
Virginia Commonwealth University Library, Richmond, VA
Zine Archive and Publishing Project, Seattle, WA
Current/on-going
Waterwayzgoose, Publishing celebration and research with Patti Swanson
PEOPLE’S MUSEUMS, Publishing and research projects with Alina Josan
Goo From the Earth, Publishing and performance-based projects with Brittany De Nigris
CMYKings, Participant, Zine exchange organized by Amanda D’Amico
INTERNET ART BOOK FAIR, Founder and Organizer, Web-based curatorial publishing platform
2020 to hold yourself to, publication produced for Quarantine Public Library
Better Together, Curated Reading Room + Exhibition at String Room Gallery, Aurora, NY*
Documentation, publication produced for JAB: The Journal of Artists' Books 47/48
2019 i took a digital dérive, publication for MR. DISTRO, Pressure Club, Philadelphia, PA
Rochester Small Press Book Fair exhibitor
Chicago Art Book Fair exhibitor
2018 Rochester Small Press Book Fair exhibitor
Philadelphia Art Book Fair exhibitor
THINK ABOUT THE PLACE WHERE YOU LIVE, WONDER WHY YOU HAVEN'T for Western Pole by Jesse
Malmed & Eastern Pole by Breanne Trammel, Chicago, IL and Cincinnati, OH
2017 Cincinnati Art Book Fair exhibitor
Chicago Art Book Fair exhibitor
Philadelphia Art Book Fair exhibitor
Rest Belt, Exhibition series curated in collaboration with Keenan Bennett at every Eastbound
Service Plaza along the Ohio Turnpike, OH
2010-17 DBQ, Publishing, curatorial and performance projects in collaboration with Alex Lukas for site-
specific works and the DBQ Project Space (A Working Name), apartment gallery event space
2016 Of Rules and Rebellion, MAPC Biennial Conference Exchange Portfolio participant
Ultrices, Collaborative book with Marianne Dages at Huldra Press, Philadelphia, PA
2014 All is Well, Collaborative installation with Trevor King, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2012 States of Uncertainty, Curated exhibition by Ingrid Burrington at Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA
2011 also, books, Co-curated exhibition by Aidan Koch, Caroline Hwang, Beth Heinley, and Lizz Hickey at
Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA
2009-11 Holly Holly Hobby Hobby, Performance/publishing project in collaboration with Anni Altshuler
2020 Guest Lecturer + Bookbinding Workshop, Materials & Methods course, City College of New York,
New York, NY
Guest Lecturer, Professional Practices course, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Panelist, Virtual Opening Reception Artists’ Conversation, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
Panel Presentation, #bookarts, College Book Art Association Conference, New Orleans, LA
2019 Panelist, Artist Publications and Building Community Panel, Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
Guest Lecturer, Text & Code Course, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Guest Lecturer + Bookbinding Workshop, Publishing as Artistic Practice Course, Carnegie Mellon
University, Pittsburgh, PA
Visiting Artist, School of Art, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
2018 Artist’s Talk, Printers & Poets, Aurora Historical Society, Aurora, NY
Artist’s Talk, On Paper, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
Graduate Student Letterpress Workshop, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Artist’s Talk, Slide Night, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
2016 Guest Lecturer & Critic, Artist’s Ephemera Course, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Artist’s Talk, Oberlin College Art Department Visit, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Gallery Talk for Portable Document, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Guest Lecturer, Command+P Course, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Gallery Talk with Elena Ailes, \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\, LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery, Chicago, IL
Artist’s Talk, MACKIN_FALL14_NoontimeTalk.pdf, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2012 Gallery Talk, Frequency Illusions, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
Wells College, Wells Book Arts Center, Aurora, NY
Assistant Director and Academic Coordinator, 2019 - present
Victor Hammer Fellow, 2018-2019
Full-time Faculty in the Visual Arts Department
Courses taught:
Introduction to Print & Graphic Design, Fall 2020
Hand Bookbinding II, Fall 2020
The Artist in the Archive, Spring 2020 (Special Topics course)
Hand Bookbinding I, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018
The Printed Book, Spring 2019
Letterpress Printing, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
Instructor
Uniquely Printed Multiples, Summer 2019
Monotype, Summer 2018
Wells Summer Institute, Wells Book Arts Center, Aurora, NY
Co-Instructor: Extreme Bookbinding!, Summer 2018
Temple University / Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art
Book Structures, Spring 2018
Artists’ Books, Zines, & Independent Publishing, Spring 2018
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art
DP3: Advanced Print Media / 2D Media Studio: Print Media, Spring 2016
DP3: 2D Media Studio: Print Media, Fall 2015
Instructor, Pre-College Print Media, Summer 2016, Summer 2017
Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program, Williamsburg, MA
Instructor, Printmaking; Set up non-toxic printmaking studio
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Instructor/Teacher of Record
Introduction to Printmaking, Fall 2014
Teaching Assistant
Contemporary Practices: SAIC Wired I & II, Spring 2015
Advanced Printmaking, Spring 2015
Offset Productions, Summer 2014
Multiples Studio, Spring 2014
Artists’ Books, Spring 2014
Beginning Relief Printmaking, Fall 2013
Advanced Screen Printing, Fall 2013
The University of the Arts, Summer Pre-College Intensive, Philadelphia, PA
Teaching Assistant, Found Materials Sculpture
An Interview with Leah Mackin, Interview, Print Club Ltd., 28 May 2017.
Scudier, Kathryn, Light, Space, Action: Leah Mackin’s Response, Women’s Studio Workshop Blog, 12 May 2017.
Bodman, Sarah, Artists’ Books 2016: 10 of the year’s best…, a-n / The Artists Information Co, 30 Nov. 2016.
Artist of the Week, Interview, LVL3 Media, 11 Oct. 2016.
Grossman, Dan, Habeas Corpus Review, NUVO, 21 Sept. 2016.
Sechler, Jenny, "2x3: A Generative Arts Project" - Art About Making Art, Paradise City Press, 5 Aug. 2016.
Leah Mackin, Interview by Esther S. White, Bookbinding Now Podcast, 18 May 2016.
Swanwick, Michael, The Mummers Are Dead -- Long Live the Mummers!, Flogging Babel, 4 Jan. 2016.
Blasko, Eli, Leah Mackin, Eutopia, 28 July 2015.
Cox, Erinn M., REVIEW | MFA Show 2015, Louise & Maurice, 9 May 2015.
Cox, Erinn M., REVIEW | The World is..., Louise & Maurice, 1 Mar. 2015.
Barnes, Sarah E., Leah Mackin, Brown Paper Bag, 3 Dec. 2012.
van Haaften-Schick, Lauren, Logical Conclusions, Part II, Culture Hall, 11 Jan. 2012.
Heinly, Beth, B.Y.O.T.Y? Preview, Little Berlin Blog, 16 Oct. 2009.