FOUNDER & PAST PRESIDENT
PROGRAMMING CO-CHAIR

Audrey Niffenegger is an internationally known author and artist. A founder of the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts (CCCBPA), she taught printing, creative writing, and visual narrative as a professor in its MFA program for many years.

PRESIDENT

Tom Greensfelder is founder of Greensfelder Design, where he has served clients from cartoonists Nichole Hollander and Lynda Barry to myriad arts organizations. He has taught at SAIC, Loyola University, and the Newberry Library and served on boards including Artists Book Works, CCCBPA, Chicago Calligraphy Collective, and, for 17 years, Teatro Vista (Chicago’s only equity Latino theater company).

SECRETARY

Karen Paluzzi Steele is a long time Chicagoan, passionate about supporting the arts with 30+ years of extensive administrative leadership experience, including assessing, designing, training and implementing consistent programs and office procedures. Experience also includes budgeting, managing staff, volunteer management and providing support to board members and the general public. She has worked at Sculpture Chicago, Chicago Humanities Festival, The Honeycomb Project and Chicago Public Schools and served on Boards, including Whitewalls and archi-treasures and as PTA President. Karen enjoys biking, baking, reading and exploring the city with her husband and kids.

TREASURER & FINANCE CHAIR

Eileen Pollard is an accountant for Chicago Women in Trades, a nonprofit organization that trains women for entry into the skilled construction trade unions and enacts policy and advocacy work aimed at changing legislation. She has served as their Board Treasurer for eight years.

Hannah Batsel is an in-demand book artist, writer, and illustrator with an MFA in Printmaking and Book Arts from CCCBPA. Her handmade work can be found in library and museum collections, and her mass-market picture books are found wherever books are sold.

PROGRAMMING CO-CHAIR

Melissa Jay Craig is a sculptor, book, and installation artist whose primary medium is handmade paper. For 15 years, she managed exhibitions at CCCBPA and taught in the Interdisciplinary Arts Department’s MFA program. Her work is included in museum, rare book, print and artists’ book collections throughout the United States.

Killian Fowler, formerly ABH’s Programming Assistant, has extensive experience in arts administration, curation, preparation, and as an artist. Prior to ABH, they served as Assistant and Interim Director of Art at Epiphany Center for the Arts, curating exhibitions featuring diverse Chicago-based artists. They also worked with the Wabash Arts Corridor, Columbia College Chicago’s Department of Exhibition and Performance Spaces, juried the 2022 Artistic Discovery Congressional Art Competition, and supervised the 2022 RE-TOOL 21 program. As a multidisciplinary artist focused on painting and narrative work, Fowler explores identity and self in cultural contexts, drawing on research in religion, feminism, philosophy, and history. Their work has been exhibited in Houston and Chicago, earning the 2021 Aiko Nakane Fellowship and 2022 Albert P. Weisman Award.

CO-FOUNDER & PAST PRESIDENT

Kenneth Gerleve, is an interdisciplinary artist whose work often combines darkly humorous narrative and imagery. He combines traditional Gothic elements with contemporary culture in various forms, such as illustrated books, animations, puppet fabrication and doll making, and site-specific installations.

Gerleve holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts from Columbia College Chicago. He currently focuses on Artists Book House but occasionally assists visual artist and author Audrey Niffenegger and her husband, cartoonist and author Eddie Campbell. He has also contributed to the planning and design of Rags to Witches, a family-oriented Halloween event at the Ragdale Foundation. Gerleve is currently working on an illustrated gothic mystery novel titled Summerland.

Tara Maher, an accomplished aviation insider turned novelist. A proud member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), Chicago Writers Association (CWA), and StoryStudio, Tara serves as the Director of Community Outreach and Engagement for the Off Campus Writer’s Workshop of Chicago (OCWW). She supports fellow OCWW members as a Developmental Editor for their anthology, Meaningful Conflicts: The Art of Friction. Raised in Edina, Minnesota, Tara earned a B.A. in Communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

FUNDRAISING CO-CHAIR

Sheryl Orlove, a Chicago native, holds a BFA in Art and Art Education and a Master’s in Library and Information Science. She’s deeply rooted in the arts, having worked in development at the Art Institute of Chicago. Since meeting Audrey at a printmaking class in 1991, Sheryl has pursued printmaking, drawing, jewelry making, curating, reading, watching films, and attending live music. She’s traveled to over 50 countries.

FACILITIES CHAIR

Carol Prieto has been a realtor for over 30 years and has so many real estate “stories,” she could write a book. A trustee at the Evanston Historical Society and the Evanston Art Center for many years, Ms. Prieto continues to work to preserve and encourage the arts and humanities.

MARKETING CHAIR

Todd Summar is a writer, editor, and marketing professional. His work can be seen in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Literary Hub, the Chicago Review of Books, and elsewhere. He is the founding editor of Goreyesque, a freelance editor, and a former instructor in the English Department at Columbia College Chicago as well as StoryStudio Chicago. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago, and has worked in marketing and PR for over 23 years. 

Katie Tuten, a founder and former co-owner of the renowned Hideout in Chicago for 25 years. For over two decades, she has supported, promoted, and consulted artists, musicians, small business owners, and non-profit organizations. With a 30-year career in non-profit organizations, she’s a social justice activist involved in various projects, and a respected leader understanding the intersection of art, music, culture, politics, education, and social justice. She founded and co-chairs the Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL), uniting diverse music venues in Chicago. A founding member of NIVA National Independent Venue Association, she received the Foundation of Music 2017 Award, was named Chicagoan of the Year 2019, won the Venues Now 2020 award, and received the 2021 Executive Service Corps Nonprofit Board Member of the Year Award for her work with BandWith.