Teresa Pankratz is an interdisciplinary book and paper artist living and working in Chicago. She uses the mediums of printmaking, bookbinding, sculpture, writing and performance to tell stories. Her tales of desire, loss and transformation find their physical form as artists’ books, narrative sculptures and installations.

Teresa has been exhibiting since 1988. More than 60 of her pieces have been placed in over 40 special collection libraries and museums, including the Flaxman Library of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Special Collection Library at the Seattle Art Museum, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, and the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Teresa is also a free-lance illustrator and sole proprietor of Theodora Press, a publisher of handmade, original limited edition artists’ books. She is represented by Vamp & Tramp Booksellers, LLC.

2023

  • Be Mine: A Group Art Exhibition (and a Valentine's Day Tradition), Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, IL

2022

  • Then as Now: Woodland Pattern 1980-2022, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Milwaukee, WI
  • Let It Grow: 10 Years of Collaborative Printmaking at Hoofprint, Chicago, IL
  • Be Mine: A Group Art Exhibition (and a Valentine's Day Tradition), Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago, IL

2020

  • The Vertigo Lounge of John Akomfrah: Future History, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA

2019

  • Unfolding: Artists' Books by Teresa Pankratz, Solo Exhibition, Hershberger Art Gallery, Goshen College, Eric Yake Kenagy Visiting Artist Program, Goshen, IN
  • Dreaming, Five Person Exhibition, Christopher Art Gallery, Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL

2018

  • Infinite Games 50/50, Open House Contemporary, Chicago

2017

  • Crossing the Line Exhibition, Margaret Martin Gehman Art Gallery, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA

2016

  • 59 Dreams/Into the Night: Dream Works by Teresa Pankratz, Solo Exhibition, Hoofprint Workshop, Chicago
  • The Printed Page II, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO

2015

  • Stories, Wild and Domestic: Artists’ Books by Teresa Pankratz, Solo Exhibition, Carlson Tower Gallery, North Park University, Chicago
  • Words/Matter: A Library for Artist Books, Arts on Albany, Chicago
  • Worn Articles: Heard, Read, Remembered, Uptown Arts Center, Chicago
  • Content:Artifact, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO
  • Caxton Club of Chicago’s 120th Anniversary Pop-Up Exhibit, Newberry Library, Chicago

2014

  • The Dream House Collection OR Tales of Narrow Escape: A Sculptural Novel, Solo Exhibition, Fine Art Center Gallery, Bethel College of Kansas, North Newton

2013

  • A BC ABC Book: Bethel College of Kansas in Art and Rhyme, the Exhibit, Mojos Bethel Campus, North Newton, KS

2012

  • Word 6:An Architecture of Multi-Modal Poetry/Text, Arcade Gallery, Chicago
  • The Dream House Collection OR Tales of Narrow Escape: A Sculptural Novel, as part of On Making Things Matter: Strategies for Preservation, South Side Hub of Production (SHoP), Chicago

2011

  • Natural Cycles; Sustainability in the Book and Paper Arts, Brushwood, Ryerson Woods, Deerfield, IL
  • The Book as Memorial: Book Artists Respond to and Remember 9/11, Yale Arts Library, New Haven, CT

2010

  • 2010 Albert P. Weisman Award Exhibition, The Arcade Gallery, Columbia College Chicago

2009

  • 32nd Bradley International Print & Drawing Exhibition, Bradley University, Peoria IL

2008

  • Enter Into Circulation: An Alternative Library, Finch Gallery, Chicago

2007

  • Book X Change, Fifth Floor Gallery, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

2004

  • 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper

2002

  • Text and Context: A Mennonite Artists Invitational, Goshen College, Goshen, IN

1995

  • New Testament Personalities: Traveling Exhibition, Century II Convention Center, Wichita, KS

1994

  • Fine Printers, Finely Bound Two: Chicago Hand Bookbinders Fifteenth Anniversary Exhibit, Newberry Library, Chicago

1993

  • Building the Architectural Book, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN
  • Artists Book Works: A Decade in Illinois, Illinois Art Gallery, James R. Thompson Center, Chicago

1992

  • Volumination: The Book as Art Object, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
  • Annual Artist Member Exhibit: Love and Romance, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY

1991

  • Her Heart Laid Open As A Book: Artists Books by Teresa Pankratz, Solo Exhibition, Fine Arts CenterGallery, Bethel College, North Newton, KS
  • War and Peace: An Exhibition of Artists' Books, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY
  • Chicago Hand Bookbinders Twelfth Anniversary Exhibition, Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago

1990

  • Green Window Printers: Pamela Barrie, Audrey Niffenegger and Teresa Pankratz, Three Person Exhibition, Woodland Pattern Book Center, Milwaukee, WI

1990

  • Chicago Hand Bookbinders Exhibition, Northwestern University Library, Evanston, IL
  • Artists' Books of the 1980's, Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS
  • Book Arts in the USA Traveling Exhibition, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY Preview for 2-year African tour

1989

  • Books and Bookends, Strathmore Hall Arts Center, North Bethesda, MD
  • Scmeckfest Arts Festival Featured Artists: Teresa Pankratz and Bryan Saner, Two Person Exhibition, Heritage Hall Gallery, Freeman, SD

1988

  • Books and Bookmaking, Printmaking Council of New Jersey, Sommerville, NJ
  • Artists' Books Illinois Traveling Exhibition, Chicago Cultural Center

Education

2010 MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College Chicago
1978 BA in Fine Art, Bethel College, North Newton, KS

Residences, grants and awards

2019 Eric Yake Kenagy Visiting Artist, Goshen College
2014 Visiting Artist in Residence, Bethel College of Kansas, January 6 to 24
2012 Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) grant recipient
2011 Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) grant recipient
2010 Best of Show Award, 2010 Albert P. Weisman Award Exhibition
2010 Albert P. Weisman Award, Columbia College Chicago
2008 Caxton Club Scholarship Award, Caxton Club of Chicago
2007 Follett Fellowship Award, Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College Chicago