Katie Geha, a writer, curator, and art historian, will be the next director of Tandem Press, UW–Madison School of Education Dean Diana Hess announced on Thursday.
Geha is currently director and chief curator of the galleries at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, including its gallery space in downtown Athens, Georgia, The Athenaeum. She will begin her new position on Aug. 5.
Tandem Press, which was founded in 1987 and is part of the School of Education, is a premier publisher of fine art prints that hosts internationally renowned artists in its studio space, assisting them as they create original fine art editions. Using an array of traditional and contemporary printmaking techniques, Tandem Press stands at the forefront of research, experimentation, and new developments in the field of printmaking.
The Chazen Museum of Art in Madison is the official archive of Tandem Press and receives one print from every edition that is published.
Tandem Press is also an important educational entity and is affiliated with the School of Education’s Art Department. Students employed at Tandem Press complement their coursework with practical hands-on experience, gaining an unparalleled insight into the professional art world by working as assistants to printers and curators. This affiliation is a leading reason why the Art Department’s printmaking program is consistently ranked No. 1 in the nation.
“Dr. Geha is exceptionally well qualified to be the next leader of Tandem Press,” says Hess. “She has an excellent record of arts leadership, strong professional relationships with outstanding artists, and the demonstrated ability to lead both imaginatively and collaboratively.”
In her role as director, Geha will report to the dean of the School of Education and is tasked with building upon Tandem Press’ existing strengths — including financial stability, an excellent staff, and strong, long-term relationships with the Art Department, Chazen Museum of Art, and numerous artists.
Other duties include: serving as the principal liaison between Tandem Press and the Dean’s Office at the School of Education, the Art Department, and Tandem’s advisory board; working to identify, cultivate, and retain artists who come to Tandem Press for services; managing artist visits and their educational activities while they are in Madison; and writing grants to support artist residency and student internships.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to steward this historic institution known for its collaborative innovation in contemporary printmaking,” says Geha. “That Tandem Press is affiliated with a leading research institution and is located in a thriving city that values the arts is the cherry on top. I’m especially excited to work with Tandem’s phenomenal team to envision and execute our next chapter.”
Geha has served as the director of the galleries and chief curator at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia since 2013. For more than a decade, Geha has dedicated her efforts to crafting an educational art scene that doubles as a captivating cultural hub in the southeast. These efforts have included hosting artists from outside Georgia — such as Amanda Ross-Ho — while also cultivating regional artists and encouraging students and faculty to curate their own programming.
In 2020 and 2021, Geha focused her efforts on working toward the opening of The Athenaeum, a 5,000-square-foot contemporary art space in an old tire store in downtown Athens, Georgia. The venue opened in September 2021 with a solo exhibition by Trevor Paglen. In this capacity, she has organized solo presentations by internationally renowned artists Kara Walker and Paul Pfieffer, as well as commissioned new projects by artists Lisa Tan, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Fabienne Lasserre.
Geha previously worked as the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University from 2004-08. She then left Wichita, Kansas, to pursue a PhD in modern and contemporary art at the University of Texas, Austin. During this time, Geha also ran a successful gallery, SOFA, out of her apartment from 2008-12, and organized exhibitions at Art Palace in Houston and the Blanton Museum of Art. She also began staging performances in empty warehouses throughout Austin.
Geha earned her PhD from the University of Texas, Austin, in 2013 — and then landed her current position at the University of Georgia. Her research is focused on American art from the 1960s to the present, and she broadly examines technology, science, mysticism, gender, and poetics as principles within the art of this period.
Paula Panczenko, the visionary leader of Tandem Press for over 30 years, announced in February that she will be retiring at the end of August. She first joined Tandem Press in 1989 as co-director and became the director in 1994. Panczenko spearheaded Tandem’s move to its current location at 1743 Commercial Ave. in 2013 and helped expand its footprint in 2017 with the addition of a formal gallery space and regular exhibition programming.