Self-Publishing

Join us for an insightful discussion on the self-publication process, with a focus on artists’ books and independent art publications. Our guests will explore the creative, technical, and business aspects of publishing, offering valuable insights tailored to artistic practices.

Bios:

Frances Cordelia Beaver is an author and artist living and working in the greater Philadelphia area. She is the author of the 2021 graphic novel, On a Cute One! about a trans woman with snakes for hair who turns a boy scout to stone on a cross country train trip and the forthcoming graphic novel, Give My Best to Your Kind, about a monkey declaring himself the first human being, then BBQing and eating his own ribs and transforming into Eve after an evening of hallucinogenic indigestion. 

Beaver came up in the DIY music scenes of Delco and Philadelphia, and has worked as a musician and songwriter, an experimental theater director, and a film maker. The central technology of all of her artwork, however, is storytelling. Beaver is an on again, off again organizer with Local 80, her favorite walks are long, and at the time of writing this is looking for a new job; do you know of any new jobs?

Kayla Romberger is an interdisciplinary artist and arts organizer based in Philadelphia. Her work investigates the intersection of print and digital media; the circulation of the image; and the various uses of the designed/printed form to disseminate information, initiate happenings, and foment change. Exhibitions of her work include basis voor actuele kunst (BAK, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Hauser & Wirth (New York), Satellite Projects (Miami), the 4th Gwangju Design Biennale (Gwangju, South Korea), and the New York Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1 (New York). Reviews of Romberger’s work have appeared in the Guardian, Lampoon Magazine, Artforum, and Designboom, among other platforms.

Prior to and outside of teaching at the University of Pennsylvania—where Romberger has taught classes in print media, design, and the senior thesis since 2015—she has served as a visiting critic at Cornell University, the New School’s MA Program in Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism, and held internships in public programming and education at the Whitney Museum of Art and Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia (ICA). 

Romberger is co-founder and co-director of the bookshop and exhibition space Ulises, where she has organized exhibitions with artists and publishing groups including Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Candice Lin, Hannah Black, Sharon Hayes, Martine Syms, Hardworking Goodlooking, and Bidoun. Notable projects include “Publishing As Practice,” an experimental art publishing residency funded by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, which resulted in a book by the same title.

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu. Please note, we require at least five (5) business days’ notice.