Alumni Profiles

Steven Tatar, a 1985 Cleveland Institute of Art graduate in glass and sculpture, runs the Ohio Knitting Mills clothing company out of Cleveland, Ohio. His mainstay brand is built on the artifacts of thousands of 1940s–70s knits he uncovered from the garment factory’s archives. He releasedThe Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book in the summer of 2010.

As one of the leading tattoo artists in the country, Paul Timman '95 has tattooed many celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Ben Affleck, and Drew Barrymore. His sought-after tribal and traditional Japanese designs are now part of a unique line of dishware from Ink Dish.

Thaddeus Wolfe

Title Studio Artist & Lighting Designer
Major Craft + Design

• Website

Glass artist Thaddeus Wolfe employs a non-traditional approach to classical glass techniques and processes to create an exciting body of work that offers a unique and captivating new direction for the material.

Many of Wolfe's pieces are created using a molding process; each single mold can only be used once. Wolfe layers color in his glass, then carves through the layers to reveal the stratum and interior color.

His primary body of work -- the Assemblage series -- began as an exploration of mineral forms found in nature, and evolved into its own language with references to architecture and modern art. His signature glass techniques result in a rough texture and a form reminiscent of Brutalist architecture, in particular.

His work is informed by the history of art and design, but draws most of its inspiration and direction from the richly crafted works of skilled artisans working with absolute dedication to their material to create decorative functional objects.

Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, Wolfe studied glass at the Cleveland Institute of Art, graduating with a BFA in 2002. Wolfe has held artist residencies at Pilchuck Glass School (Seattle, WA), Wheaton's Creative Glass Center of America (Millville, NJ) and the Museum of Glass (Tacoma, WA). He has also worked as an apprentice and assistant to leading glass blowers, including Jeff Zimmerman and Josiah McElheny. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

CIA alums Chris Jungjohann and Tim Zeller started Recess Creative, a full-service digital advertising and marketing agency in Cleveland, in 2009. True to their name, Recess is a fun, creative workplace that specializes in everything from websites to cakes.