Hi!
Orange Barrel Industries is an artist collaborative co-operated by Blake Sanders and Hannah March Sanders that curates exhibitions and presents workshops and lectures around the world. We’ve been together since 2007, and collaborating since about 2010 on artworks, exhibitions, and events. Even our wedding took place at an international printmaking conference as an art event! We work independently and collectively with each other and additional artists in printmaking, fiber arts, installation, and other forms of art making and pedagogy.
A LOVE STORY
Blake and Hannah met at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana while Hannah was finishing up her undergraduate BFA with a concentration in printmaking, and Blake was getting started on his MFA in printmaking.
They were married in a series of official 2011 Southern Graphics Council Conference International events entitled Blessed Unions in Saint Louis, Missouri. Blessed Unions was comprised of three days of functions including an exhibition at Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, a panel discussion on making printmaking partnerships work, and two wedding ceremony performances.
Blake and Hannah spent many years together exploring South Louisiana commuting to teach at a variety of institutions in the surrounding area including Tulane University in New Orleans, Baton Rouge Community College, and the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. After nearly 8 years in the swamp, they took off for a tenuous 6-month adventure in Murray, Kentucky. Then they relocated to Bowling Green, Ohio at the beginning of 2013.
Beginning in 2013, they braved the perils of living a 14 hour drive apart, which included lengthy phone conversations full of, “what are you thinking about?”s while Blake taught Printmaking at Bowling Green State University, and Hannah taught Drawing, Design, and Art Appreciation at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
They are now happily reunited in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where they both teach at Southeast Missouri State University. They were joined by Levee in 2014 and Batty in 2020!
ABOUT BLAKE
Blake Anthony Sanders hails from Cedar Falls, Iowa. He has a BFA from the University of Northern Iowa and an MFA from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA in Printmaking.
He loves peanut butter on saltines, plain black bic ink pens and checking out films from the library. Blake was formerly an Instructor in Printmaking and then Interim Area Head of Printmaking at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Just prior to that, he was an Adjunct Professor of Drawing and Printmaking at Murray State University in Murray, KY as well as Austin Peay University in Clarkesville, Tennessee. He is currently an Instructor at Southeast Missouri State University, where he teaches foundations of art courses. He also is the Coordinator of Graphic Impressions for the Southern Graphics Council International.
http://blakeanthonysanders.com/
ABOUT HANNAH
Hannah March Sanders was born and raised in Georgia. She has a BFA from Tulane University in New Orleans and a Printmaking MFA from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Hannah enjoys rainy afternoons, 0.5mm Staedler black ink pens, and the smell of old books.
She is currently a Professor of Art at Southeast Missouri State University, where she is Area Head of Printmaking and Fibers and teaches all levels of Printmaking and Drawing.