Ingrid Hess
EDUCATION
• Indiana University M.F.A.
• Goshen College B.A. in Psychology Minor in Fine Art.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
• The University of Massachusetts, Lowell
2014-Present Lowell, MA
Associate Professor of Graphic Design
• The College of Brockport, SUNY
2011-2014 Brockport, NY
Visiting assistant Professor of Graphic Design
• The University of Notre Dame
2008-2011 South Bend, IN
Visiting assistant Professor of Graphic Design
• McDougal Littell
1999-2008 Chicago, IL
Senior Designer
• Kym Abrams Design
1996-1999 Chicago, IL
Managing art director
PUBLISHED BOOKS
• Printing the Alphabet Designer/Illustrator 2025 Logic of English
• The Cursive Alphabet Designer/Illustrator 2025 Logic of English
• The Sight Detective Designer/Illustrator 2024 World Scientific
• The Sound Detective Designer/Illustrator 2024 World Scientific
• The Smell Detective Designer/Illustrator 2024 World Scientific
• The Touch Detective Designer/Illustrator 2024 World Scientific
• The Taste Detective Designer/Illustrator 2024 World Scientific
• How the Brain Learns to Read Designer/Illustrator 2023 Pedia Learning
• Mr. Magnificent’s Magical Merrimack Adventure Designer/Author/Illustrator 2017 Eastern National
• Whistling Whales: Beyond the Sounds of ABC Designer/Illustrator 2017 Pedia Learning
• Knitting Knights: Beyond the Sounds of ABC Designer/Illustrator 2017 Pedia Learning
• Haiti + Fair trade = Hope Designer/Author 2016 ABN
• An Amish Alphabet Designer/Author/Illustrator 2012 MennoMedia
• Doodling Dragons Designer/Illustrator 2012 Pedia Learning
• Think Fair Trade First Designer/Author/Illustrator 2010 FTRN
• Walk in Peace Designer/Author/Illustrator 2009 Mennonite PN
• Sleep in Peace Designer/Author/Illustrator 2007 Mennonite PN
• Praying With Our Feet Designer/Illustrator 2005 Mennonite PN
AWARDS
• Fulbright Specialist Award 2024
• Queen’s University Belfast Artist Residency 2024
• Cultivamos Cultura Artist Residency 2024
• Royal Dragonfly Book Award 2023
• Fulbright-Ireland Award 2023
• National Indie Excellence Award 2023
• Midwest Independent Publishers Award 2023
• Donahue Fellow In Ethical Leadership 2023
• BigCi Artist Residency, Australia) 2022
• UMinho Teaching Mobility Grant – Erasmus 2022
• Fulbright (Cork, Ireland) 2021
• Acadia National Park Artist Residency 2019
• UMinho Teaching Mobility Grant – Erasmus 2019
• MassHumanities Grant 2019
• Fulbright (Limerick,Ireland) 2017
• Moonbeam Children’s Book Award 2017
• Excellence in Cultural Heritage Award 2017
• Ragdale Artist Residency 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015
• Puffin Foundation Award 2013
• The Rodda Book Award 2008
EXHIBITIONS
• Fragile & Resilient. 2025 Group Exhibition The U. of The Azores, Portugal
• Full of Wonder or plastic? 2024 Solo Exhibition Queen’s Belfast University
• What we all have in Common 2022 Solo Exhibition Nogueira da Silva Museum Braga
• What we all have in Common 2022 Solo Exhibition Universidade do Minho, Portugal
• Let’s Build: Portugal 2019 Solo Exhibition Universidade do Minho, Portugal
• Consumption 2019 Solo Exhibition University of Limerick, Ireland
• Consumption 2018 Solo Exhibition Linda Hummel-Shea ArtSpace, MA
• Prehistoric Ireland 2018 Solo Exhibition The Hunt Museum, Ireland
• Let’s Build!” 2017 Solo Exhibition The Discovery Museums, MA
• The Wrong Water” 2017 Group Exhibition Peripheral Forms
• Water Rights=Human Rights 2017 Group Exhibition Boston Graduate School, MA
• Water: Drops of Life” 2017 Solo Exhibition La Galeria Nacional, Costa Rica
• Water: Drops of Life” 2017 Solo Exhibition Museo de San Ramon, Costa Rica
• Cut-Paper Creations” 2017 Solo Exhibition University of Limerick, Ireland
• Creating Mister Magnificent” 2016 Solo Exhibition Tsongas Industrial History Ctr, MA
• We ALL need PEACE” 2016 Solo Exhibition Illinois Holocaust Museum, IL
• Why Peace?” 2015 Solo Exhibition Dayton Peace Museum
• Why Peace?” 2015 Group Exhibition Boston Children’s Hospital
• Mothers & Babies on Safari 2012 Group Exhibition Strong Museum of Play, NY
• Mothers & Babies on Safari 2010 Permanent Display Riley Mother/Baby Hospital,Kenya.
• Creating a Children’s Book 2010 Solo Exhibition Abner Hershberger Gallery, IN
• SCBWI 2008 Group Exhibition New York City
PUBLIC SPEAKING
• NAEA KENTUCKY CONFERENCE 2025 (Nov) Kentucky
• ‘REACH 25 CONFERENCE 2025 Queen’s Belfast University
• ‘REACH 24 CONFERENCE 2024 Queen’s Belfast University
• NAEA NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE 2023 Raleigh, North Carolina
• NAEA LOUISIANA CONFERENCE 2022 Louisiana
• NAEA NATIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2022 Park City, Utah
• UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO 2022 Guimareas, Portugal
• NATIONAL ARTS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 2022 New York City
• STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: Brockport 2021 Brockport, NY
• MERRIMACK COLLEGE 2020 North Andover, NY
• MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY 2019 Boston, MA
• UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO 2019 Guimareas, Portugal
• UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK: MARY I COLLEGE 2019 Limerick, Ireland
• THE HUNT MUSEUM 2019 Limerick, Ireland
• DJHS-ABL WRITING FOR PEACE CONFERENCE 2018 Mumbai, India
• ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 2017 Rochester, NY
• UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK: MARY I COLLEGE 2017 Limerick, Ireland
• LESLIE UNIVERSITY 2016 Boston, MA
• LA UNIVERSIDAD DE COSTA RICA, SAN RAMON 2016 San Ramon, Costa Rica
• MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN 2016 Boston, MA
• ENARTS (ECOLE NATIONALE DES ARTS) 2015 Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• DAYTON INTERNATIONAL PEACE MUSEUM 2015 Dayton, OH
• CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY 2012 Cedarville, OH
• FRESNO STATE UNIVERSITY 2010 Fresno, CA
• SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 2010 Seattle, WA
• NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY 2009 North Park, IL
• INDIANA UNIVERSITY, SOUTH BEND 2009 South Bend, IN
• GOSHEN COLLEGE 2008 Goshen, IN
SPECIAL PROJECTS
• UNIVERSITY OF THE AZORES 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, AZORES 2025
I was asked by the University of the Azores to create an exhibition as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. I curated the show, “Fragile & Resilient”, which showcased the work of three artist/designers. Along with my work, I selected Marta de Menezes, a famous Portuguese artist, and Anna Isaac-Roth, residency and studio manager of Cultivamos Cultura. The show focused on environmental sustainability and opened the week of Earth Day, 2025.
• MY WORK WITH QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY BELFAST “REACH: SUSTAINABILITY & THE ARTS” FESTIVALS, NORTHERN IRELAND 2024 & 2025
In 2024, I was awarded a three-week artist-in-residency to design an exhibition about sustainability with Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). This residency was funded in part by the Fulbright Foundation. I created a solo exhibition titled, “Full of Wonder or Full of Plastic? You Decide.” The work focused on plastic in the ocean and the magnificent flora and fauna that are impacted by this plastic. My exhibition inspired the Reach’24: Sustainability & the Arts Festival. The festival brought together artists and scholars from around to world to share ideas about how to combat climate change. Due both to the success of my exhibition and the festival, this festival is now a yearly event. The global impact of my exhibition will continue to grow with each new festival.
• CULTIVAMOS CULTURA ARTIST RESIDENCY, PORTUGAL 2024
In 2024, I was awarded a month-long, fully-funded residency at Cultivamos Cultura, an internationally-juried residency in Portugal. While at this residency, I created a large triptych titled, “All Water Is Holy Water” (from a quote by American Playwright, Rajiv Joseph). This work focused on sustainability and the ocean. Each time I travel to a different part of the world to create work, I want to incorporate my surroundings and be influenced by the distinct culture. This work incorporates Portugal’s Catholicism and the sardine (one of the national symbols of Portugal and a key contributor to both Portugal’s economy and its cuisine). This work is now part of a body of work that is exhibited around Europe.
• OUR FIVE SENSES BOOK SERIES, 2024
In 2018, with and eye toward encouraging girls to engage in science. Dr. Noureddine Melikechi, Dean of the Kennedy College of Sciences and internationally renowned physicist, and I decided to partner on a children’s book explaining the science of color. I created the design and illustration while Dr. Melikechi provided the science. I chose to depict our protagonist as a young BIPOC girl in order to promote a more empowering equitable portrayal of the roles women play in our world. World Scientific Education (WSE), an imprint of the global publishing house, World Scientific Publishing Company, saw “The Sight Detective” and loved it. They asked us create an entire series around the main character, Assia. In 2024, the “Our Five Senses” series was published. This set of five books teaches the science behind sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
• MY WORK WITH LOGIC OF ENGLISH, 2012-2025
Since 2012 I have worked with the publisher, Logic of English, to create kids’ books that help elementary school children learn to read. In this time I have illustrated four books and numerous teaching tools. Before COVID I created three books on literacy: Doodling Dragons, An ABC Book of Sounds, Whistling Whales: Beyond the Sounds of ABC and Knitting Knights: Beyond the Sounds of ABC. After COVID, due to the need for making educational material available to housebound parents and children, the publisher (Logic of English) asked me to re-create these three books as downloadable lessons that parents could easily access. Additionally, because each of my previous books for this publisher won national awards, (including the prestigious Moonbeam Children’s Book Award) I was asked to design a fourth book, entitled How Your Brain Learns To Read!, which explains how different parts of the brain are engaged during the process of reading. This book, published in November 2022, also won a national award—first place in the coveted Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in the category of Picture Books 6 & Older.
• THE MASSACHUSETTS COOL SCHOOL PROGRAM 2023-2025
For the past 3 years I have worked with the RIST Institute for Sustainability & Energy in developing materials for the Massachusetts Cool Schools Project. The project requires participating schools to complete steps that engage and educate their community about sustainability. As part of the project, each school will be provided with resources that help them achieve these steps while further teaching about sustainability. My role is to create these educational materials for teachers to use in their classrooms. By engaging the youngest members of our educational community, I am helping to insure that the next generation of adults will be leaders in sustainability and have a solid understanding and appreciation for good sustainable practices. Working with the RIST is in keeping with the interdisciplinary collaborations that are important to my work.
• MY WORK WITH NAEA, 2022-2023
The NAEA (the National Arts Education Association) “.... is the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts educators.” I spoke at their national convention in New York City. As a result of the success of this speech I was asked to be the keynote speaker at the NAEA National Leadership conference in Utah and at both the North Carolina and Louisiana State conventions.
• WOLLEMI NATIONAL PARK, AUSTRALIA, 2022
In 2020, I was awarded an internationally-juried artist residency at BigCi in Wollemi National Park in Australia. I designed banners about the Australian National Parks, for elementary school teachers to use in their classrooms. The banners teach young children about interesting wildlife in the park, and about ways that children can be good stewards of the environment. The Blue Mountains Conservation Society, the premier Society for protecting, conserving, and advocating for the natural environment of the Greater Blue Mountains, serialized the banners. From 2022 through 2024, my work appeared in their monthly publication.
• FULBRIGHT @ UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK, IRELAND 2021
In 2021, I received the Fulbright Specialist Award which allowed me to travel to Ireland to create work on the theme of sustainability. I designed a card game for children that focuses on caring for the environment with University College Cork. UCC hosts sustainability field trips for elementary schools around Ireland. Each group that participates is gifted a card game for their classroom. My game allows students to continue learning long after the field trip is over. “Fulbright academic awards are considered highly selective, with an average acceptance rate around 20%.”(Fulbright Foundation)
• ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, 2019
I was awarded a 2-week residency at Acadia National Park to develop resources that the Park uses to engage their younger audiences with nature. The final work I created is part of the Park’s collection and is on permanent display at the visitors centers.
• UMINHO TEACHING MOBILITY GRANT – ERASMUS, 2022
In 2021 I was also awarded an ERASMUS to spend a week at Universidade do Minho (UMinho) in Guimarães, Portugal. While there, I completed an exhibition on environmental sustainability based on the quote, “The Earth is what we all have in common”, by American Poet, Wendell Berry. This exhibition is heavily influenced by Portuguese tile work, an important component of architecture in Portugal. This show was exhibited in The Nogueira da Silva Museum in Braga in 2022 and at the University of the Azores in 2025.
• FULBRIGHT SPECIALIST AWARD, IRELAND, 2018
I was awarded a three-week artist residency in Limerick Ireland to work on immigration issues. I created banners that teachers of young children can use to help create dialogue around this important issue. The work I created was later exhibited in the Hunt Museum in Ireland.
• ARTIST RESIDENCY COSTA RICA, 2016
I was awarded a month-long residency at Inter-Cultural Odysseys, a residency in Costa Rica. While there I created an exhibition on keeping all parts of the water system clean. This exhibition was shown both at the National Gallery in Costa Rica and in the Museo de San Ramon.
• THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM & EDUCATION CENTER, ILLINOIS, 2016
I created the solo exhibition “We ALL need PEACE” that was hung at the Holocaust Museum in Illinois. This exhibition helps children understand how they can be peacemakers.