Will Arnold received his MFA in Photography from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his BA in Computer Science from Bucknell University. He currently lives and works in Champaign, IL where he manages the student labs and studios at the School of Art + Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Will co-runs Work Press & Publication, a Risograph-based zine and artist book self-publishing venture, with Tate Foley. Will is also a part of the organizing teams for the Champaign-Urbana Small Press Fest (CU-SPF) and the St. Louis Independent Comics Expo (SLICE).
In recent years, Will’s practice has primarily focused on zines, comics, and artist books. Through photography, collage, and delving into and remixing historical comics, he explores themes such as landscape, epistemology, memory, and the construction of gender norms.
Will’s home studio is managed by two studio cats that compete (often violently) for the role of Chief Executive Studio Cat Assistant. He is also frequently assisted (usually less violently) by his wife Robin, both in the studio and on the road at festivals and art book fairs.
Contact
Email: will@twarnold.com
Instagram: @t.will.arnold
Selected Festivals/Fairs
2024, St. Louis Independent Comics Expo, St. Louis, MO. (Organized)
2024, Zine Not Dead Fest, Chicago, IL.
2023, Small Press Expo, Bethesda, MD.
2023, Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC), Columbus, OH.
2023, St. Louis Independent Comics Expo, St. Louis, MO. (Organized)
2023, CU Small Press Fest, Urbana, IL. (Organized)
2022, Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC), Columbus, OH.
2022, Boston Art Book Fair, Boston, MA.
2022, Zinecinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
2021, MSU Comics Forum, Virtual.
2021, Canzine/TCAF, Virtual.
2021, Twin Cities Zine Fest, Virtual.
2021, CU Small Press Fest, Urbana, IL. (Organized)
2020, Quaranzine Fest, Virtual.
2020, MSU Comics Forum, Lansing, MI.
2020, Virtual Small Press Fest, Urbana, IL.
2019, St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO.
2019, Small Press Expo, Bethesda, MD.
2019, Chicago Zine Fest, Chicago, IL.
2019, Zinecinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
2019, MSU Comics Forum, Lansing, MI.
2019, International Comic Arts Forum, Davenport, IA.
2019, Bloomington Zine Fest, Bloomington, IN.
2018, St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO.
2018, Small Press Expo, Bethesda, MD.
2018, Chicago Art Book Fair, Chicago, IL.
2018, Philadelphia Art Book Fair, Philadelphia, PA.
2018, Comics Studies Society Conference, Champaign, IL.
2018, Milwaukee Zine Fest, Milwaukee, WI.
2018, SPACE, Columbus, OH.
2018, Gluestick, Indianapolis, IN.
2017, St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO.
2017, Chicago Zine Fest, Chicago, IL.
2017, Twin Cities Zine Fest, Minneapolis, MN.
2017, SpeakCon, Kankakee, IL
2017, The Made Fest, Champaign, IL.
2016, St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO.
2016. Chicago Zine Fest, Chicago, IL.
2016, ICE CREAM, Iowa City, IA.
2016, The Made Fest, Champaign, IL.
2015, St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO.
2014, St. Louis Small Press Expo, St. Louis, MO.
Selected Exhibitions
2024, Unfolding Duplications: Contemporary Risograph Publishing, San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA.
2024, Team Lift, Bloc Gallery (UIUC), Champaign, IL.
2023, Printed with Purpose: An Exhibition of Artists’ Zines and Risograph Works, Gallery 210@FAB, University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO.
2023, Paradiso, at Riso-Rama, Weil Gallery at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, TX.
2023, Containing Multitudes: A Printed Perspective, The Canopy at 900, Chicago, IL.
2023, Down, Down Into Infinity He Goes, Murphy Gallery, University YMCA, Champaign, IL.
2023, Morgantown Billboard Project, Morgantown, WV.
2022, Perfecting Imperfections, Wonder Fair, Lawrence, KS.
2022, A Changed Sun, The Immaterial Gallery at the Prairie Glass House, Champaign, IL.
2022, Artistic Comics Research, Akron Coffee Roasters, Akron, OH.
2022, Biennale L’Infezione del Personale, Bloc Gallery (UIUC), Champaign, IL.
2021, Landscape Zine Reading Room, The Recreation Club, Champaign, IL. (curated)
2021, The Small Press Landscape, Main Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL. (curated)
2021, 40/40: Portraits of Paul Shortt at 40 years old, Tench Gallery, Gainesville, FL.
2020, Biennale L’Infezione del Personale, Bloc Gallery (UIUC), Champaign, IL.
2019, Future Conditional, Artefact, Birmingham, UK.
2019, A2: Giant, The Carousel, Nottingham, UK.
2019, Books Books Books Books, Tiny Town Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
2019, On the Tip of My Tongue, Carnation Contemporary, Portland, OR.
2019, Printmaking as Resistance, Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, OH.
2019, The Other Reading Table, Quartair, the Hague, Netherlands
2018, Z.Archive, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA.
2017, The Riso Museum, Brainfreeze Comics, Nashville, TN.
2016, Paper Trail, 40 Point One, Champaign, IL.
2015, Ekuilibri, Francis Colburn Gallery, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
2014, Paper or Plastic: 21st c. Artists Books, ASU School of Art, Tempe, AZ.
2012, From Sea to Shining Sea, St. Louis Artist’s Guild, St. Louis, MO.
2012, Language and the City, Studio Couture, Detroit, MI.
2012, Snow and Ice, 1650 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2012, Visual AIDS – Postcards from the Edge, Cheim & Read, New York, NY.
2012, You I, You See, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, IL.
2012, Hang ‘Em High, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR.
2011, Scapes, Brooklyn Artist’s Gym, Brooklyn, NY.
2011, Lens 2011, Perspective Gallery, Evanston, IL.
2011, Spring 2011 Emerging Artists Show, Rabbithole Studio, Brooklyn, NY.
2011, Urban View/Rural Sight, Mpls Photo Center, Minneapolis, MN.
2011, It’s Not Those Things, Urbana City Building, Urbana, IL.
2011, Accepted Knowing, Figure One Gallery, Champaign, IL.
2011, Digital Unity, ANNEX:art, Berlin, Germany.
2011, Snap to Grid, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA.
2011, Emerging Artists, Morpho Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2011, Artsplosia, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, IL.
2011, Where We Live, Art Coop Gallery, Urbana, IL.
2011, Twelve Dark Paths, Indi Go, Champaign, IL.
2010, Art St. Louis XXVI, The Exhibition, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.
2010, Emerging Visions 2010, Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta, GA.
2010, Emerging Illinois Artists 2010, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL.
2010, Managed Landscapes, Vermont Photo Space Gallery, Essex Junction, VT.
2010, Viking Funeral, DIVA, Eugene, OR.
2010, 10 to Watch – Will Arnold, Figure One Gallery, Champaign, IL.
2010, Variant Visions, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY.
2009, Martha Robertshaw – Living in Art, Big Flats, NY.
2008, Outdated, The Country Club, Chicago, IL.
2006, Our Still Lives, Coffee and Tea Room, Williamsport, PA.
2006, Emerging Artists, Carriage House Art Center, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY.
Selected Collections
Small Press Expo Collection at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC
SAIC Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, Chicago, IL
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library, Columbus, OH
Houghton Library, Harvard, Cambridge, MA
RISD Library Zine Collection, Providence, RI
Michigan State University Special Collections, Lansing, MI
Miami University Artist Book Collection, Oxford, OH
UMass Dartmouth Claire T. Carney Special Collections, North Dartmouth, MA
University of Illinois Ricker Library of Architecture and Art, Champaign, IL
University of Missouri St. Louis Zine Collection, St. Louis, MO
Herbarium Riso, Berlin, Germany
St. Louis Public Library Zine Collection, St. Louis, MO
IMC Zine Library, Urbana, IL
Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory Zine Library, Cleveland, OH
Monroe County Public Library Zine Collection, Bloomington, IN
Selected Anthologies
Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Vol 18, Issue 2 – Taylor & Francis, 2021 (cover)
Cults of Life #10 – Royal, Sutta Press, 2021
Future Conditional, Holodeck Birmingham, 2019
St Louis Small Press Expo Zine, 2019
Floating Head Sci-Fi Graphic Quarterly, 2018
Home and Away, Same Coin Press, 2017
Ninth Letter, Fall/Winter 2013-2014, 2013
Open to Interpretation, “Intimate Landscapes,” 2012
