Roland Poska

Roland Poska (1938 – February 2, 2017) was an American artist who was notable for pioneering papermaking in modern art, for printmaking, and for frequently combining the two into completed works of art. He was also a teacher at the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a co-founder of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, and founder of the lithography studio the Fishy Whale Press.

Biography Poska was born to Lithuanian parents in Scotland in 1938. At age 10, he and his parents immigrated to the United States, and settled in Rockford, Illinois. After receiving degrees from Rockford College and Cranbrook Academy of Art, he became an instructor at Rockford College, then in 1963, moved to Milwaukee, where he taught at the Layton School of Art. When Layton closed, he co-founded the Milwaukee School of Art and Design and taught there. In 1967, he purchased his first "beater", a machine that grinds rags and pulp in the initial step of producing handmade paper, and established his lithography studio the Fishy Whale Press. He would go on to be recognized as a pioneer in the artistic medium of papermaking.

By 1984, Poska was a nationally known artist. That year, he received a commission to produce a long painting From Blue to Blue, which was displayed on Main Street in Rockford and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In his later years, Poska became an outspoken activist for equality and common human rights, He died on February 2, 2017, in Rockford.