AUK Faculty Member Awarded Dartmouth Fellowship for Research in Risograph Printmaking and Islamic Geometric Design

AUK announced that Clark Stoeckley, Associate Professor of Art and Graphic Design, has been awarded a Dartmouth fellowship to advance research exploring the intersection of risograph printmaking and Islamic geometric pattern systems.

Stoeckley’s creative practice spans graphic design, illustration, public art, and printmaking, with a focus on visual communication, cultural research, and socially engaged art. Over the past decade in Kuwait, he has created public murals, exhibited internationally in peer-juried exhibitions, and developed innovative studio curricula that integrate analog and digital methodologies. His recent research centers on Islamic geometric pattern systems and their contemporary reinterpretation through experimental print processes. Stoeckley earned his MFA from Brooklyn College in New York and a BFA from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Through the Dartmouth fellowship, Professor Stoeckley will produce a cohesive series of twenty multilayered risograph print editions based on geometric patterns derived from mosque architecture.

The research examines how risograph printmaking—a contemporary duplicating technology known for its translucent soy-based inks, layered color interactions, and subtle misregistration—can expand the visual language of Islamic geometric design.

Working in collaboration with Professor Tricia Treacy, Chair of the Studio Art Department at Dartmouth College and an internationally recognized experimental printmaker, Stoeckley will conduct studio experimentation and archival research using Dartmouth’s advanced risograph facilities and the collections of the Hood Museum and Rauner Special Collections. The project fills an important scholarly gap by being among the earliest structured investigations linking risograph printmaking with Islamic geometric pattern systems. It also contributes to broader conversations about decolonizing art and design curricula by foregrounding non-Western visual systems within contemporary print discourse.

The fellowship will directly enhance AUK’s academic offerings by developing a comprehensive risograph module to be integrated into courses such as Introduction to Creativity, 2D Design, Print Production, Illustration, Capstone, and Special Topics.

“Islamic geometric patterns represent one of the world’s most sophisticated visual systems, rooted in mathematics, abstraction, and symbolic depth,” said Professor Clark Stoeckley. “By exploring these structures through risograph printmaking, I hope to generate new conversations about the relationship between tradition and technology. This fellowship allows me to bring those discoveries back to AUK, enriching our curriculum and expanding opportunities for students.”

Clark Stoeckley, Associate Professor of Art and Graphic Design