Melissa Jay Craig is a sculptor, book and installation artist whose primary medium is handmade paper. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and is included in museum, rare book, print and artists’ book collections. She is represented in the Chicago area by ZIA Gallery.  Melissa has been awarded numerous grants and residencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts studio residency in papermaking at Women’s Studio Workshop, three full fellowship residencies at Vermont Studio Center, and the Faurest Fellowship for artist educators at the Mary Anderson Center. Recently, she was named the 2014 Prairie fellow at the Ragdale Foundation. Her wordless sculptural books have been featured in diverse publications such as Fine Books and Collections, Surface Design Journal, Quiet Lunch and a number of literary publications including Spoon River Poetry Review, Ploughshares and the Paris Review. She lives in Chicago.