Joseph Lupo was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1977.  From there he grew up in Schaumburg, a Northwest Suburb of Chicago.

 

In 1999 Joseph received his BFA from Bradley University, a small university located in Peoria, Illinois.  His undergraduate training was mainly in Intalgio and Relief.  While at Bradley, Joseph was taught by accomplished printmaker Oscar Gillespie.  Bradley offered professional printing experience through the Cradle Oak Press.  Through the press, Joseph was able to work on prints by artists Warrington Colescott, Richard Hull, and Katsunori Haminishi.

 

After graduating from Bradley University, Joseph entered graduate studies at The University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.  At Georgia, Joseph was taught by printmakers Carmon Colangelo, Melissa Harshman, Joe Sanders, Rick Johnson, and Tom Hammond.  UGA also gave Joseph the opportunity to widen his range of techniques, and learned lithography, silkscreen, and photo transfer techniques.  He was also able to be an assistant printer for artists Ralph Steadman and Sue Coe.  During this time, his work was shown not only in Athens but also at Saltworks Gallery, Youngblood Gallery, and The Contemporary Art Center in Atlanta.

 

Joseph earned his MFA in 2002, then moved to back to Chicago.  While in Chicago Joseph taught classes at Robert Morris College and Moraine Valley Community College.  He also showed work at Gallery 312, Anchor Graphics, and The Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago.

 

Joseph Lupo joined the faculty at West Virginia University in 2004.  His work in the classroom focuses on intaglio, lithography, relief, silkscreen, and digital printmaking for both graduate and undergraduate students.  Since joining the faculty, he has been the Printmaking Department Coordinator and the Visiting Artist Coordinator.  He has been working with graduate students and Pittsburgh based press Artist Image Resource to offer internships to WVU students.