Dan Ibarra

Dan Ibarra began his creative career at the end of the twentieth century, earning early recognition in 2000 with a Grammy nomination for Recording Package Design — predictably, losing to Madonna.

From 1999 to 2016 he was co-owner of the print and design studio Aesthetic Apparatus, whose work has been featured in Communication Arts Magazine, Creative Review, Swindle, Rolling Stone, and included in dozens of poster and design anthologies. His prints and posters have been recognized in numerous annuals, most notably a silver medal in the 2008 Chicago International Poster Biennial, a “Special Recognition For Excellence In Handcrafted Posters” in 2010, and inclusion in the Walker Art Center and Cooper Hewitt curated 2011 exhibition “Graphic Design: Now in Production.”

In 2015, Ibarra’s entrepreneurial concern merged with his interest in art education to briefly birth Schoolhaus, an experimental community art school blending continuing arts education, storefront schools, and peer mentorship.

In 2024 he earned a Creative Writing MFA from Augsburg University. His creative nonfiction has been featured in Write or Die, as a finalist in Terrain.org’s 15th Annual Nonfiction Contest, and as the core narrative in his self-publishing venture Cataract Quarterly.

Currently, Ibarra is an Assistant Professor of Art & Design at Augsburg University, the custodian of Thriving Concern, and co-owner of the design and branding studio Face of the Earth. He has recently been awarded the Honorary Lyz Wendland “My Laptop Was Stolen” Award, as well as the 2026 “Outstanding Moves!” award from the funk trio TH3 based on his expert knowledge of Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians’ guitar solo catalog. He lives in south Minneapolis with his daughter, his dog, her cat, and their thirty-nine plants.