Anna Tararova

Anna Tararova is a Russian immigrant living and working in Cleveland. She is a printmaker, papermaker and publisher. She received an MFA in Printmaking from Ohio University and completed artist residencies at Paper Circle, Women’s Studio Workshop, The Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago, The Morgan Conservatory, and Dundee Contemporary Arts. Anna came to Cleveland in 2015 and worked as art administrator for the Morgan Conservatory, Zygote Press, and taught art related workshops. In 2020, after receiving the Urgent Art Grant she founded a publishing project, Empress Editions. Empress Editions collaborates with local artists to publish Risograph and screen printed artist books, zines, and prints. The books Anna has published with other artists range in subject matter from celebration of black womanhood, to Arab American immigration history, to personal poetry and landscape photography. She has printed comic books, sex worker writing anthologies, exhibition catalogues, queer art calendars, poetry and street art zines, protest posters, and artwork for social justice fundraisers. The books are available online, in Cleveland at SPACES and Zygote Press, and at Printed Matter book stores in New York City. Each year Empress Editions participates in 5-10 book fairs around North America, including Vancouver, Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, and Atlanta.

Empress Editions will collaborate with local artists, scientists, and writers to publish a collection of writing and art titled Swamp Water. Swamp Wateris a book about the importance of wetlands within the Lake Erie Watershed, including their history, restoration efforts, and the reciprocal relationships between humans and water bodies. This project is supported by SPACES' The Satellite Fund, 2025.