April (Ape) Bleakney is an artist, entrepreneur, and student of history. After graduating from Kent State University and working in nonprofits at the height of the economically volatile Great Recession, she launched her one-woman creative business, APE MADE, in 2011. While primarily working as a screen printer and printmaker, April also creates photography, drawing, and mixed media work. She is an analog girl in many ways and true to form, utilizes only eco-friendly hand printing techniques in her studio while championing handmade traditional processes. Ape engages her art in the community through teaching, public and community-based art projects, and by leveraging her business in support of local social justice and charitable organizations and fundraising efforts. April has recently completed local and international artist residencies and multiple large-scale public art and commissioned pieces. She lives, works, and grows out of Cleveland, Ohio.