Sheika Lugtu serves as Assistant Dean for Admission and Enrollment Management for CFA. Most recently, she was the Director of Recruitment and Enrollment in the School of Art. Her new role, which began in summer 2026, was described by Dean Mary Ellen Poole as “our connector, our advocate, and our translator.” Lugtu will oversee both graduate and undergraduate admission processes and serve as the point of contact with Central Recruitment and Enrollment. Prior to joining the School of Art, Sheika worked in admissions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).
In her role within CFA, Lugtu will help to ensure that the DREs and graduate admission coordinators have stronger advocacy, clearer coordination, and a voice in broader admissions and enrollment conversations.
Lugtu is a cartoonist and publisher who embraces collaborative making and interdisciplinary study in her own practice. Her work with the Ladydrawers Comics Collective centers on the impact of economics, race, sexuality and gender on the comics industry, media and visual culture at large. She is the founder and publisher at Cow House Press, an award-winning indie comic press dedicated to supporting marginalized voices. She holds a bachelor’s degree in visual & critical Studies and a BFA in Studio Art from SAIC.
She has taught comics history and illustration, lectured and facilitated workshops at numerous arts organizations including SAIC, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Richard and Mary Gray L. Center for the Arts, and North Branch Projects. She has also served on the inaugural board of Chicago for Chicagoans, a non-profit historical tour organization focused on engaging and building hyper-local communities. She juries for the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo and organized exhibitions with the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media. Her work has been published in Sixty Inches from Center as part of Art Design Chicago, South Side Weekly, Truthout.org, PEN America and others.
