Education
Hyde Park Art Center's teaching artists are committed to learning. They are practicing artists who devote part of their careers to education, and help develop new course ideas to build on existing ones. The Art Center's faculty meet quarterly and are an important part of not just the education programs, but also the overall community. If you are interested in proposing a course, please follow this link to our online proposal form .
Current Teaching Artists
Ani Afshar
Ani’s jewelry collections are available through international and local retailers including Victoria & Albert Museum, Harrod’s and Fenwick’s, Bloomingdale’s, Barney’s, Henry Bendel, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave, and Anthropologie. Afshar opened her own Lincoln Park boutique in 2000. She has teaching experience throughout Southeast Asia and has done workshops and seminars through her jewelry studio.
Shira Ballon
Shira received her BA in Studio Art from the University of California, Irvine. She has teaching experience at URJ Camp Newman, Orange County Museum of Art, and art focused childcare in Chicago. She has exhibited paintings and drawings in California, Chicago, and Israel.
Bradley Biancardi
Brad received a MFA from the University of Washington with a focus in painting and drawing and a BFA in painting and drawing from Indiana University. Brad has been teaching for over 5 years and has exhibited his work nationally and internationally in New Delhi, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, and throughout the Midwest. Recent 2012 exhibitions include a solo show in Hyde Park Art Center's Cleve Carney Gallery, and a two-person show at Roots & Culture in Chicago. In 2011 he was a recipient of grants from Chicago's Community Arts Assistance Program, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Brad also recently received a full-fellowship to attend the Vermont Studio Center. In addition to the Hyde Park Art Center, Bradley teaches at Triton College and Marwen.
Jeremy Bolen
Jeremy Bolen is a photographer who received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his BA from Columbia College Chicago. He grew up moving throughout America, living in seven different states before turning 18. A recent recipient of the Provost Award for Graduate Research, Bolen will be using the award to travel to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, Switzerland, continuing his collaborations with experimental high energy particle physics. Bolen’s work was recently exhibited at Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, Roots and Culture, Chicago and Gallery 400, Chicago. Bolen will be exhibiting his work at Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago.
Tim Branson
Tim received a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in West Africa illustrating educational materials. He spent six months living in Guatemala taking a Spanish language course while creating pastels and prints that depict aspects of the local culture and landscape. He has exhibited both locally and nationally. His work is included in the Chicago Public Library permanent collection.
Dawn Brennan
Dawn received an MFA from the University of Chicago Midway Studios and a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute. She has teaching experience at Evanston Art Center, University of Chicago, and College of DuPage. Her most recent local exhibits include CCT Gallery, Chicago; MPAC Gallery, Joliet; and Chicago’s Open Studio Program Residency.
Stephanie Burke
Stephanie received her BFA from Humboldt State University and a MFA at the School of the Art Institute for Photography. She won 3rd place in the BAC Digital Photography Competition. Stephanie has experience as an instructor not only at HPAC, but also as a TA at SAIC. More about Stephanie can be found at her website, stephaniedawnburke.com.
Marty Burns
Marty was awarded the 2009 Illinois Arts Council Award. She received her MFA and BFA from the School at the Art Institute of Chicago, with a concentration in Material Studies. In addition to teaching at HPAC, Marty has served as a teaching assistant and as an educator in various capacities throughout her career. She has recently exhibited at the Robert Wayner Gallery as well as the Flat Iron Building SmART show.
Elke Claus
Elke received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her BFA from Rutgers University. She has teaching experience at Gallery 37, Anchor Graphics, and Suburban Fine Arts Center. She has exhibited locally and internationally, and is the recipient of Artist Residencies at Anchor Graphics and Columbia College Book and Paper Center, as well as a CAAP Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. More about Elke and her work can be found at elkeworks.com.
Carrie Cooper
Carrie can most often be seen holding down the front desk. She started at the Art Center as a volunteer and became a part of the full-time staff in 2010. Carrie holds a BFA from Indiana University’s Herron School of Art & Design. She has taught photography to youth and adults at the Herron’s Saturday School visual arts education program and at the University of New Mexico. Carrie also co-owns a local coffee shop in Ukrainian Village that exhibits emerging Chicago artists.
Meredith Eastburn
Meredith earned her BA in Art Theory and Practice from Northwestern University (2005) and an MA in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2010), where her thesis project explored the practices of teaching artists. She has a background in museum education and has interned and worked at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art. She also worked at the Ragdale Foundation, an artists’ community where she organized public programs, family events, workshops, and school programs. She has been a teaching assistant at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Marwen and is a teaching artist at the Hyde Park Art Center.
William Estrada
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; holds a Special 10 K-12 Certification from the State of Illinois. Has worked with grass-roots organizations for the past 8 years, and continues to participate in various community projects in the Chicago area. Works as an artist-in-residence at Telpochcalli Elementary School through C.A.P.E. and various community schools through HPAC, Pros Arts Studios and A.R.T.
Megan Euker
Megan received a MFA and BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a Fulbright Scholar and Illinois Art Council Grant recipient. Recent local exhibitions include a solo show at Linda Warren Gallery. Megan is currently a painting & drawing professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Early College Program.
Delores Fortuna
BFA, 1970, and MFA, 1972, University of Chicago. Adjunct Assistant Professor of ceramics at SAIC. Exhibitions include Dubuque Museum of Art; Lillstreet Gallery; Kunsthuis Ingrith Desmet, Amsterdam; Galerie Wijland, Belgium. Symposiums on porcelain include Finland,1999; Italy 2000 and 2002.
Jeff Geesa
BFA, Herron School of Art. Jeff has also attended SVA and New School, NYC. He has taught painting and drawing privately as well as at the Herron School of Art as part of its Saturday School program. Jeff’s work employs humor to analyze more serious topics, as well as art and comedy. He has exhibited in Indianapolis including two one person shows, as well as Baltimore and New York City.
Aron Gent
Aron Gent resides in Chicago, IL where he received a degree in photography from Columbia College Chicago. His work is in the collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum and has been exhibited at the Hyde Park Art Center, Houston Center for Photography, Concertina Gallery and GASP Project Space in Boston. He currently teaches at the Hyde Park Art Center, is the photography editor for Proximity Magazine and manages Blackpoint Editions LTD.
Michelle Harris
Michelle Harris received her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art and her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Michelle Harris is a multi-media artist whose work incorporates still moving video, sound, text, repurposed/handmade objects, and custom electronics. She has been exhibited internationally, as well as throughout the United States--most recently at Roots and Culture Contemporary Arts Center in Chicago. From 1997-2006, she published a bi-monthly series of artist books that have been sold internationally. Teaching experience includes work at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Cranbrook Institute of Science, and the Art Institue of Chicago. More information can be found at michelleanneharris.wordpress.com
Jeriah Hildwine
Fellowship recipient at Vermont Studio Center and Hoffberger School of Painting. Solo exhibitions include: Foyer Gallery, Sacred Grounds, Hey Juan’s. Group exhibitions include: Reese Bullen Gallery (HSU), First Street Gallery, Walters Art Museum, and MICA Fox 3 Gallery. Teaching experience includes, Maryland Institute College of Art and Humboldt State University. MFA from Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); BA in Studio Art and History from Humboldt State University (HSU). More information can be found at Jeriahhildwine.com.
Katy Hollander
BFA Alfred University, as well as masters studies at Parsons The New School for Design. Teaching experience includes The Art Students League of New York, California Grananda High School, EF Educational Tours in Prague, Germany, Switzerland & Italy.
Holly Holmes
Holly earned her BFA at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2000, and has shown in several solo and group exhibitions throughout Chicago, including GARDENfresh, Union League Club, and Jinx Cafe, Mess Hall, and Three Walls. Her paintings range in techniques and mediums of support including canvas, rag board, paper and panel, sometimes working with encaustic on wood as well. Holly’s paintings are often allegories of apocalypse and destruction, brought on by excess, waste and the rapid change of our environment. The landscapes utilize naïve or awkward spatial relationships, elaborate designs that often create depth from flatness. There is an interest in pushing this flatness to create visually unnerving compositions, so that the spaces have a kind of built in menace.
Sara Holwerda
BFA, University of Michigan School of Art and Design. Teaching experience includes Ann Arbor Art Center. Exhibitions and performances include Duderstat Center Gallery, All About Furniture (MI), 555 Gallery (Detroit), and the Annual Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Shannon Kerrigan
BFA, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Professional experience ranges from maintaining a welding shop to producing handmade paper invitations in her studio. Shannon has worked for some of Chicago’s preeminent Arts Organizations including; Artsbridge, ARC Gallery, Chicago Public Art and Redmoon Theatre. A decade of teaching experience includes: Gallery 37, A.R.T., The Chicago Park District and Lillstreet. Since joining the Hyde Park Art Center in 2000 Shannon has been an artist in residence in over a dozen schools in a variety of programs. Currently the Curriculum Developer and Lead Artist at the University of Chicago Charter High School Woodlawn Campus. Last year Shannon completed two commissions for private collectors and her metal work was included in shows at HPAC and The Chicago Art Source.
Mie Kongo
MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI. BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Teaching Experience as an instructor at Lillstreet Art Center, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Dominican University, and Bloomfield Birmingham Art Center and a teaching assistant at Cranbrook Academy of Art. She did a residency at European Ceramic Work Center in the Netherlands, and has recently shown work in exhibitions at The Edge Gallery and Galeria Leyendecker in Spain.
Basia Krol
MFA from Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw Poland. Background in painting, drawing, printmaking and mixed media. Recipient of 3 Artists in Residency programs across US. Krol recently had a one person show at Vanderpoel Museum and is an active member of CAC Gallery in Chicago where she also exhibits her work. Previously Krol volunteered as Director for SCB Gallery in Chicago giving alternative exhibition space to local emerging artists. Basia Krol exhibits her work locally and receives many portrait and mural commissions. Teaching experience includes 3 years of teaching in public schools and private international schools in Warsaw and, recently, private lessons in her studio.
Debbie Lekousis
BFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Teaching experience includes Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School (preschool through 6th grade art) for 9 years, Hyde Park Art Center. Workshops include Field Museum Holiday Tea, Osaka Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago Children’s Museum. Educators’ workshops include Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Public Library, and Chicago Public Schools. Exhibitions include Chicago Children’s Museum, The Japanese Consulate (Chicago), The Fashion Institute of Technology (NY), BareWalls 2003, 2004, and 2005 (SAIC).
Lisa Lindvay
Lisa received her BFA in 2005 from University of Pennsylvania Edinborough, and in 2008 completed her MFA at Columbia College. She works primarily in photographic medium, taking an extended look at the physical and psychological currents of her own family and exploring her subjects’ domestic environments. Her work is often an exploration of how an individual identity and altered by one’s familial relationships. She has recently exhibited at Glass Curtain Gallery, Hyde Park Art Center, and in the Fall of 2009 Lisa will exhibit at the Smithsonian and the National Portrait Gallery. More about Lisa's work can be found at lisalindvay.com.
Tara Morin
MAT Art Education candidate at Columbia College Chicago; BFA University of North Dakota, BA Bowdoin College. Interests include visual mediation, notions of craft in new art media, sequential art, and illustrating and writing for children.
Sarah Nishiura
Received her MFA from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and has been exhibiting her work in galleries internationally for over 15 years, including SACI Gallery in Florence and Inside Arts in Chicago. Although she works in textile and fabric at HPAC, she has experience with a variety of media, including printmaking and painting. More information about Sarah can be found at www.sarahnishiura.com.
Betsy O’Brien
BFA in Drawing and Painting, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Teaching experience at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Continuing Studies Children’s Art Camp, and Camp Birchwood for Girls. She has worked in exhibitions at Julius Caesar and Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center. She has most recently shown work in exhibitions at Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center, Albany Carroll Arts Building, Happy Dog Gallery, and Nicole Villeneuve Gallery, all of which are located in Chicago.
Ahmed Ozsever
B.F.A. Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis IN. Working from his studio on Chicago’s west side, Ahmed utilizes a variety of media, such photography, video and constructed sets, to produce conceptual works of art that have been exhibited locally and nationally, including exhibits at Flash Gallery in Colorado, Big Car Gallery in Indianapolis and Herron’s Marsh Special Projects Gallery. In addition to art making, Ahmed designs and builds furniture with Green Sawn Furniture Design and heads up the coffee roasting program for Dark Matter Coffee Company.
Darrell Roberts
MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BA in Art History, University of Northern Iowa. Teaching experience includes School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Hearst Center for the Arts, Marwen, Lillstreet Art Center, and Illinois Institute of Art. Exhibits paintings locally.
Hardy Schlick
MFA, University of Chicago, studied with Ruth Duckworth and Hiroake Morino. Teaching experience includes adult and children’s ceramic classes at the Hyde Park Art Center for over 25 years, the South Side Arts Partnership, the Bridgeport Partnership, and the Hyde Park Art Center’s community outreach programs.
Suzanne Sebold-Suso
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. MA in Education, Northeastern Illinois University. Director of Arts Across the Atlantic. Has also taught at Gallery 37, Chicago Public Schools, and the Chicago Park District. Received Community Arts Assistance Program Award, and exhibits locally.
Aurora Tabar
AURORA TABAR sat down to write a conventional bio but it ended up sounding stupid and boastful. Mostly she wants to say that she is interested in movement, healing, repetition, home, history, community, discomfort, meditation, stillness, and slowing down. She is exploring the connections between these things and sharing her findings with others. Her current project, a collaboration with Sara Zalek, is called HUG. The two hug continuously for an hour every week in downtown Chicago to promote physical affection and healing through touch. Also it’s fun.
Mary Tepper
BFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and studied at Nottingham Polytechnic, Nottingham, England. Seventeen years of teaching and collaborating with art organizations and institutions. Exhibited at Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Crane Paper Museum, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile. Permanent mosaic tile installations in private and public locations including multiple Chicago Public Schools, The Living Room Cafe, and in Havana, Cuba.
David Trost
BFA, Penn State University; MFA, SAIC. A studio artist who works primarily in clay, Trost teaches at Lillstreet Art Center, Evanston Art Center, Harold Washington College, and SAIC. Solo and group exhibitions include Terra Incognito, Chicago Cultural Center, Gross Park Sculpture Invitational, Lillstreet Art Center, and Harold Washington College.
Shoshanna Utchenik
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Has served as Artistic Associate, Redmoon Theater, Chicago. Performances include the Museum of Contemporary Art, Steppenwolf Studio Theater, and Theater Oobleck. Teaching experience includes School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College. Awards include the Community Arts Assistance Program Grant (2002) and the John Quincy Adams Fellowship (2000).
Vera Videnovich
Attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Trained as knitting instructor through Craft Yarn Council. Was taught to knit by her father at age 7, became part of a long line of knitters and weavers in her family. Produces line of clothing using wool sheared from her own sheep, which she hand-spins and dyes using natural materials. Has led knitting groups throughout Chicago.
Valerie Wallace
Valerie Wallace received her MFA in Writing from the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work appears most recently in Rhino, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Drumvoice Revue, Maize, Court Green, Potomac, Convergence and Mid-America Review. She is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award, Oxbow Fellowship and was a finalist for the 2007 Poetry Center of Chicago Prize. She also leads workshops for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance and edits “Deep Dish,” an online monthly poetry series featuring established Chicago writers.
Jessi T. Walsh
Jessi is an interdisciplinary performer who investigates the concept of gesture through movement, sculpture and sound/video. She creates peepshows concerning the grotesque and the cyclical nature of human behavior. She co-curates Scary Movie Party, bringing handmade horror films to Chicago since 2004. She may or may not be in a German New Wave band called MIT GAS. She works on local indie films doing production design, costume and special effects makeup. She investigates motion in her threadbare movement series. Her background in marine biology compels her to treat the classroom as a mad scientist art-making laboratory. She holds a BFA in Studio Art from FSU in 1996 and is an MA candidate in Interdisciplinary Arts at Columbia College Chicago. More about Jessi's work can be found at http://jessitwalsh.com/.
Julian Williams
MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BFA, SAIC. Teaching experience in drawing and painting includes Hyde Park Art Center, Evanston Art Center, Columbia College Chicago, Boulevard Arts Center, ad CPS. Recent exhibition experience includes Open Door Gallery, South Side Community Art Center, Susan Woodson Gallery, and ETA Creative Arts Foundation Gallery.
Former Teaching Artists
Kate Adams
Alison Balcanoff
Alice Baum
Michelle Bolinger
Erin Burk
Ruth Busch
Paola Cabal
Holly Cahill
Sergio Ceron
Elizabeth Chisholm
Linda Cohn
Ollie Dantzler
Melanie Dorson
Shawn Dubay
Adam Ekberg
Brad Farwell
Dan Gamble
Theaster Gates
Maria Gaspar
Daniel Godston
Ada Rima Grybauskas
Roxane Hopper
Amanda Innis
Brian Johnson
Sarah Johnston
Katherine Jost
Sarah Kaiser
James Kao
Alessandra Kelley
Friedhard Kiekeben
Kirstin Leenaars
Anna Lehner
Katharine Lion
Jessica Lowery
Frank Maugeri
Helen McElroy
Krystal Meisel
Carol F. Mason Metzger
Justine Nagan
Nicole Nava
Kean Sea Park
Meg Peterson
Mark Phillips
Emily Pick
Karen Plater
Anna Ressman
Valerie Richards
Kelly Rider
Olivia Schreiner
Mary Serbe
Laura Shaeffer
Mark Siska
Deb Sokolow
Martin Soto
Allison Spicer
Ryan Swanson
Ann Toebbe
Anthony Trinchera
Ben Turcotte
Omar Vera
Joel Wanek
Dale Washington
Ivan Watkins
Mark Werle
Rachel Welling
Justin Witte
Rebecca Zemans
