Staff

 

Art Center Employees | Board | Teachers

 

Artistic Personnel (the following artists are contracted part-time employees):

Natalie Calleros (mixed media artist/teacher) is currently in her senior year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) on a full scholarship. Natalie volunteered at the Center for a half year and asked to teach a class for the fall.
Michael Chlebowski (bookmaking artist/teacher) is a Chicago based artist and teacher. He is currently working on his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in art education from the SAIC. Michael has a background in painting and drawing but his primary focus is in graphic design and print media.
William Estrada (silk screen artist/teacher) is a visual artist who has collaborated and worked in various community projects for the past 8 years. William received his BFA from the SAIC and holds a Special 10 k-12 Certification from the Sate of Illinois.
Ling-an Fang (sculpture) is a Chicago artist/educator with a masters degree from the Univ of Illinois at Chicago. She has many teaching engagements with youth around the City.

Angela Freeman (art basics) a graduate of Purdue University, recently moved to Chicago from Detroit where she was an art educator at Arts & Scraps.

Kenyetta Forbes (Film/Video) is a graduate from Univ. of Illinois at Chicago and currently is an adjunct professor in the Film and Video Department.
Theaster Gates (ceramics) before joining our board, Theaster taught for us at the Gary Comer Center. Theaster is a Coordinator of Arts Programming at the Univ. of Chicago.
Ada (Rima) Grybauskas (ceramics class artist/teacher) is a Chicago artist and a scholarship recipient of both a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and a Master's degree in Fine Arts from SAIC. She has been working with the ceramic medium for over 20 years and currently teaches at SAIC.
Rosemarie Garcia-Hill (mural) is a Chicago educator working for us at the Gary Comer Center. Rosemarie is also a Professor at the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago.
Faheem Majeed (mixed media) is an Artist and currently is the curator at the South Side Community Arts Center. Faheem works for us at the Gary Comer Center.
Anthony Marcus Rea (digital photography/web design/Photoshop class) is an art educator with 6 years experience working with youth in troubled neighborhoods. He graduated from SAIC with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.

Eric Morrow (School SmARTs teacher) moved to Chicago from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He has spent the last 10 years teaching art in schools, mainly as a volunteer.

Sze Lin Pang (technology teacher) earned her BA from Brown University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has a background in video production and installation, though her primary focus is on sculpture and photography.
Nabulungi Pickett (drawing teacher) is an art teacher at a local public school and has worked at Gallery 37. Nabu received her Bachelor's degree Chicago State University, a Master's in Education from Roosevelt University, and a Bachelor's degree in Art Education from SAIC.
Kathryn Province (visual arts teacher) is a graduate of the UIC Art Education Program and is currently a substitute teacher in Hammond, IN. Along with two fellow graduates, Kathryn developed curriculum for the Spiral Workshop based on "Punk Aesthetics" which was awarded the UIC Faculty Prize and presented at the Illinois Art Education Association Conference.

Zebedee Rivera (muralist/teacher) is a New Mexico born artist currently residing in the South Chicago neighborhood. He received his BFA from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and continues to foster community fellowship through arts, education and mentoring urban youth.

Analia Rodriguez (digital photography teacher) is a photographer, visual artist, and teaching artist who lives and works in Chicago. She has exhibited in Chicago and Cuba and has published her work in various publications. She teaches photography to elementary and high school students in various programs throughout the city, she's also a founding member of VILLARTE an arts coalition in Little Village
Rebecca Schanberg (digital photography artist/teacher) works at The Kindling Group, a documentary film company in Chicago. For close to a year Becca has volunteer taught digital photography to Art Center kids. She holds a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University.
Kiela Smith-Upton (African tie dye artist/teacher) has worked in collaboration with artists, community and school groups, businesses, and city agencies to beautify public places with mosaics and murals. The combination of artistic vision and African heritage themes in her artworks is meant to touch the creative and spiritual self-the universal heart of the human experience. Kiela is a graduate of SAIC.
Zissou Tasseff-Elenkoff (silk screen artist/teacher) is British and came to Chicago to go to college. He is a graduate from the School of the Art Institute with a BFA in printmaking.
Mary Tepper (School SmARTs artist/teacher) is a Chicago community-based artist and educator. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from SAIC and studied at Nottingham Polytechnic Institute in Nottingham, England. Mary has a background in drawing and painting and her primary focus is in paper and book making.
Maria Villarreal (visual arts artist/teacher) is a visual artist who has provided arts educational programs in the Chicago area for over 20 years. She has worked in the Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, Urban Gateways, Chicago Public Arts Group, The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, and Gallery 37.

Roman Villarreal (sculpture artist/ teacher) lives in South Chicago and considers himself a “sculptor of the people.” He has shown work at Blake Palmer Gallery, South Shore Cultural Center, and Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum and has his work in private collections.

Wanda Veal (visual arts artist/teacher) is a Chicago artist and Chicago Public School teacher. She is interested in reaching out past her 2nd grade classroom and sharing her art knowledge with community based programs on Chicago's South Side.
Jacinta Wallace (spoken word artist/teacher) graduated from DePaul University. She has taught and worked with children of all ages from Chicago Park Districts, Chicago Home and Aid Society of Illinois, Chicago Public Schools, Target H.O.P.E. College Preparatory Association, People's Jazz Theatre, early childcare centers, and various community organizations.

Rasha Abdulhadi (paid, part-time) is an Urban Program Assistant with the CSA Learning at Angelic Organics Farm. As a volunteer and intern, Rasha has worked with youth, seniors, the young at heart and the old souls to create gardens in Chicago, Waukeegan, and Milwaukee.