Faculty

Diana Stezalski was born and raised in Chicago. She received her B.F.A. in Film and Television from the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University in 1994. In 1996, she enrolled at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy to study classical drawing and painting. She returned to Chicago in 2000, where she became an instructor at the School of the Art Institute (SAIC) and the Urban Gateways Center for the Arts. She also served as the SAIC resident teaching artist in Advanced Placement Drawing and Painting at the Chicago Public Schools/Gallery 37 Advanced Arts Education Program. Diana continues to paint and is a recipient of a grant from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and received recognition as a teacher from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. Diana Stezalski has exhibited in the United States, England, Sweden, and Italy. Visit http://www.dianastezalski.com for more information.

Monica Balc was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. She attended “Liceul Nicolae Tonitza,” an art high school. A year after her admittance to Universitatea de Arta in Bucharest, she moved to Arizona. She obtained a B.F.A. from Arizona State University in 1996. A year later, she moved to Chicago where she obtained an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her selected exhibits include: Juried Shows: Knoxville Art Museum (TN); Old Town Art Fair (IL); Women Made Gallery (IL); Beverly Arts Center (IL); Suburban Fine Arts Center (IL); Three Arts Club (IL); Solo Shows: Galeria 003 (Bucharest); Lee Dulgar Gallery (IL); Selected Group Shows: North Park University (IL), Artemisia Gallery (IL); ARC Gallery (IL); Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago (IL); School of the Art Institute of Chicago (IL). Currently, Monica Balc teaches art and works as an independent artist. Visit http://www.chicagosculpture.com for more information.

Nicole Northway moved to Chicago for graduate school.  She earned her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in May of 2008. She currently maintains a studio in Bridgeport as well as her Humbolt Park apartment. Her work has been recognized by the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation, whose support has helped her tremendously in transitioning into her professional career. She has been making and exhibiting work for nearly ten years in the cities of St. Louis and Chicago. Her work has been shown most recently in a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Workshop. Her paintings have also been exhibited in the Next Fair at Art Chicago, Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts in St. Louis, and the Ah…Decadence show at the Sullivan Gallery. Nicole also teaches at Columbia College and DePaul University.

Joel Wanek is a Chicago-based photographer and educator. Joel teaches photography at many of the city's premier arts organizations, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Center for Community Arts Partnerships, Marwen Foundation and the Hyde Park Arts Center. His photographs have been featured in a variety of publications including Stop Smiling, DownBeat, Jazz Times, Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Reader, ZoneZero, Vibrations (France) & The New Cosmos of Photography (Japan). He has participated in group shows at Bucket Rider Gallery and The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, and CENART in Mexico City. He holds a B.F.A. in Photography & Cinematography from Webster University in St. Louis and has carried out advanced studies at The Center for Documentary Studies at both Duke University and Columbia College Chicago. Visit http://www.joelwanek.com for more information.