Meet the Instructors at the Oak Park Art League
Max Bjornson has drawn everyday of his life since he could hold a crayon. He is a student at Columbia College and has participated in several gallery exhibitions there. His work can be seen in Oak Park as part of the “Off the Wall” mural project at Terra Incognito. he has also had work displayed at Chicago Ave and Harrison Street as part of the Summer 2005 bench project. Max has several years experience teaching children at the Park District of Oak Park.
Lois Eakin grew up in the Chicago area. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees, she developed a successful Graphic Design career. At the same time, she pursued her lifelong love of painting. While active in local and regional arts organizations, she studied drawing and painting at Art Institute of Chicago and Palette and Chisel. Lois paints objects that interest her for their uniqueness, not necessarily an acknowledged beauty. As an artist, she admires and is inspired by the paintings of Dutch masters Rembrandt and Vermeer, 18th century painter Chardin, and also contemporary still life painter David Leffel. Lois uses the technique of chiaroscuro, creating a mood in her paintings by building up the paint in the highlights against transparent paint in the shadows. Lois carefully sculpts her paintings by paying attention to color, value and edges. She prefers the style of realism, believing it gives the viewer an opportunity to look not once, but many times at the same painting, each time seeing something new.
Nancy Fong earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has been teaching art to children and adults at Morton College, Triton College, Park District of Oak Park’s Summer Cultural Arts Workshop (SCAW), After School Arts Program (YAW), and The Senior Citizen’s Center of Oak Park and River Forest. Her adult class painted the horse “Bridle and Groom” for Horsin’ Around the Avenue. Nancy has a painting in the Oak Park Public Library’s Permanent Collection.
Edward Karl Fresa is an artist/sculptor from Chicago. He first became involved with painting as a youth in California where he lived with his parents and five brothers. After attending high school in West Virginia, Karl did his Undergraduate work at Carnegie Mellon U. in Pittsburgh PA. Fresa’s influences were refined after attending Southern Illinois U. and following a successful art exhibit in St. Louis he moved to Chicago after receiving his MFA. He has shown in many juried art shows including the Chicago and Vicinity Biennial at the Art Institute of Chicago. He is a collected artist and has executed works for such companies as Lettuce Entertain You, Oprah Winfrey, Saks, Marshall Fields, and Le Meridian Hotels. Fresa is a published illustrator and as a sculptor has fabricated works for many retail giants such as Sears, Nike and Harley Davidson. A member of the Chicago Artists Coalition his work can be seen on the web. He continues to share his extensive knowledge of art and has taught painting and drawing at Triton College, Robert Morris College, and the Oak Park Art League. He is currently represented by Steeple Gallery in St. John Ind.
Simon Gallo began painting early in high school, taking a summer off to study at Monstserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA. Simon is a graduate of School of The Art Institute of Chicago where he received a BFA with an emphasis in Art Education specializing in grades K-12. He considers himself primarily a painter but also incorporates printmaking, drawing, photography and sculpture into his work. Beyond working with OPAL for the past four years Simon’s teaching career encompasses student teaching in CPS, teaching Art Foundations at OPRF HS, and working with teens as lead artist to create a mural at the Oak Park Public Library as part of the ART ATTACK summer program. Continually creating work in a variety of mediums Simon is excited about art and teaching and wants to share his knowledge and love for art with others.
Kathy Hirsh Telluride mountains, hay fields in the south of France, rice paddies in Nepal, religious ceremonies in India, sunset in Mongolia-I have been privileged to paint en plein air in remarkable destinations. Living in Nepal and China for 15 years and now back in the states, I go out with my backpack and easel-I’m working to capture the stunning color, the light quality and the juxtaposition of form and atmosphere in the landscape. As a medical illustrator I worked primarily in black and white for 25 years illustrating surgical procedures. While not exactly coffee table books, I was a best seller on the surgical textbook circuit. For years I spent my days in operating rooms (like being a courtroom artist, but the defendant is unconscious). Now working in color, it feels like every painting day is a celebration.
Jesse Howard was born in Chicago, IL. At an early age, he showed an interest in drawing cartoon characters and rehabbing empty garages into club spaces. He demonstrated an aptitude to create and change chaotic spaces into something livable. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Ball State University, with a major in Commercial Art and a minor in Business Administration. One of his favorite instructors, Larry Graham encouraged him to pursue truth and spirituality in his subject matter. Eager to continue to develop his graphic art skills, he worked for a topographer in Chicago. He found this field of art too mechanical and client based. He wanted more control over his creativity. For twenty years he took a different career path into business. In the eighties, he rededicated himself to Fine Art. He began studying sculptors, such as Richard Hunt and Martin Puryear; He felt they had a grasp of space and materials. Since his rededication, his art work has appeared in many galleries nationwide and his career has been covered in many publications. His first major one person show in 1984 was with Zriny Gallery. He also exhibited with the Chicago Cultural Center, 5+5 In Perspectives In Black Art, just to name a few. Jesse’s themes often present us with an image of African American males as he has sees them in Chicago urban settings. One of his exhibits, “The Diminishing Black Male”, brings to light how the plight of African American youth is indicative of a greater social and cultural dilemma
Larry Kolden holds an MFA in printmaking and drawing from the UW in Madison, WI. He taught at SIU Carbondale, IL, UALR, Little Rock Ark and University of Dallas Irving TX. He has been a recipient of the IL Artist Fellowship Grant in drawing. He also designed and built a mobile printmaking lab, and gallery for the Ark Art Center under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Arts. The artist staffed lab traveled the State of Ark for two years providing workshops and printmaking demos for schools and local arts agencies.
Kimberly Kurrus knew she wanted to be an art teacher when she was very young. She would pretend play by setting up her mother’s basement as an art classroom and then invite the neighbor kids to come over and draw. Kimberly has been an Early Childhood Teacher for over 20 years. She has two adult children and lives in Oak Park. Education: MA in Curriculum and Instruction, Concordia University 2010, Illinois State Certified Teacher 2007, BA in Leadership and Advocacy for Early Childhood Education, Kendall College 2005. Kimberly’s specialty is teaching academic skills through the arts. Kimberly has worked in various media as an artist herself: clay and plaster sculpture, acrylic, watercolor, and oil paint, mixed media collage, photography, beading, quilting, sewing, wood carving, and mural painting. Kimberly has six murals installed at the two childcare centers: ABC Toon Town 1, and ABC Toon Town 2 in Oak Park. She also provides private or small group art experiences for children with special needs.
Bob Kwas began his training with private lessons from H. H. Smithers at age 9. He later attended the University of Wisconsin/Racine and graduated from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, where he studied with William Mosby and Irving Shapiro. Robert has exhibited nationally and has received numerous awards in area art fairs and exhibits. He has taught watercolor at the Oak Park Art League and Creative Illustration at Triton College.
Richard Laurent received his formal visual art training at the Institute of Design, the original Bauhaus design school in Chicago. He has illustrated for national magazines and newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times, owned a design consulting business, served as Creative Director for Encyclopedia Britannica Films, and taught at Columbia College. Since 1991, he has also pursued an independent study of classical painting processes. Richard’s work is informed by the master paintings he has studied at major museums in Europe and Latin America. In 1999, he painted a life-sized cow for Chicago’s Cows on Parade. He has exhibited at the Salon International Museum of Contemporary Masters and has won awards at Oil Painters of America National Exhibitions. His drawings and paintings are included in Contemporary American Drawing and Contemporary American Paintings, monographs published by Jilin Fine Arts, while his illustration work has appeared in numerous editions of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. Richard works out of his studio, #922 in the historic Fine Arts Building and is represented by Gallery H in Three Oaks, Michigan.
Elaine Luther studied jewelry making in college, trade school and through two apprenticeships. She has taught since 1992 at a number of art centers including Lillstreet Art Center and the Indianapolis Art Center. Her sculptures have been exhibited at those art centers and Gallery I/O in New Orleans, LA and Womanmade Gallery in Chicago, IL. Upcoming shows include a solo show at Harold Washington Library and a group show, which will include her paintings, at Joffrey Tower.
Didier Nolet was born and raised in Paris, France. He studied at the world famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His training was based on a combination of Old Masters and Contemporary Masters techniques. His art and teaching philosophy combine the best of both worlds. Didier has been exhibiting his paintings and pastels in galleries and museums in Paris, New York, Chicago, California, Arizona, and beyond. Didier, who has been teaching for many years, is committed to his students, Everybody gets his full attention.
Ann Primack has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado College in Colorado Springs and has studied at the Appalachian Center for Crafts, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Northern Illinois University and she received her second Bachelor’s degree in teaching art from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has participated in the Chicago and Vicinity Clay Shows as well as the renowned Cows on Parade exhibition in Chicago. In 2010, Ann was accepted to the Illinois Artisans Program and sells her work at the Thompson Center IAC shop. She frequently takes on private commissions for relief tiles of scenes in people’s homes. Ann also teaches private and group lessons in handbuilding with clay at OPAL and the Oak Park Arms Senior Center.
Roberta Raymond Larson, a long time member of OPAL, facilitates the Figure Drawing on Sundays and is presently at three galleries in Door County: The Paint Box Gallery, Gallery Five, and Door County Art League Gallery. This year she has taught for Elder hostel and Festival of Nature.
Carol Richardson-O’Brien comes from a family of artists. She studied fine arts at the University of Dayton and St. Louis University and illustration at Ray College of Design. After college she moved to Europe to paint. She has shown her work in St. Louis, Missouri, Dublin, Ireland, Chicago, Lake Forest, Barrington and numerous one man and group shows in Oak Park and Forest Park. She is annually commissioned by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to do portraits of the homes in the Wright Plus Tour. She works in oils, watercolor, pen and ink, graphite, and pastels, and has done over one hundred commissioned portraits.
Rhona Taylor is a Second City trained actress who was a member of the Playwrights’ Ensemble while at the University of Iowa. As an Artist-In-Residence for the City of Chicago, she wrote scripts, directed and acted with children. Rhona currently teaches at Pilgrim Community Nursery School and Intuit Dance on Harrison St. in Oak Park. She was the creator/coordinator of the After School Arts Program for District 97 and the Park District of Oak Park. In addition, she has led theater workshops for children with the Village Players, S.C.A.W., and the Actors Guild for Triton College’s Junior Theater.
