Our Team
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IVONNE CRUZ
Founder and Executive Director, Ivonne is a Chicago-based artist, photographer, advocate, educator, and curator. Working in a variety of different mediums and content, Ivonne loves to create and collaborate. Inspired by every day’s beauty and expressing some of the challenges we all face. She received her Master’s in Arts Education from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has been in arts education for the last 15 years. Previous experience includes working for SkyART located in South Chicago as Program Manager for the Schools. Helped provide a variety of different schools vital arts residencies during the school day and after-school. Also, previously worked for the Chicago Architecture Center as the Program Teen Manager and was a full-time art teacher at ACE Technical Charter High School. |
Artists
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Josie KoznarekArtist and designer Josie Koznarek works in an evocative stream-of-consciousness style that results in striking works that are both whimsical and yet grounded in form and composition. Working primarily with sumi ink on paper to emphasize the organic aspects of her process, Josie also aims to underscore the principles of compositional design, which the autodidact showcases throughout her body of work.
Based in Chicago, Josie has recently participated in projects such as the Chicago division of The Other Art Fair and live painting performances for the Storefront Project that debuted at the PROP Thtr and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2019.
More on Josie and her work can be found on her Instagram (@jkoznarek) or her website: jkoznarek.com.
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JEROME THYMES
Teaching Artist and consultant, Jerome received his Bachelors of Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), where he earned the opportunity to study abroad in Paris, France. During his time in Paris, Jerome cultivated his passion for photography. He worked in the field of Architecture for 11 years working for a variety of different firms before becoming an educator of design, art, engineering, and architecture. While teaching for the past 14 years, Jerome has incorporated 3D Printers, Laser Cutters, and CNC Machines in order to allow students to push the limits of their own creative designs. For the last few summers, Jerome has taught a summer ACE Mentor apprenticeship program. Working with 20 high school students from across Chicago, together they worked with different clients such as Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and the YMCA to design + build an information kiosk for the urban farm for IIT students and a new interact playground for YMCA participates. He is currently working at Simeon Career Academy, a public 4-year vocational high school located in the Chatham area on the South Side of Chicago. He teaches Sophomores through Seniors manual drafting, CAD, Architecture and design. He is dedicated to teaching low-income minority students the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in such fields. |
