John Lyons is an Emmy® award winning documentary filmmaker. A graduate of Chicago's Columbia College, he has produced, directed, shot and edited documentaries in various areas of the humanities. He is currently producing a documentary through Peace Productions (www.peaceproductions.org) about incarcerated women and the effects of their absence on their children. For the past 4 years, he has been a teaching artist in several Chicago Public Schools through Columbia College's Center for Community Arts Partnerships. He and his wife are the proud parents of a beautiful little girl, Catie. close window

		Mikey Peterson is a filmmaker-in-residence at the Stroger Hospital of Cook County. He is a video/audio artist and singer songwriter who actively performs in galleries and clubs throughout Chicago. He has been working within the medium of video and playing music for numerous years. Mikey also teaches video/audio art to elementary and high school students at the Marwen Foundation, and is pursuing an MFA degree in Creative Writing at Roosevelt University. close window

		Allison Spicer is a visual arts artist-in-residence with Snow City Arts Foundation. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a MAAE degree in Arts Education from the School of the Art Institute Chicago. She is an exhibiting painter in Chicago, focusing on oils and gouache mediums. Allison has been a teaching artist since 2002, developing her pedagogy at Ralph J. Bunch Elementary (Detroit), MCA Teen Apprentice Program, Marwen Foundation, and Hyde Park Arts Center. close window

		Jamie Topper has been playing music since her earliest days. She has been studying the drum for seven years, and has worked with children and adults through Gallery 37, Chicago Teacher's Center and After School Matters. She currently plays with the University of Chicago's Middle East Music Ensemble, and with Mofoe, an Afro-Caribbean folkloric group. close window

		Ronnie Kuller is an accordionist, pianist, and occasional violinist. She is a member of the early childhood faculty at both Sherwood Conservatory and the Highland Park Music Arts School, and is a musical collaborator with Manifest Theater. She is proud to play in Mucca Pazza, an eclectic 29-piece marching band. Ronnie holds her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. close window

		Sarah Bendix, Visual Artist-in-Residence, performs, directs, and designs for theater, with a special interest in work that is highly visual. Her work has been seen in various theaters, galleries, museums and parks all over the Chicago-land area. In addition to her work with Snow City Arts, she currently serves on the faculty of the Piven Theater Workshop in Evanston. She is a graduate of Oberlin College. close window

		Sandeep began his film career in New York City as a production assistant on Fox's New York Undercover and the HBO series The Sopranos. He has also worked on the feature films in New York, Los Angeles and India. Currently, Sandeep is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College in the Film and Video department. He also teaches film workshops at Chicago Filmmakers. Sandeep holds a degree in International Affairs from Wake Forest University. Sandeep is writing a series of short and feature length films that he plans to direct in the near future. He is the founder of A Light in the Universe Filmworks, a film production company. close window

		Lara Golan is a pianist, clarinetist and singer who received her Masters degree in Music Composition from Northwestern University in Evanston. She teaches piano and has written music for a variety of commercial projects such as educational CD-ROM games for children. Her current focus is on songwriting and recording. close window

		Eric Elshtain is currently finishing his PhD in the University of Chicago's Committee on the History of Culture. He is the editor of Chicago's on-line Beard of Bees Press, www.beardofbees.com, and is also a poet-in-residence at Galileo Scholastic Academy where he teaches poetry to fourth grade students. His own poetry, reviews and interviews have been published in a variety of literary journals. close window

		Isra Ekbal is our Associate Director. As a first generation Pakistani-American, she was raised in Chicago. She received a degree in Business Administration from The American University in Washington D.C, and has spent time as a Corporate and Private Banker. Most recently, before joining Snow City she was as an Assistant Vice President in the Private Bank at The Northern Trust Company. close window

		Paul Sznewajs is a Poet-in-Residence and our Executive Director. He was a writer-in-residence at the acclaimed New Horizons program at Children's National Medical Center (Washington, DC) and at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughter's (Norfolk, VA). In 1998 he helped found the Snow City Arts Foundation to serve Chicago's underprivileged children. He also enjoys conducting creative writing workshops and lectures for elementary and high school students in the Chicago area. Past workshops include the Phoenix Writing Workshop, Morgan Park Academy, and Fremd High School. He received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA. His poetry and essays have been published in literary publications around the country. close window

		Sadia Uqaili is an artist in residence and also our Director Of Artistic Programming. In addition to studying art at the Karachi School of Art, Cambridge, the Glasgow School of Art, the University of Alberta, and Harvard, Sadia holds her MA in Economics from the University of Karachi. Before coming to Chicago Sadia taught art to children at the Edmonton Centre for Survivors of Torture and Trauma. Fluent in several languages, she has lectured around the world on numerous topics and her artwork has been exhibited in Chicago, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Phoenix, and Quebec. Her work most recently received awards in 2000 at the Biennale Internationale d'art miniature in Quebec. close window

		Jessica Garst Orozco, Visual Artist-in-Residence, earned a BFA in Printmaking and Drawing from the Washington University School of Art, receiving the Kramer and Peter Marcus Awards in Printmaking. She was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow and focused on 20th-century Mexican art history. Jessica has recently worked for the Blue Sky Project, a collaborative residency program in the Chicago area, and is a current intern in the Prints and Drawings Department, Art Institute of Chicago. close window

		Josie Raney, Poet-in-Residence, holds a B.A. from Carleton College and an M.F.A. from the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow. In addition to her work at Snow City, she has taught poetry to Chicago-area children and adults through The Poetry Center's Hands On Stanzas program and at the Guild Complex, where she is currently the 2003-2004 Poetry Fellow. A chapbook of her work is forthcoming from Tia Chucha Press in the fall of 2004. close window

		Dan Godston teaches poetry to young people through Snow City Arts Foundation at Rush University Children's Hospital. His writings have appeared in Teaching Artist Journal, Chase Park, Versal, 580 Split, Kyoto Journal, after hours, and other publications. Dan has also taught poetry to area youth through the Chicago Poetry Center and also teaches regularly at Columbia College Chicago. He also performs and composes music as part of the Ways and Means Trio. close window

		Maggie Leininger, Visual Artist-in-Residence, works in fiber, mixed media and sculptural forms. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA from Arizona State University. Prior experiences include working with youth at various Chicago organizations including Marwen Foundation and the Cook County Juvenille Correctional Facility. She currently teaches at Roosevelt University and in the District 97 public schools and exhibits her work both nationally and locally. Recent publications include the New York Times Chicago Life Magazine and E-Motion, a book of art that commemorates the 75th anniversary of American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. close window

		Lindsay Potter is currently pursuing her master's degree in Arts in Youth and Community Development at Columbia College, Chicago. She holds her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Indiana University. Before moving to Chicago, Lindsay performed with the world champion winter color guard, The Pride of Cincinnati, as well as the champion drum and bugle corps, The Blue Devils, from Concord, CA. Lindsay has worked with young people for five years, teaching dance and color guard to several high school programs, including the 2005 Bands of America National Champion, Carmel High School. close window

		Jonathan Stein is an abstract painter and printmaker, as well as being an art educator. His artwork has been shown in galleries in New York and Chicago, and in Miami at the Art Miami international art exhibition. He is an Illinois Arts Council grant recipient, and is represented by the NavtaSchulz Gallery in Chicago, Illinois. As an educator Jonathan has been working in the Kraft Artabounds Studio program at the Chicago Children's Museum since 2004. Jonathan joined Snow City Arts in April of 2007. close window

		Mary Scherer is a skilled and practicing visual artist working in video, film and electronic media, with an interest in conceptually-based projects. Scherer earned her BFA in Film and Video from The University of Illinois at Chicago in 2006. She is working on the digital archive project for the Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago. She also loves experimental music and volunteers with LAMPO. close window

		Our staff is comprised of artists, musicians, writers, photographers, and filmmakers drawn from Chicago's deep cultural pool. By working side-by-side with local arts organizations, performance groups, music ensembles, and prominent universities, we help ensure our children are learning from Chicago's brightest artistic minds.		Do you have talents to share? Make a difference in some child's life today. Interested in becoming a Snow City Artist-in- Residence. E-Mail us at info@snowcityarts.com.
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