Cecilia Leonora Vargas is a Chicago-based contemporary art curator and writer. Vargas is currently a Curatorial Fellow on the ACRE (Artists' Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions) Curatorial Board. She is also the Art Coordinator at Waubonsee Community College, where she works with the exhibitions, visiting artist and collections programs. 

She received a dual M.A. in Art History, Theory and Criticism, as well as in Arts Administration and Policy in 2010 from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). She also holds a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Vargas has curated a number of exhibitions at various venues including Waubonsee Community College (Sugar Grove, IL), Dominican University (River Forest, IL), Los Caminos (St. Louis, MO), and venues in Chicago such as the Built Festival, What It Is and the Boomerang Space at SAIC. Additionally, Vargas co-organized the MDW Fair within the Version 11 Festival and co-curated exhibitions at Pointbridge Projects, SAIC's Sullivan Galleries, Allrise Gallery and Monkey Business Gallery.

www.cecilialvargus.com

 

 

Nora Maité Nieves has an interdisciplinary practice, placing her work as painting in the expanded field. Her work makes references to the memory of architectural spaces. Nieves recreates wall and floor surfaces, tiles, concrete decorative blocks, and floor plans that she has experienced or interacts with; exploring the ideas of how we define space through our domestic ownership.

Nieves was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and moved to Chicago in 2008 to do her MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Graduating in 2010 from the department of Fiber and Material Studies, Nieves continues to live and work in Chicago. Recently, in June she was a resident artist at ÁREA: Lugar de Proyectos en Caguas, Puerto Rico. In 2013, Nieves did a summer artist residency at High Concept Laboratories in Chicago, IL. In 2006, was part of the Summer Artist Residency Program in Painting and Drawing at The Cooper Union School of Art and Science in New York. Nieves, have a BFA in Painting from La Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico in San Juan.

noramaitenieves.sqsp.com

 

 

Stephanie Graham is a photographer and filmmaker from Chicago with a focus in portraits and narrative scenes. Her work draws on my fascination with subcultures, social class, suburbia, and the unapologetic rhythm of life in Chicago. After graduating with a degree in Cinematography and Photography from Columbia College Chicago, Stephanie went on to work in film /television production where she is currently working on NBC’s Chicago PD in the set decorating department.

 

In 2005, Stephanie was awarded the first place prize in the Conceptual category by Women in Photography International for my image "Ghetto Fabulous Brandie". Since then, her work has been featured in Studio Photography Magazine and in the Chicago Alliance of African American Photographers’ The Journey Online Magazine, as well as Rolling Out Chicago.  In 2008, Stephanie was featured as a "Chicago Artist to Watch" by the Chicago Artist Coalition and her work is also included in the permanent collection of The Chicago Historical Society.

 

Currently Stephanie is a 2014-2015 HATCH Projects Resident Artist at the Chicago Artists Coalition

http://www.missgraham.com/, www.theblackkidtable.com