THE ARTISTS

Heather Brammeier
Heather Brammeier is an abstract painter who has had solo exhibitions in Illinois, Michigan, South Carolina, and Indiana. This summer she will be an artist-in-residence at Prairie Center of the Arts in Peoria, Illinois. This is Ms. Brammeier's third year as a full-time professor in painting at Bradley University. Ms. Brammeier also taught seven summer terms at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.

William Butler
www.williambutlerart.com
After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1986, William worked for about eight years as a graphic designer and illustrator by day, much of the time for a toy company near Aurora, Illinois. By night he painted watercolors, represented by galleries in Naperville and Arlington Heights. From 1994-2002, William sold his watercolors and hand-painted relief prints in galleries and at numerous art fairs throughout the Midwest, east coast and Florida, winning many awards. His work is included in Western and Eastern Illinois University collections. For the last decade his work has been inspired out of a love of comic book and Pop Art. " I think a thread that runs through all my work is the focus on every day objects and experiences, but magnified by a compulsive, exaggerated perspective." William begins his fifth year as Executive Director of the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria.

Jennifer Costa
Jennifer Costa is an Assistant Professor of Art and Gallery Curator at Illinois Central College in East Peoria, IL. She received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture from East Carolina University and her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of North Carolina, Asheville. She lived in North Carolina for 16 years before moving to Illinois in 2000. Her sculptural studio furniture is created from variations and combinations of metal and wood.

Cheryl Dean
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Cheryl has lived in the Peoria area most her life. Cheryl has been a photographer for 30 years, specializing in fine art prints using the Polaroid image transfer and manipulation process. Cheryl owns and operates Picture This Gallery in Peoria Heights, Illinois.

Chad Ellison
Chad Ellison was born and raised in the Galesburg, Illinois area. In his early years he won many awards for his work including the Late Jimmy Crown and the Principal award. Chad's work was awarded "Best of Show" in a student exhibition at Bradley University where he earned his BFA in ceramics. Chad has been featured in the Peoria Journal Star for his numerous murals and in Midwest Magic where he collaborated with other artists on murals and community art projects. Examples of Chad's work can be found throughout the Peoria area with murals located at Northmore Edison Elementary, along the eighty-foot outside wall on the campus of Bradley University, and at Illini Bluffs Elementary. Chad currently attends Western Illinois University where he is working to earn his teaching certificate while continuing his participation in art exhibitions.

Doug Goessman
www.goessmanart.4t.com
Doug Goessman is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He received his studio art degree from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois with an emphasis in Printmaking. He began his career as an artist and graphic designer in Chicago before moving to the Peoria, Illinois area. Doug is currently a full-time artist, graphic designer, and art instructor. Early in his career Doug had been recognized as one of Chicago's Top Emerging Artists and was listed by various sources as an "artist to watch." His brightly colored pop art has been exhibited in the U.S. and abroad and represented by galleries in Chicago and Bloomington, Illinois, England, and Germany. Doug's artwork can be found in several private collections and in the permanent collections of galleries, libraries and schools.

Jacob Grant
Jacob was born and raised in rural, central Illinois. He became interested in the arts in junior high school, but found his love for ceramics while attending Eastern Illinois University during his undergraduate studies. He has made and sold pottery since 2000, and started The Potter's House in 2003. In 2005, Jacob moved to Peoria to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree at Bradley University. Here he has been the ceramics graduate studio assistant, and is currently teaching 3D foundations courses as a graduate instructor. Jacob holds the position of Education Assistant for The Peoria Art Guild in Downtown Peoria, where he also teaches ceramics workshops and classes. Jacob's pottery can be viewed at The Peoria Art Guild's Gallery Store and at the Illinois Artisans's Gallery at Rend Lake, Illinois.

Chris Hutson
Born in 1980, Christopher Hutson is originally from Downers Grove. He has lived in the Chicago area and Baton Rouge, Louisiana and holds an MFA from Louisiana State University. He currently resides in Peoria, Illinois where he lives, works, draws pictures and teaches classes. A recent series of his work involves images that begin as gestural, non-objective shapes and evolve over the process of the drawing into representational depictions of imaginary objects. These emergent shapes, forms and textures are informed by and reflect my interest in the life sciences and natural form. They suggest, and are rooted in, the characteristics of such things as embryo, cloud, shell, wood, bone, mushroom, muscle, viscera and stone. More recently, he has begun reincorporating figurative and narrative elements into his work.

Richard Kirchgessner
Born, raised and educated in central Illinois, Richard attended Illinois Central College in East Peoria majoring in Graphic Arts. It was after a two-year stint with the Navy that his fondness for landscapes began to emerge and his career in the graphic arts began. His fine art creations began with oil painting, followed by acrylic painting, woodblock printing and, most recently, sculpture in Hydrocal and fabricated steel. Richard works with found objects in both his Hydrocal and fabricated steel pieces and delights in creating abstract and surreal sculpture with social implications. Richard has studio space at The Contemporary Art Center of Peoria where he is a resident artist and also works in his home studio.

Erin Robert
www.bohemianpearl.com
Erin Robert was born in the Midwest, but grew up on the east coast in a very small town situated roughly thirty minutes from the ocean. Erin studied illustration at the Delaware College of Art and Design and shortly afterward moved back to the Midwest. For a number of years Erin focused on compiling a cohesive portfolio for the sake of gaining a foothold in the illustration world. Meanwhile, Erin began to explore new mediums, changed from pen & ink to collage, and changed her style and focus from illustration to fine art. Since then Erin has exhibited her work in various venues and continues to explore new styles and mediums. Intrigued by relics of the past, Erin's "whimsical collages" seem to encapsulate the nostalgia for a bygone era. Her current works are a style of collage that she never took seriously, but in her works "since it's a style that keeps resurfacing, I might as well embrace it."

John Tuccillo
John Tuccillo was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City with an emphasis in studio art. John attended graduate school at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, earning his Master of Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting. Upon completion of his formal education, John accepted various administrative and teaching positions with the University of New Mexico, relocating to Taos, NM, where he lived and worked for five years. During this time, John also maintained his artistic pursuits. In 1999, John accepted his current position as Assistant Professor at Illinois Central College, and again relocated to Peoria, IL. John's artistic career has been highlighted by numerous group and solo exhibitions, including venues such as the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, SOFA Chicago, SOFA New York, and The Musee Des Beaux Arts in Rodez, France; his work is currently represented by the Ann Nathan Gallery of Chicago.

Steph VanDoren
Raised in Chicago, this working artist lived in Des Moines, Iowa for the last 14 years. She currently resides in Peoria, Illinois where she is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree, with an emphasis in Studio Painting, from Bradley University. Stephanie describes herself as politically, socially and environmentally passionate and is influenced by feminist and parenting issues, children, and the population's connection to mother planet. Stephanie's works are based on personal observations of global events and concerns, and explore the universal and intimate aspects of human relationships. Stephanie combines spontaneity with intent with sense of controlled chaos in her works. At times she is reflective of the human form, landscapes and natural organisms and as her work progresses, she will expose or deny images through a collage-like process until the chaos becomes more grounded.