Over the last two months, 16 CAPE educators and artists have transformed the gallery into a collaborative studio space—creating, experimenting, and sharing work inspired by their classroom practices.

Come meet the artists and see the works in progress:

August 21, 2026
7-10 PM
1010 W 35th Street, suite 697

RSVP here: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/dtxtsa

Artists in Residence:

Ernest M Whiteman III

Ernest M. Whiteman III is a Northern Arapaho filmmaker, artist, writer, media educator, and the Co-director of First Nations Film and Video Festival, Inc. a film festival supporting Native American directors. Ernest is currently Teaching Artist with CAPE and SkyART.

Ernest has two self-published books: “The Autobiography of Blue Woman” and “A Rez Tale”. He is at work on many film projects, “I’m So Humble” and “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the Zombie War”.

He is from the Wind River Reservation and currently lives in Rogers Park. Not bad for a nameless Arapaho from Wyoming.

Arturo Barrera

Arturo Barrera is an Art educator in the Chicago Public School system, the third-largest school district in the United States. I served as an Assistant Principal for 4 years and have been teaching art education for over 34 years. He received a B.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Art Education, a M.F.A. from Northern Illinois University in printmaking and painting and an M.A. in Education Administration from Governors State University. I create and coordinates various mural projects that incorporate the talents of my students. I am a recipient of various grants, which benefit my students, the school, and various communities. I am currently providing a standards-based instruction to teacher candidates at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I also teach a course at Daley College to the After 22 program a special needs program in beginning art.

Tony Collins

Tony “720” Collins is a Chicago-based self-taught artist, muralist, educator, and storyteller whose work explores Islam, fatherhood, Black identity, healing, community, and the African diaspora. For more than 20 years, his signature “720” murals have transformed Chicago walls, blending personal experience with cultural narratives. Rooted in graffiti and visual storytelling, his practice spans public art, printmaking, illustration, literature, and haiku-inspired works that foster reflection and connection. Through murals, zines, and mixed-media projects, Collins celebrates resilience while examining faith, family, and identity. A dedicated teaching artist, he empowers underserved communities through creativity. His collaborations include Jas of Chicago, Jose Raya, Mauricio Ramirez, Yams, OVO, and a 2014 tribute to King Louie.

Jessica Mueller

Jessica Mueller is a transdisciplinary artist and educator from Chicago, Illinois. Her work provides visibility for experiences of motherhood that are less than glamorous, shows the absurdity and value in the domestic mundane within actions of care and service. Jessica investigates intersectionality as she experiences it while tending to her bi-cultural/dual-language/single-parent household. Since 2004, she has taught with CAPE, partnering with Chicago Public Schools. A member of the Chicago ACT Collective and MotherArt: Revisited, Jessica has received the AIGA Heart of Gold Award and 3Arts Make A Wave grant. Her performance Public Weigh-In was featured at the Wolfsonian-FIU, Miami. Jessica’s work appears in Emergency Index Vols. 9,10 and Southwest Contemporary. Recent residencies include WORKROOM, PO Box Collective, Chicago; Nido II Living in the Play, Monte Castello di Vibio, Italy; and Poor Farm, Little Wolf, WI.

Laura Sáenz

Laura Sáenz is a bicultural arts educator, cultural researcher, story facilitator and interdisciplinary artist raised in Mexico City and based in Chicago, IL that collaborates in creating meaningful dialogues, connections, explorations and projects with communities in schools, arts organizations, health clinics and companies. Mostly focused on the ever-growing and multi-faceted Latin American diaspora in the U.S., Laura serves to create bridges of understanding through intentional conversations, art-making and design of cultural research.

Tulika Ladsariya

Tulika Ladsariya is an interdisciplinary artist working across painting, ceramics, and installation. Born in Mumbai and based in Chicago, her practice explores interdependence, identity, care, and ecological connection through themes of tenderness and nurturance. A self-taught artist with a background as a Chartered Accountant, she has developed her practice through workshops, residencies, and community engagement. Her work has been exhibited across the United States, India, and the UK, including at the Chicago Cultural Center, Expo Chicago, and ART India Fair. Ladsariya is a Ragdale Foundation resident (2026) and a recipient of the Threewalls In-Session Fellowship and a DCASE Individual Artist Program grant.

Lisa Sikorski

Lisa Sikorski holds a BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has been a fellow with the Marie Christine Kohler Foundation, Milderd’s Lane, and the Laundromat Project. She was an Artist in Residence at the Elsewhere Collaborative, Mildred’s Lane, and the Wyckoff Farmhouse. She previously lived in Brooklyn, NY where she was a Textile Educator and Director of Youth Programs at the Textile Arts Center. She currently lives in the Chicagoland Area where she was born and raised. She is a teaching artist with CAPE. She is also a mom to one extremely spirited daughter and spends her free time succumbing to endless requests for homemade costumes.

Amelia Cintula

Amelia Cintula is an artist, educator, and documentary filmmaker whose work explores memory, place, identity, and community. She holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education and currently teaches second grade, where she integrates visual arts, storytelling, and inquiry-based learning into her classroom practice.

For the past five years, Amelia has worked as an Artist-Teacher with CAPE (Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education), collaborating with students, educators, and teaching artists to develop arts-integrated learning experiences that center creativity, reflection, and community engagement. Her practice is grounded in the belief that art serves as a powerful tool for meaning-making and connection.

In addition to her work in education, Amelia has produced documentary films for the Batavia Historical Society, preserving local histories and amplifying community narratives through visual storytelling. Drawing from her background in film, photography, and mixed media, she creates work that examines the relationships between people, memory, and place.

Through both her artistic and educational practices, Amelia seeks to create opportunities for individuals and communities to share stories, foster belonging, and explore the evolving ways we define home.

Niema Qureshi

Niema Qureshi is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work explores the intersection between art, education and technology. Committed to arts integration as a means of breaking down disciplinary silos, her practice investigates how technology can be reimagined to create more sensory and tactile experiences. Niema is also a participant in the Art21 Educators program.

Betsy Zacsek

Betsy Zacsek is a Teaching Artist, painter, and sculptor residing in Chicago, IL.  Her work is energetic, expressive, and abstract. Betsy’s work is always concerned with process and a joyful exploration of materials.  She is a Co-Founder of LAWN Gallery, an outdoor, project-based exhibition space in Logan Square that invites emerging artists to transform the unkempt, urban, residential yard space into an installation event according to their vision.  Betsy is always busy with creative projects, cooking, and volunteering.

Sarah Isela Aguilar

Sarah Isela Aguilar (b. El Paso, TX) received her BFA from The University of Texas at El Paso (2019) and her MFA from the University of Illinois Chicago (2024). She currently lives and works in Chicago, and continues to return to the star on the mountain.

Sarah is a…

drawer- who traces
drawer- who holds
drawer- who pulls
drawer- who lengthens

Fiorella H Gomez Bermudez

Fiorella Hilda Gomez Bermudez is a Peruvian multidisciplinary artist and art educator residing in Wheaton, Illinois. Her artistic practice weaves themes of motherhood, mortality, migration, belonging, and colorism within the Latinx community, all through the expressive mediums of performance and recycled materials. By crafting sculptures, installations, and fiber art from items like plastic and other recycled materials, she vividly portrays her immigrant experience in the U.S.

As a K-5 art educator, Gomez employs the Teaching for Artistic Behavior methodology, cultivating an inquiry-driven, studio-based learning environment that encourages inquiry and exploration. Her commitment extends beyond the classroom; she collaborates with CAPE as a community teaching artist and curriculum consultant, aiming to enhance creative partnerships between teachers and students while creating spaces for collaborative art-making. Gomez’s artistic work has been showcased in various national and international venues, including the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, The Blanden Memorial Museum and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Jordan Knecht

Jordan Knecht is an artist, educator, musician, DJ, and systems designer, surfing the wave of unknowing. Jordan is the founder of the publishing house, Adult Punk, clothing brand, Wave of Unknowing, and micro-record shop, Somebody Else’s. Jordan’s work is rooted in play and reciprocal care, two guiding forces which inform all projects and collaborations.

Madison Mae Parker

Madison Mae Parker is a poet, performer, somatic educator, arts doula, and space-maker. Her experience has been collected from a smattering of resource: from DIY poetry spaces and dive bars; an MFA in Performance from SAIC; community organizing and nonprofit work across Texas and Missouri; as well as studying somatics at the Tamalpa Institute. Recently, her projects have varied from a ritual arts residency through Artists in Public Schools, working as an arts educator through CAPE and Chicago Poetry Center, co-curating Many Times at Yes Project Space in Chicago, and facilitating an on-going workshop titled Movement Philosophy, exploring how texts lives in the body. They believe poems are just feelings on display, a way to let the body vocalize the internal knowing. Talk to her about poetry, cats, somatics, astrology, or cartoons, and you’ve found a friend.

Courtney Davis, Ph. D.

Dr. Courtney P. Davis is a reflective educator, practitioner, researcher, and adjunct professor with over 30 years of dedicated experience in special education. Informed by profound lived experiences, she is a fierce advocate for students with disabilities and their families. Dr. Davis works at the intersection of creative awareness and systemic change, transforming traditional educational landscapes into inclusive spaces. Throughout her three-decade career, her multifaceted work has bridged academia and real-world practice, ensuring neurodivergent learners are deeply valued, accurately understood, and empowered to thrive within their classrooms and communities.

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Tags: Amelia Cintula, Arturo Barrera, Betsy Zacsek, Bridgeport, CAPE, Chicago, Courtney P. Davis, Ernest M. Whiteman III, Fiorella H. Gomez Bermudez, Jessica Mueller, Jordan Knecht, Laura Sáenz, Lisa Sikorski, Madison Mae Parker, Niema Qureshi, Sarah Isela Aguilar, Tony Collins, Tulika Ladsariya, WORKROOM