Current Art Gallery Exhibits

The MCC Art & Design Faculty Exhibit is a biennial event showcasing work created by the talented and experienced faculty artists at MCC. Seeing the artwork of faculty members not only highlights their artistic abilities but also their dedication to their craft and their passion for teaching. It allows students to learn from and be inspired by their instructors in a different context, which can enhance their educational experience. The exhibit offers a diverse range of art forms, including ceramics, jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video. Exhibiting faculty members include Sonya Baysinger, Michael Benedetto, Christopher Cosnowski, Jeremy J. Foy, Matt Irie, Violet Luczak, Clay Mills, CJ Niehaus, Olivia Mikolai Ridge, Justin Schmitz, Lee Stanton, Tom Vician, Tom White, and Raevenne S. Zackery.

Sonya Baysinger is originally from Central Illinois. She earned her Master of Arts Degree from Washington State University and her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After many years of studying and working as a studio apprentice for well-known artists in New York, NY, she made her home in the Chicago area. She is a working artist as well as an instructor of Art at McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, IL, and Columbia College of Art and Design, Chicago, IL. Her education includes training and experience in a variety of art media with an emphasis on sculpture. Presently, she teaches courses in Sculpture, Jewelry/Metals, and 3-D Design. Her artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Along with various grants that helped to fund her projects and professional development, she has received the Arts Midwest Award and the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award. Sonya Baysinger believes in the power of art. It is a vital component of life. A work of art is tangible evidence of historical, global aesthetics as it relates to the essence of the human spirit in a changing world.

 

Michael Benedetto joined MCC with decades of experience as a graphic designer, artist, and curator. His work explores themes of conflict, weaving together the external and the internal. Over the years, he has worked across video, photography, installation, performance, painting, and drawing. He exhibits regularly at The Greenleaf Art Center in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood and has co-curated the annual Be Mine invitational exhibition for the past seven years. Alongside his individual practice, he also collaborates with his artist son under the name Typical American Family Co., creating work that examines family, identity, and shared experience. Outside of making art, Mike spends time with friends and family, on long walks with his dog, on trail runs, in naps, and on bike rides along Chicago’s river trail. He earned his MFA from The University of Chicago (2001), his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1996), and his BA in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis (1991). For more about Mike, visit his website or Instagram.

 

Christopher Cosnowski is an artist and educator living and working in Chicago. He received his BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design in 1992 and his MFA from Northwestern University in 2000. He has been teaching art at the collegiate level since 2001. He has exhibited his artwork extensively throughout the United States including a 10-year retrospective at the South Shore Arts Association in Munster, IN. His work has been reviewed in The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun Times, The New Art Examiner and the New York Observer. Publications include Manifest Gallery’s International Painting Annual 4 and twice being featured on the cover of New American Paintings in 2001 and 2013. Mr. Cosnowski has received numerous awards and grants including from the Illinois Arts Council and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). In 2017, he was awarded a commission to design artwork for the Blue Line Montrose Station by the Chicago Transit Authority which was installed in May 2020. When he is not making art or teaching, Mr. Cosnowski tries to find time to travel with his wife Allison. He also likes hanging out with his two cats, Toaster and Pippa and playing classical guitar. For more about Cosnowski, visit his website or Instagram.

 

Jeremy J. Foy was born in Illinois in 1988. He received a BFA from Elmhurst College in 2013 and his MFA at Northern Illinois University in 2016. He is currently an adjunct professor at multiple Colleges and teaches ceramics at Water Street Studios in Batavia, IL. Jeremy employs physical stamina within his performances while displaying his foible acts in his ceramic work. For more about Jeremy, visit his Instagram.

 

Matt Irie received his MFA from Northwestern University, Evanston (2002). Irie completed a permanent commission for the Chicago Public Libraries in 2005. He participated in the Luleá Art Biennial, Luleá, Sweden (2009) and was included in Double Take, a public exhibition of site-specific sculptural works funded by The Public Art Fund at MetroTech, Brooklyn, NY (2010). In 2011 he had solo exhibitions at The Wright Museum of Art, Beloit, WI and Ebersmoore Gallery, Chicago, IL. In 2012 and 2013 Irie was included in two-person exhibitions at Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, San Antonio, TX and Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL. Irie’s work was also included in a two-person exhibition at Left Field Gallery, Los Osos, CA (2020). Recent solo exhibitions include Arresting Gestures, at the Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL (2021), Some of All, at Cleaner Gallery & Projects, Chicago, IL (2023) and Recent Jams b/w Fits & Starts, Gallery One & Two, McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, IL (2024). For more about Irie, visit his website or Instagram.

 

Violet Luczak is a multidisciplinary artist creating painting, design, and interactive sculptures. Working at the intersection of art and design, Luczak’s work opens up questions about gender binaries and the relation between body and identity. Based in Chicago, Violet Luczak holds her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and her BA from Elmhurst University. She was previously a 2021-2023 Chicago Art Department Resident and a 2020 Talking Dolls Resident in Detroit, Michigan. Luczak currently serves as a full-time faculty member at McHenry County College. Luczak has been published in New American Paintings, No. 147 MFA Annual Issue, Young Space, and It’s Nice That. For more about Luczak, visit her website or Instagram.

 

Clay Mills is a photographer, filmmaker and writer originally from Texas, now based in Chicago. Clay's hope is that his work is adequate to what Baudelaire tasked us with: to capture, “the fugitive, fleeting beauty of present-day life… often weird, violent, and excessive.” For more about Clay, visit his website or Instagram.

 

CJ Niehaus received her BA in Art Therapy from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and her MFA from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Following school, she was awarded a residency at Paducah School for Art and Design. CJ has taught college-level ceramics and art history classes, along with studio assisting and pursuing her own work. Currently, she is an adjunct professor at McHenry County College. She won the Lillian Thomas Fellowship for Ceramic Arts at Hambidge Center for Creative Arts, the IA O’Shaughnessy Foundation Scholarship at Penland, and received the LEAP award at the Center for Contemporary Art. CJ has been juried into exhibitions at Northern Clay Center, Baltimore Clay, The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, NCECA Expo, and others. She is currently represented by several galleries, including Charlie Cummings Gallery, In Tandem Gallery, Contemporary Craft, and Cedar Creek Gallery. CJ’s illustrative work is created with underglaze pencil and underglaze washes, each one done individually by hand and drawing inspiration from narratives of her past and the natural world. She currently shares her technique through Amaco demonstrations and workshops. For more about CJ, visit her website or Instagram.

 

Olivia Mikolai Ridge is an artist and educator working across photography, ceramics, and other forms of investigation. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Concordia University in Montréal. Before studying art, she studied Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is a member of the Milwaukee artist collective Yours Truly. In 2026, she was named Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year at McHenry County College. For more about Olivia, visit her website or Instagram.

 

Justin Schmitz (b. 1981) is an Illinois-based Photographer. He received his MFA from Yale University (2013) and his BFA from Columbia College Chicago (2004). He is the recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship, the Tierney Fellowship, the City of Chicago CAAP Grant, the Albert P. Weisman Scholarship, and the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Scholarship. A collection of his work was part of the Mid-West Photographers Project at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. He was runner-up for the Photography Book Now Prize and a finalist for the Honickman First Book Prize. For more about Schmitz, visit his website or Instagram.

 

Lee Stanton received her Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Northern Illinois University, a Master of Art History from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Master of Education in Human Resource Education: e-Learning from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She participated in and co-led twelve Study Abroad trips through Columbia College from 2007–2019. Lee is a member of ARC Gallery in Chicago, where she also served on the Executive Board as Vice President from 2019–2026. Her paintings have been included in numerous exhibits and juried shows and have received numerous awards. For more about Lee, visit her website or Instagram.

 

Tom Vician received a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from Illinois State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from Northern Michigan University. With a passion for both functional and sculptural ceramics, Tom is a committed professional in the arts, exhibiting his clay work regionally and nationally. His soda and reduction-fired stoneware are in numerous collections, both private and public. Tom has been highly influenced by motivated and dedicated instructors and realizes the importance of quality education and the profound impact it can have on one's life.

 

Tom White is an artist based in Chicago, IL. Originally from Omaha, NE, he earned his BFA in Drawing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (2020) and his MFA in Printmedia at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2025). Tom teaches Drawing I and II, Art Appreciation, and Humanities Through The Arts at MCC. Tom was a Teacher’s Assistant at SAIC, having assisted in Screenprinting and Etching courses. Tom also works as a substitute teacher for Chicago Public Schools. In his practice, Tom collaboratively and personally publishes his artwork and writing, with zine publications "Okay, Google," "Or Something," and "So What." Tom and his collaborator, Danaka Katovich, have an upcoming magazine publication titled "Corn Sweat" later this Fall. For more about Tom, visit his website or Instagram.

 

Raevenne S. Zackery, an Illinois-based painter, has developed her two-dimensional fine art skills over several years. Raevenne works with oil paint, acrylic aerosol, oil pastel, and pencil. Her style is abstract, creating dimensions within biological urban subject matter. Using techniques of stenciling, applying thick layers of paint, and airbrushing, with urban elements of Black American graffiti culture in the background, giving appreciation and inspiration in nature. She earned an A.A., B.F.A., and M.F.A.; holds an M.A. Certificate of Study in Art History; is a Certified Diamantologist; and is an established Practitioner of Educational Leadership within the current PhD and EdD pathway. Raevenne has an extensive array of exhibitions in art galleries and continuous community art events, as well as published works and curatorial work, both nationally and internationally.For more about Raevenne, visit her website or Instagram.

I decided years ago to paint with watercolors because I had young children, and easy clean-up allows the freedom to walk away from artwork whenever necessary. I do not start out with ideas for paintings. I warm up by messing around with the paint and water. When colors and shapes remind me of something interesting, I emphasize it and get a sense of direction bit by bit. Plenty of attempts go nowhere, so I put them aside. I keep interesting “duds” and have a look at them later, use them for collage, or eventually give up and toss them. Sometimes paintings take on a life of their own right away. They become like a comment, a joke, a cartoon, a dance, a familiar landscape or scene from home, and often they tell a story.

Kathy Maloney Johnson grew up in the suburbs of major and minor cities in California, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. The family packed up and moved whenever her father's company transferred him. Frequent moving made her feel attached to “things” since they went along with the move, but people were left behind, mostly never seen again and often sorely missed. When anyone asked, “Where are you from?” the answer seemed long and complicated. Kathy envied people who had a hometown.

Initially attending college in Virginia, studying Costume Design, Kathy left school for a while, then studied art at the Ft. Wayne Art Institute shortly after the school became part of Indiana University and graduated with a BFA in Drawing and Painting in 1981. Kathy married a Montana artist in a little town in the badlands of eastern Montana, moved to Florida (the state where her mother grew up), and stayed there from 1983–2025, teaching art for the Diocese of Orlando Catholic Schools until retiring in 2019. After her own children graduated from college, she signed up for the Master of Liberal Studies program at Rollins College, hoping to fill in gaps in her education and graduating in 2013. Kathy paints, sews, and makes things mostly on a small scale and with a fair commitment to good craftsmanship and imagination. For more about Kathy, visit her website.