Staff

Patricia M. Murphy is the founder and Co-Director of Beacon Street Gallery. A visual artist and educator, Murphy holds a M.A. in Interdisciplinary Art from Columbia College Chicago, M.F.A in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a B.A in Art Education from Northeastern Illinois University. Murphy coordinates the "Tradition in Transition" folk and ethnic performance and gallery series, outreach activities, and teaches visual arts workshops. Since 1982, Patricia has curated over 50 exhibitions including international exchanges with England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, New Zealand, China, South Africa, and Austria. As a visual artist, she has exhibited in over 40 shows throughout the United States and Europe and has created 12 successful youth programs in Chicago.

Susan F. Field is the Co-Director of Beacon Street Gallery. A published researcher on integrative thinking and holistic curriculum, poet and playwright, Field holds an M.S. E.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Northeastern Illinois University, with a specialization in Secondary Reading. Susan coordinates performance programs and poetry readings at Beacon Street Studios, our satellite location in Batavia, Kane County, Illinois. She is an adjunct faculty member and advisor at DePaul University's Center for New Learning and taught in the Elgin Public School system for 17 years. Field is currently pursuing a certification in Poetry Therapy through the National Association of Poetry Therapy.

JoVonna Jackson is an artist in residence at Beacon Street Gallery. From 2002 to 2006, JoVonna was an apprentice artist in Beacon Street's teen mosaic programs. In the past 7 years, she has worked on murals in Millennium Park, Berger Park, Steward Park, and Andersen Park in Chicago. In 2008, JoVonna began teaching at Stewart School as a mosaic artist and now has a studio space at Beacon Street Gallery. She is currently co-designing a piece for Touhy Park in Rogers Park. She is an alumnus of Washburn Culinary Institute.

 

Teaching Artists from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines work with our youth and young adults in art education programming.

Interns and Volunteers work in our programs as gallery assistants and tutors through partnerships with DePaul University, Loyola University, the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College, and Roosevelt University.