Visual Arts Students Transform a Lincoln Park Window Display for the Holidays
If you’ve recently walked past 1211 W. Webster Ave. in Lincoln Park, you may have stopped in your tracks. If you didn’t — go back. We’ll wait.
The stunning window installation currently on view at Emily Sachs Wong’s Properties real estate office is the result of months of imagination and collaboration from our Visual Arts students and it represents a milestone moment for The Chicago Academy for the Arts.
This ambitious project has been in the works since mid-November, giving students a rare and invaluable opportunity: to create work not just for critique or exhibition within our walls, but for a real business, a real neighborhood, and a real Chicago audience. This is the first project of its kind and scope for our Visual Arts Department, and it’s one we couldn’t be more proud to celebrate.
Collaborations like this allow students to experience what it means to work with professional partners, meet real-world deadlines and constraints, design for a public audience, see their work live and living in the city. It’s experiential learning at its best, and it’s exactly the kind of opportunity that prepares our students to thrive as artists, designers, and creative leaders.
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity and advocacy of Landon Harper, Academy alumnus (1994–1996), who works with Emily Wong and helped make this collaboration a reality.
Meet the Student Leaders Behind the Vision
Design Team & Project Leaders
Nyla Forman (‘26)
Evangeline Jagas (‘26)
Maaha Webb (‘26)
Surya Webb (‘26)
These students led the creative vision, coordination, and execution of a project that required both artistic excellence and serious leadership skills.
With Significant Contributions By
Jay Campos (‘27)
Caylin Cobbins (‘29)
Zoe Ejma (‘26)
Gloria Kravchenko (‘26)
Frehiwot Moses-Rosenthal (‘26)
Yasniel Pizarro (‘29)
Leo Salgado (‘27)
Marlo Miller-Smulski (‘27)
Oliver Sawyer (‘26)
Teagan Staffaroni (‘26)
Teige Payne
Maya Archer (‘26)
Dasha Bukhtii (‘26)
Madison Macias-Avila (‘26)
Cyber Catt (‘27)
Dionne Eskridge (‘27)
Maiko Funes (‘27)
Evie Kane (‘27)
Neehra Meniooh (‘27)
Livi Williams (‘27)
Emma Tollinchi (‘28)
Adam Boleski (‘29)
Hugo Ciriaco (‘29)
Jaiden Demus (‘29)
Ceres Friedlander (‘29)
Alex Kenler (‘29)
Devi Nguyen (‘29)
Jettsen Perez (‘29)
In true Academy fashion, artists from across disciplines joined in to support the project:
Ella Archer (Media Arts) (‘26)
Max Silverman (Media Arts) (‘27)
Natalia Garcia (Dance) (‘26)
Reya Ross (Music) (‘26)
Quiona Goins (Theatre) (‘27)
Miles Luke (Theatre) (‘26)
Katherine Kiker (Musical Theatre) (‘27)
Liliana Renteria (Musical Theatre) (‘27)
Faculty Support
Margy Stover, Visual Arts Department Chair
Brenda Moore, Visual Arts
David Sprecher, Visual Arts
Buck Blue, Theatre
