Mike Barret Kolasinski is a nationally recognized pastelist. An award winning artist, he is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, has achieved Master Circle status with the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS), a Master Circle Member of the PaintAmerica Association, and a Master and co-founding Board Member of the Chicago Pastel Painters. Having studied Illustration and Design at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, Mike is largely self-taught in his current career of producing fine art paintings called WildScapes.

Jesse Howard has been teaching Beginning and advanced drawing at OPAL for 15 years! Jesse’s artwork has appeared in many galleries nationwide and his career has been covered in many publications. His first major one-person show in 1984 was with Zriny Gallery. He also exhibited with the Chicago Cultural Center, 5+5 In Perspectives In Black Art and has work in both public and private collections.

Richard Sheppard is a freelance illustrator, fine artist, and writer. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Academy of Art University in San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts in painting and drawing from Arizona State University. Over the years Richard has illustrated hundreds of books, theater posters, and product labels for companies such as Tortilla Factory, Ghirardelli Chocolate, KPMG, Levi Strauss & Co. and Marin Cheese Company.

Julie Sulzen has been painting professionally for over 25 years in Chicago, focusing primarily on urban landscape painting. Julie creates images of people, homes, neighborhoods, and the built environment, in order to bring an understanding of the emotional and aesthetic ties that people have to their surroundings. As a wife, mother, painter, and lifelong Chicago resident, she asks questions about her own gendered and class-status relationships within her community to help tell the particular stories of her experiences through art. Sulzen aims to share her knowledge, offer encouragement, and give guidance to students on their own unique path in the world of art.

Jan Zhou is an artist, fashion designer, and educator with over 25 years of experience in the creative arts. She has taught fashion and design at leading institutions in the U.S. and abroad, including the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Bunka Fashion Institute in Japan, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and Instituto Marangoni in Italy. Her international background and innovative approach have shaped her teaching style, blending Eastern aesthetics with modern design thinking. As founder of JZen Art of Line Studio, Jan created a mindful drawing practice that helps students rediscover the foundations of observation and line — building clarity, rhythm, and flow in their creative process.