Who We Are

Staff

Kitty Rauth, Interim Executive Director
Marielle Mervau, Interim Development Director

Programmers and Volunteers

Raul Benitez, Comfort Film Manager
Luna Luxe
Emily Perez
Mathew Tapey
Riley Leitch, Comfort Music Manager
Gordon Fung
Sam Leapley
Adam Shead
Alex Knapik, Exhibitions & Artists to Watch Manager
Aunty Calhoun
Nadia John
Caitlin Wagner
Jonathan Krohn, Graphic Designer
Lauren Viera, Marketing Director
Patricia Doyle
Courtney Knight
Madelynn Austin

Board of Directors

Mariela Acuña, President
Alden Burke, Secretary
Christina Cosío, Treasurer
John Guevara
Willie Jackson
Jackie Kazarian
Maddie May
Lance Pulido
Erin Toale
Adrian Wong

Jason Hammel, emeritus member

Mariela Acuña is an art administrator and curator from San José, Costa Rica currently based in Chicago. She is Director of Exhibitions and Residency at Hyde Park Art Center where she oversees the Art Center's exhibitions and residency programs as well as the micro-publishing platform Green Lantern Press, and the innovative regranting initiative Artists Run Chicago Fund. She holds a BA in Art History and a BFA in Sculpture from Florida Atlantic University and a dual MA in Art Administration and Public Policy and Art History, Theory, and Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before moving to Chicago, Mariela held positions at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL; Girls' Club Collection in Ft. Lauderdale; and the University Galleries at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL.

Alden Burke (she/they) is a Chicago-based educator, facilitator, artist, and designer. Currently, she is thinking about modes of introduction, making clouds out of metal, radicalizing HR practices, and free-writing in five-minute paragraphs. Generally, her work centers around supporting collaborative making, process-based work, care in administrative practices, creative sustainability, and the question “What are we going to learn from one another?” Alden is a Lead Organizer for the Chicago Arts Census, Co-Founder of Annas, and does Service Design for arts organizations in Chicago.

Christina Cosio is a visual artist and social impact administrator living and working in Chicago. Presently, she is the Director of Operations at Greater Good Studio, a design consulting agency focused on the social sector. She also serves on the Associate Board of Latino Union, a non-profit organization that collaborates with low-income immigrant/U.S.-born workers to address labor issues such as wage theft and workplace safety. She holds a BFA in Sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis, an MA in History and Museum Studies from University of Missouri-St. Louis, and an MBA from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining Greater Good Studio, Christina worked for more than a decade supporting arts exhibitions opportunities for students and their communities, most recently at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Christina lives in Avondale with her husband, two children, and their ramshackle (but cherished) garden.

John H. Guevara (they/them) is a curator, writer, and art worker. They were recognized in “Chicago’s Art Top 50 Visual Vanguard” 2022 list by Newcity Magazine. They have participated in residencies like the Independent Curators International, Chicago Artists Coalition, and No Lugar Arte Contemporaneo (Quito, Ecuador). They have published with New York University’s The Latinx Project Intervenxions. As the founder and director of the art library project called Chuquimarca, they have been invited to program with art organizations such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, DePaul Art Museum, Hyde Park Art Center, Mana Contemporary, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They have a Bachelor’s of Arts in Visual Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago and are enrolled in the Editing Certificate program at the University of Chicago.

Willie Jackson heads the Solutions Architect practice for Starcom US, where he consults clients on data and technology solutions to enhance the customer experience. He holds BAs in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Chicago and has been highlighted as an AdWeek Media All Star (2020) and Innovation Honoree (2019). Over the course of his career, Willie has cultivated experience across a diverse set of verticals, including telecom, CPG, transportation, retail, and financial services. He brings a powerful combination of quantitative rigor and behavioral insights to help craft relevant human experiences. Willie and his wife currently reside in Humboldt Park, and are avid explorers of the city (especially Logan Square). In his spare time, he can be found cooking, cycling, running, playing (5!) instruments, and traveling.

Jackie Kazarian makes works on paper, paintings, and installations that exist at the intersection of landscape, abstraction, and perception. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally. She has worked collaboratively with dance companies to create stage designs for dance performances. She served on the board of Links Hall for five years and on the exhibition committee for Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Kazarian has organized many community-based projects over the years, including those for Refugee One, EarthHeart Foundation, and Art In My Backyard. As an art envoy for the U.S. State Department, she has exhibited and led painting workshops in Syria and Kuwait. Kazarian taught painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). She received an MFA from SAIC and BS from Duke University.

Maddie May (she/they) is a Chicago-based artist, educator, curator, and Assistant Dean. Their multi-sensory practice investigates Midwestern class and turbulent histories through textiles, sculpture, print, scent, and sound, often drawing from personal and collective memory. May holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design. They have worked across institutions as a gallery technician, taught extensively in continuing studies programs, and ran a not-for-profit gallery space in Grand Rapids for four years. These experiences shape their commitment to artist-run and community-centered spaces.

Lance Pulido is a longtime Logan Square resident of over 10 years and a Comfort Station enthusiast. A Chicago native and graduate of DePaul University, he is currently employed in the Commercial Bank division at JPMorgan. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Until There’s a Cure, a nonprofit HIV/AIDS organization founded in the 1990s. Lance is a strong advocate for accessible, free art and looks forward to contributing to the mission of Comfort Station. He and his husband enjoy living near Comfort Station.

Erin Toale is a Chicago-based writer and cultural worker. She earned Dual MAs in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism and Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013 and a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design in 2006. She has held curatorial and educational roles across various Chicago nonprofits including: the Hyde Park Art Center; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Rebuild Foundation; the Society for Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Sullivan Galleries at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She participated in both the HATCH Projects Curatorial Residency at Chicago Artists Coalition (2015) and the Center Program at the Hyde Park Art Center (2016). She is a Teaching Artist, a Contributing Writer for the Chicago Reader and Newcity, and the Founding Director of Bird Show (a seasonal outdoor project space).

Adrian Wong was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois in 1980. Originally trained in research psychology (receiving a Master’s degree from Stanford University in 2003), he began making and exhibiting work in San Francisco while concurrently conducting experiments on young children. He continued his post-graduate studies at Yale University, where he received an MFA in 2005. Relying heavily on a research based method, his installations, videos, and sculptures draw from varied subjects and explore the intricacies of his relationship to his environment (experientially, historically, culturally, and through the filter of fantastical or fictionalized narratives). These organic and open-ended artifacts of his process often involve a collaborative engagement with subjects. Wong has been based in Hong Kong since 2005, where he is the co-founder and director of Embassy Projects, an arts consultancy and independent production studio.