bio.jpg

Bio: not a life story; a collage of snapshots. The plain facts, if you want to skip ahead, are at the bottom of the page.

Two first names: a never ending challenge for receptionists—and others. No, there’s no s on Daniel, and no, it’s not Danial ("Really?" I always want to say, “Have you ever seen Daniel spelled that way?!”) That first first name, how do you spell it? Are you sure? Pronounced Eddy, yes, like a gentle whirlpool.

Wau-wa-to-sa: Indian name; means “firefly." But you can say Milwaukee too; close enough. Another Indian name: “meeting of the waters.” One of the waters, the Menomonee (yep, Indian) River is a short walk from my house. Going there can take me a long way from home. Milwaukee is a fine place to live—if you don’t count the second half of winter, from Feb to Apr. I still miss spring, which I loved in NY where I spent my first 20 years. No, not The City: a suburb north of New Jersey. Near the Hudson, but my river then was a creek called Nauraushaun (Indian.) That’s creek, pronounced like cheek, not crick, which I get in my neck all too often these days.

Married, with children. Actually, they’re grown ups now. Alex lives in Massachusetts, works as a consultant and self-styled "radical copyeditor." Chelsea lives nearby with her Nicaraguan husband, Marcelo, and my two grandchildren. Married to Lynn, art therapist extraordinaire. If art isn't therapeutic I don't know what is!

Artist/teacher or teacher/artist. I did both for … well, a long time until I stopped the teaching part in 2011 to devote myself to the artist part. Now it's artist/writer. I taught photography, architecture, graphic design, drawing, ceramics, art history: there’s a lot of art in the world, thank goodness! Creativity is key to teaching as well as art. Like a shark, you have to keep moving forward or you die. Art and teaching have a lot in common: They have no impact if you’re doing them for yourself.

Professional Experience

  • Milwaukee Magazine, columnist
  • University of Wisconsin - Waukesha, Waukesha, WI
  • Carroll College, Waukesha, WI
  • Mount Mary College, Milwaukee, WI
  • St. Norbert College, DePere, WI
  • Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, WI

Organizational Experience

  • Preserve Our Parks, Board of Directors
  • Friends of the Hank Aaron State Trail, Board of Directors and Public Arts Committee, Co-Chair
  • Coalition of Photographic Arts, Founding Member, Board of Directors
  • Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Board of Directors
  • Unitarian Universalist Church West, Gallery Director, Board of Trustees
  • Milwaukee Area Teachers of Art, Board of Directors

Professional Memberships

  • Milwaukee Artists Resource Network
  • Society for Photographic Educators
  • Wisconsin Visual Artists
  • Milwaukee Area Teachers of Art
  • Coalition of Photographic Arts

Education

  • University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, 1985: M.S., Art Education; Thesis Exhibition: Photography and Cliché-Verre
  • University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1976: B.S., Art Education

Post-Graduate Studies

  • School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
  • University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
  • University of Wisconsin - Madison
  • Maine Photographic Workshops
  • Santa Fe Photographic Workshops

Artist Residencies

  • Vida Compasíon/Alto Cayma Mission, Arequipa, Peru. 2009
  • Menomonee Valley/Zimmerman Architectural Studios, Milwaukee, WI. 2014
  • Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee, WI. 2015
  • Cantera, Managua, Nicaragua: 2016

  • The Harbor District, Milwaukee, WI. 2017
  • University of Wisconsin Trout Lake Field Station, Vilas County, WI. 2017
  • ARTservancy/Milwaukee River Greenway, Milwaukee, WI. 2020