Pamela Staker, Abstract Study (sea), 2023 Oil on canvas 22 1/4 × 22 1/4 × 2 in | 56.5 × 56.5 × 5.1 cm with frame included “As is true for many artists, I have been making art ever since I could hold a crayon. I also went to school for it. My mom, a painter who focused on realism, still life, and folk art taught me from a very young age. I loved painting and reading and found out in school I also had a talent for math. I attended the University of Illinois, where I had a short stint as a math major; I always liked my math teachers and thought maybe I would teach too. It became clear by sophomore year that my first love was still art, so I transferred to the art department, where I received my BFA in painting. Early in my career, I was awarded several grants, including an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship and a CAAP Individual Artist Grant from the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs. My paintings are represented in numerous private and corporate collections, including The Sophy, a boutique hotel in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL; the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; Capital One, Chicago, IL; WeWork, Chicago, IL; and Cascade Hills Country Club, Grand Rapids, MI.”