Gianna Bisogni is the Events and Marketing Manager. She comes to Water Street with 10 years of experience in customer service and hospitality, managing hair salons in the Fox Valley area. Gianna has loved art since she was a small child attending art fairs and classes with her mom and siblings. Her passion for creating was re-awakened taking ceramics courses at Water Street Studios where she later became a clay lab subscriber. She also loves learning about and collecting plants, maintaining a collection of rare house plants and a yearly vegetable garden. Gianna’s favorite thing to do in the clay lab is throw on the wheel, and her favorite plant from her collection is the Philodendron Silver Stripe.

Contact Gianna at events@waterstreetstudios.org

A lifelong journey with art began for me as a child, drawing and constructing with whatever treasures I could find around the house. My creative roots deepened through studies at Columbia College Chicago, where unconventional perspectives fueled my artistic spirit. Transitioning into education and school administration then became a parallel path, spanning until my retirement in 2021. Today, as a resident artist and instructor, I dedicate my time to both creating and instructing at Water Street. I find great joy connecting in its collective community and imparting the magic of art to students of all ages, fostering a space where creativity knows no bounds.

Contact Rose at artschool@waterstreetstudios.org

Carly Palmer wears many hats at Water Street Studios. On the gallery side, she is the manager and curator for the Community Gallery. This gallery is located on the second floor amongst the Resident Artist 2D studios. The focus of this gallery is to highlight emerging artists - especially those in our local community and through outreach efforts. The Community Gallery shows us that by bringing together creativity and connection, we can inspire community! She enjoys being able to work with other creatives towards a meaningful vision.

In addition, she is an outreach instructor for the School of Art where she engages with our surrounding local community. She has taught in the CAPE, Art Flow Mercy Housing, Holmstad Senior Center, and other outreach endeavors in the local community. Carly is also a Resident Artist at Water Street Studios. Her mediums are painting, collage, and writing. You can view her personal artist website here: www.carlypalmer.com or follow her @artfullycurious

Contact Carly at carly@waterstreetstudios.org or communitygallery@waterstreetstudios.org

Kim Peterson serves as the bookkeeper for Water Street Studios. She comes to WSS with energy and passion around supporting small businesses and non- profits. Kim has a diverse background as an Accounting Management, Office Manager and in Relationship Building. She is an active supporter of Mooseheart Child City through her membership in the Batavia Moose Club.

Her artistic creativity consists of holiday projects, home projects and gifts for others while having a great respect for all the artists at our studio. She has a daughter that resides in Virginia (formerly of Iowa City) with 3 amazing Granddaughters that are the focal point of her everyday - Lillian who loves her clay classes and free form drawing, Identical Twins Olivia & Elaina, each expressing themselves through storytelling, creative imagination and most recently, painting.

Kim is an advocate for adopting pets from a local shelter, having fostered several litters of kittens and pups. She is a firm believer that all children can express their thoughts and expressions through art when given the opportunity.

Contact Kim at registration@waterstreetstudios.org

Erin took several 2D classes at Water Street Studios before taking her first wheel throwing class in 2022. She instantly fell in love with ceramics and working with three dimensional forms. She became a Clay Lab member after a few months to deepen her knowledge of ceramics, as well as learn more about the workings of a community studio. Her favorite part about being a member of the Clay Lab is the comradery and being inspired by the talent and creativity of all the other members. She enjoys looking for new challenges to broaden her skills throwing on the wheel and perfecting the finish of her pieces.

Contact Erin at claylab@waterstreetstudios.org

Steve Sherrell is a career painter from the Chicago school of art. He was raised in Indiana but moved to the Chicago area to finish his education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA and MFA in Painting and Drawing. His early influence was his father who was a painter and window dresser for a large department store. As a boy he was exposed to Abstract Expressionism, Cubism, Pop Art, American Realism and the decorative arts. His training at the School of the Art Institute was with Ray Yoshida and Whitney Halstead, who introduced him to studio practices that he has utilized since he graduated. He is a retired Professor of Art from Joliet Junior College.

He is currently the Director of Exhibitions at Water Street Studios in Batavia, Illinois and founder of the Water Street Studios Artist’s Collective.

Contact Steve at ssherrel69@gmail.com

Mark is a Batavia resident and sculptor/metal smith. He was a resident artist at Water Street from 2016-2023 when he moved across the river to a bigger space. You’ll still see Mark around the studio in a maintenance role, helping care for our historic building.

Contact Mark at markadams2667@yahoo.com