Jessica Jecmen is a Managing Director at Accenture and Executive Director of the Accenture Foundation. She is an active volunteer in her community. She is the Second Vice President of the Joffrey Women’s Board in Chicago and has previously Co-Chaired their Annual Luncheon and served as First Vice President. She also serves Gamma Phi Beta on as a Vice President on their International Council. She has served in leadership roles in the Junior League of Kane & DuPage Counties and Harrison Street School PTO.

Jessica has a deep love of the arts, specifically dance. She grew up dancing, inspired and encouraged by her mother, who was also a dancer. Many of Jessica’s extended family are artists in various mediums and she loves encouraging artists of all ages to develop their passion.

Jessica lives with her husband, Dave, and two children, Leo, and Eva, in Geneva.

Contact Jessica at president@waterstreetstudios.org

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

Rosalie White’s journey with art began in childhood, fueled by a curiosity to create with found objects and materials from around the house. This passion deepened during her studies at Columbia College Chicago, where unconventional perspectives helped shape her artistic vision.

After pursuing a parallel career in education as teacher and school administration, Rosalie retired in 2021, fully embracing her identity as an artist.

Now, as a resident artist and instructor at Water Street, Rosalie dedicates herself to both creating and teaching. She takes immense joy in sharing the transformative magic of art with students of all ages, fostering a space where creativity flourishes without limits.

Her work is known for its vibrant use of color and textural depth, often exploring themes of memory, nature, and human connection.

Her work has been featured in regional publications, solo and group exhibitions throughout Chicagoland and received the 2024 West Chicago’s Art Banner People Choice award.

Contact Rose at artschool@waterstreetstudios.org

Carly Palmer wears many hats at Water Street Studios. She recently transitioned in the Community Engagement role help coordinate the galleries at Water Street Studios. In this role, her main focus is to create engaging content for Water Street Studio’s social media and newsletters, and aid in Water Street Studios developing a consistent brand voice. Her intention is to highlight the internal artist community at Water Street Studios, build relationships with the surrounding local community, and language the impact that art has. 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 through Water Street Studios partnerships. Carly is also a Resident Artist at Water Street Studios. She recently started an Artist Book Club for Resident Artists, School of Art Instructors, and Clay Lay Members. 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

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