Stacia A. Slezak 1983- Omaha, Nebraska

Stacia A. Slezak was born in Omaha, Nebraska and is a life long resident. She is an art history student at Creighton University graduating in 2005 with a degree in Art History and Arts Management.

At a very young age Slezak started sketching pictures and making art projects from things around the house. Friends and family recognized her natural talent and joy for creating art and encouraged her to follow her passion. She experimented with different art utensils and supplies working in various mediums. At age 13 she purchased her first acrylic paints and began exploring the range of painting application techniques.



Slezak's preferred mediums are acrylic, watercolor and ink. She has produced works in pastel, oil, charcoal, digital photography, oil pastel and ceramics. In 1998 her Digital Self-Portrait won a ribbon in her division at the Nebraska State Fair. She has received recognition and awards at the Omaha Summer Arts Festival, Creighton's All-University Art Exhibition, and in two literary magazines The Muse and Shadows.

At the age of 17 Stacia Slezak and a small group of students from the Omaha area high schools traveled in Europe for two weeks. They visited and photographed the following cities: Rome, Florence, Paris, and Madrid. Slezak's favorite city from the trip was Florence. This trip provided the opportunity to take photographs and use some of the images in her work.



In 2001 Slezak received the Gold Key Scholastic Art Award for oil on canvas board titled Hideaway. In June 2001 she participated in the Washington D.C. ceremonies for Scholastic Art and Writing Award recipients. The Hideaway was exhibited at the Corcoran Museum of Art for one year. Slezak participated in a collaborative quilt making project at the Corcoran Gallery of Art along with 150 of the 255 award-winning students who came for the ceremonies.

Slezak continues to create in her free time. She views art as a personal release expressing her ideas and emotions. She values the positive effect art has on the world. In her words "There is an abundance of beauty, inspiration, challenge, strength, paradox, innovation, incandescence and life in all types of art. The key is to allow yourself to at least consider it. So often we are bombarded by images and ideas that our minds automatically screen them out. There is much meaning and perspective that can be gained by simply looking and considering."



Slezak is developing a catalogue for a Nebraska artist collaborating with another art historian. She works part time at Joslyn Memorial Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.

Her artistic style is developing and is an expressive view of realism regardless of the medium. She finds artistic inspiration from her travel, home, peer artists and studies of the Great Masters in art.