2025 Prairie Arts Festival Juror: Anita Ivy Miller 

Professional Artist & Art Instructor Anita, a two-dimensional artist, is currently developing "Escape" Art, art for when you're feeling overwhelmed and need a refresh or break. Her acrylic paintings embody subject matter showing mysteries, little jokes, and declarative statements about life. They are found on the walls of galleries and private collections in Chicago and the Chicago metropolitan area. She teaches painting at The Art Center Highland Park. 

Anita Miller Gallery & Studio in the Chicago Historic Fine Arts Building (Tours available)
The Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Avenue, Suite 827, Chicago, IL 60605-1308, 312- 888-6090

2025 Prairie Arts Festival Judge: Stephanie Adomaitis 

Stephanie Lebak Adomaitis is a Chicago-area artist recognized for her dynamic large-scale acrylic paintings and immersive spray-painted installations. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Illinois State University and her Master of Fine Arts from the renowned Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her work has been exhibited at prominent venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Anna Russo-Sieber Gallery in Benton Harbor, Jan Brandt Gallery in Bloomington, Forum Gallery in Bloomfield Hills, and the McLean County Arts Center.

In addition to her studio practice, Adomaitis has contributed to arts education as a professor of drawing and painting at Illinois State University and as a drawing instructor at Heartland Community College. She has also held leadership roles in arts advocacy, serving on the board of the Prairie Arts Center and as President of the Friends of the Arts board at Illinois State University.

2025 Prairie Arts Festival Judge: Don Yang 

After serving 7 years in the U.S. Army as a medic, Don pursued his childhood dream of living as an artist by studying at the American Academy of Art in Chicago where he earned a BFA with honors and later an MFA with emphasis on fine art and traditional illustration. After graduating from the Academy, Don has taught figure drawing, oil painting, and artistic anatomy at the American Academy of Art for 22 years and served as chairperson of Fine Arts Department and Foundations Department. An avid plein air painter, painting both outdoors and in his studio at the historic Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, he frequently exhibits his work both locally and nationally.