Art Bug's first blog!
My name is Marta Kozbur and this is my first blog!
I grew up on the West side of Chicago in what is now known as Ukrainian Village. It was a childhood filled with close family and friends, a very tight knit community and the freedom to roam and play without today’s worries. Church bells ringing signaled dinner time when all the neighborhood kids went running home to a delicious meal. Summer time evenings were often spent on the back porch with a transistor radio tuned in to the Cubs game, ice cold lemonade and all the neighbors doing the same thing!
Travel was something my family enjoyed doing very much. Short trips to Michigan and Canada during the year, and our annual trip to the Catskills in the summer. Of course, all trips were for visiting family. Being first generation born in the United States, the language spoken at home was always Ukrainian. With our family being scattered all over the US and Canada after emigrating from Europe following WWII, seeing each other as often as possible was a priority. Summers in the Catskills was a place we all gathered. The Catskills was where my grandmother, a painter, helped me make my first brush strokes. It was where I learned to love and respect nature, where I realized that art and teaching would always be a part of my life.
I met my husband of 35 years on a trip to what was then still the Soviet Union. After we married, we lived in LA for a number of years. Chicago never left my heart and so in 1990, with three small children, we moved back to the area. When my oldest started school, I became an art volunteer, or the “picture lady” as we were called. Before children, I was a graphic designer/Art Historian, now I was ready to become an Art Educator and I haven’t stopped since!
I am passionate about my work. I share my students joy in experiencing every step of every project we work on. I also love to share in the learning….they learn from me, and I learn from them.
 |
| Student work - City of Chicago |
