The Society/
Our Team

Michelle Edwards

PRESIDENT

David Egeland

VICE PRESIDENT, ACQUISITIONS

David Egeland became interested in contemporary art after purchasing a second home in Marfa, Texas location of the minimalist mecca Chinati Foundation founded by Donald Judd. David lives in Bucktown with his partner, Andy, and he heads up the marketing group for the General Growth Properties in Chicago.

Scott Hunter

VICE PRESIDENT, PROGRAMMING

Scott Hunter has been actively collecting contemporary art, including paintings, works on paper, smaller scale sculpture, and video for over 12 years.  His collection primarily emphasizes abstraction and plasticity, and features a particular focus on both emerging and Chicago-affiliated artists.  Scott is active in promoting the interface between visual and music practices within contemporary art.  Professionally, Scott is Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Neuroscience, and Pediatrics, and the Director of Neuropsychology at the University of Chicago, where he balances administrative, teaching, research, and clinical demands.

Jay Dandy

TREASURER

Jay Dandy has been active in the Chicago art community for more than 20 years. As a member of the Society for Contemporary Art since 1998, Jay has been the Board for 11 years and has held the positions of Secretary, Vice President, Acquisition Chair, and President. He sits on both the Committee for American Art and the Committee for Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as the Exhibition Committee at the Museum of Cotemporary Art Chicago, and the International Committee at the Renaissance Society.

Patty Sternberg

SECRETARY

Dirk Denison

CHAIR, NOMINATING/BY-LAWS

Dirk Denison is an architect and an educator. He trained at The University of Michigan, the Illinois Institute of Technology and Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1990, Denison established his practice, Dirk Denison Architects, in Chicago. His firm work has been recognized both nationally and internationally through awards and publications for outstanding residential and commercial design work. He was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2005.

In addition to studying at IIT, Denison has held multiple positions there as a full-time faculty member over the last two decades. As the Director of Graduate Programs, Director of Undergraduate Programs, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Supervising Campus Architect and Design Studio Professor, his teaching has focused on community-based planning, and urban design. Denison led a series of joint design studios between the College of Architecture at IIT and Harvard Design School between 1994 and 1997, focused on public housing and issues of urban renewal.

Eszter Borvendeg

HOSPITALITY

My father is an architect, my mother is a sculptor and artistic interest runs in the family. I grew up in Hungary surrounded by art and my family’s artist friends. There were only two TV channels at the time, but a BBC series on French Impressionism kept my sister and me glued to the TV set every Tuesday night. We were both in middle school. To this day it is still my favorite period in art. My second home, Chicago, opened a new window onto contemporary art. My husband and I collect works from young, local artists. We also bring back pieces from our travels around the world and from Hungary. I am an architect and I work in the city.

Stephanie Skestos Gabriele

MEMBERSHIP

Victoria Lautman

MEMBERSHIP

Larry Antonatos

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

James Cahn

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

James is the Chief Investment Officer for Vestian. In that role he oversees all aspects of the investment process including portfolio construction, research, and risk management. Prior to joining Vestian, James was at Wanger Investment Management, LLC in the role of Principal and Sr. Analyst, where he managed long/short equity portfolios as well as portfolio-level asset allocation. Prior to Wanger, James was a Senior Risk Consultant with Quantitative Risk Management (QRM), where he implemented interest rate risk management strategies for major US financial institutions holding large portfolios of asset backed securities and residential mortgages.  He previously served as an Analyst at JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management where he advised institutional clients on asset allocation. James received his MBA from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business and earned his BS from Northwestern University. 

Bohdan Gorczynski

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Betty Harris

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

I have been living in Chicago for 26 years. My collecting interests began when I got married 48 years ago. Collecting has added richness and fullness to my life. Right now our collection includes Pre-Columbian, American Indian, and Contemporary. We are currently focusing on contemporary art. I enjoy being on the Society for Contemporary Art board as I see new art all the time.

Charles Lofgren

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Deborah Lovely

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Paula Molner

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

With an interest in modern art as well as a focus on the affinities of the tribal with the modern, my husband, Herb, and I joined the Society for Contemporary art in 1969. The New York scene was energized by the Pop movement, though my passion was with the Abstract Expressionists. The NYTimes critic at the time (Hilton Kramer) spoke (or misspoke) of the lull in the art world, at the very moment when Minimalism & Conceptualism emerged. Time Magazine's Robert Hughes referred to the Chicago Imagists as "Nutt and the others". The Society then, as it does today, presented artists who challenged tradition and preconceived notions of what is art. Their programming has added immeasurably to the aesthetic dialogue in the Chicago community and their purchases for the AIC have enhanced the modern and contemporary collections.

Forrest Nash

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Conor O'Neil

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Naomi Reese

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Paul Rehder

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

James Rondeau

DITTMER CHAIR AND CURATOR OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Lisa Dorin

ASSOCIATE CURATOR

John McKinnon

PROGRAM DIRECTOR