Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak completed her undergraduate art studies at Kent State University, studied at the Corcoran School of Art, and received her MFA in painting from George Washington University (Washington, D.C.). Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, she moved to Houston in 1977, where she continues to live and work. A Fulbright IREX grant enabled her to travel to Ukraine for the first time in 1991; five years later she visited the Chernobyl Zone. These trips marked turning points in her creative work and world view. A concern with the human condition – always at the heart of her art – took new form and urgency. Her current work continues to explore narrative and cultural metaphor by combining collage, text, and figuration. Since 1991, Bodnar-Balahutrak has participated in several national and international exhibitions and has been awarded artist residencies in France, Ukraine, and U.S. venues. Her work can be found in museum and private collections in the USA and Europe, including The Museum of South Texas and Oxford University. A monograph focusing on her art from 1979-2001 was published in 2005. Bodnar-Balahutrak is on the Studio School Faculty at the Glassell School of Art (Museum of Fine Arts Houston).
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