Paul Kowalewski (b. 1957)

Paul Kowalewski (b. 1957) makes oil paintings and graphite drawings of strange places, zones of dream and anachronism. Cherubs, romanesque columns, and Victorian time-pieces float above endless horizons and stormy skies. Kowalewski invests these fractured planes with an obsessive level of texture, often spending more than a year on a single piece.
In a previous life chapter, Kowalewski worked for over twenty-five years as a roofer. This punishing work pushed him towards the pitfalls of drugs, alcohol, and eventually trouble with the law. During Kowalewski’s seven years in federal prison, he found new purpose as an artist, landing upon the alias “Dada Obscura”. Kowalewski joined Project Onward in 2017 and was a 2023 artist-in-residence at the Ragdale Foundation.

Sereno Wilson (b. 1979)

Sereno Wilson (b. 1979) is so committed to his artistic medium that it’s landed him a nickname - “Glitterman.” He applies the material in blocks of shimmering color, layered with acrylic paints and often embedded with rhinestones and other treasures. His work depicts royalty of all stripes - European monarchs, GOATs of hip hop, Haitian gods, and cartoon icons. Wilson also has his own lexicon of symbols, from “devil bananas” to “hot cherries”, that work as shiny talismans of good fortune.

Wilson was born in Germany and moved to Chicago at a young age. In high school he joined Gallery 37, an arts training program for youth in Chicago. He excelled as a painter and left his mark on the program’s citywide series of painted benches. Wilson’s transition from a painter to a full-fledged “Glitterman” has been a long one, filled with many mixed media explorations. In 2019, he had the solo exhibition Haitian Symbols and Spirits at the The Haitian American Museum of Chicago. Wilson joined Project Onward in 2009 and currently lives in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood.