Liana Owad is an artist and educator based in Maryland. She earned her MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2014 and her BFA from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 2010. A passionate advocate for the maker movement, Owad has played a key role in launching two Makerspaces: the Michael Stanley MakerSpace at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, MD, and the Nebraska Innovation Studio in Lincoln, NE. She served as the Studio Art Manager at Hood College for three years and was previously the Sculpture Technician at the Maine College of Art and Design.
Lesa Cook grew up in South Carolina and received a BA in Studio Art from U.S.C. in 1987. After moving to the DC suburbs, she continued her fine art studies part-time at: The Maryland Institute College of Art, The Corcoran School of Art, The Art League in Alexandria, Va., and The Shuler School in Baltimore. She was a full-time student at The Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy from Oct. 2018 until March 2020, when COVID-19 interrupted her studies.