Steph is an artist who has enjoyed her teaching job for the past three years in Chicago. She teaches art classes like Oil Painting, Drawing and Art Appreciation full-time at one of the City Colleges on the south side. She feels blessed to be able to engage her interests as an artist in her teaching, and that it affords her some painting time of her own. (Her work and further info can be seen on her website at www.steph.roberts.net)

Growing up as a preacher’s kid in Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas, Steph had all the encouragement, support, and crayola crayons she could ever want from her loving parents. She earned her BFA at Kansas State University and moved on to the University of Iowa for her MFA in Painting. She moved to Chicago after grad school in search of an “art career” and a clearer perspective on just what that is. After a day of unsuccessfully pounding the pavement in the gallery district of Chicago, she was given her first break by a gallery director named Dan Addington. So, yes, Dan was officially her boss for a short period, but that didn’t last long... She received another job offer at a different gallery, which would then make it less awkward to date Dan (that’s the real reason she accepted it!) She engaged in a huge mural project with Dan for ESPN that was, well, challenging to say the least! Their relationship grew even stronger through months of poring over portraits together. She has loved living in Chicago for the past four years and occasionally is able to catch up with her brother who is working on his PhD nearby. She feels truly blessed by God to have her friends and family gather to celebrate her commitment to the love of her life, Dan.

Well, I was born, I met Stephanie, and that brings us to now.
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Hold it...a few memories from before I met Steph are starting to surface...

OK...Dan was Born in Denver Colorado and grew up out west under the watchful eye of his parents, Harold, a High School Guidance counselor, and Marianne, a Nurse. The family of three moved frequently during Dan's childhood, due to adventursome parents and a good job market. By the age of 11, Dan had lived in a few towns in Colorado, as well as Montana, Iowa, and Alaska. Dan's parents never failed to encourage his childhood artistic/creative interests and urges -- drawing, playing guitar, performing --, and they often said that early on they knew he would either be an actor or an artist. Returning to Iowa where his parents had family, Dan attended High School in Stanton (where he met groomsman Mike Olson). After graduation in 1981, Dan went to Northwestern College in Orange City Iowa, where he majored in Theater and Art. While there, he met, and shared various classes, dorm rooms, onstage performances (and an untold number of infamous pranks) with best man John Burton. With a BA in Theater and Art, Dan went to grad school at Arkansas State, continuing to act and paint. He met artist/professor/advisor/mentor and now groomsman Ron Clayton there. He earned an MA in art, and then moved to Illinois State University where he received an MFA in Painting. He met fellow artist and groomsman Doug Dewitt there, and after graduating, Dan, Doug, and a few other students moved to Chicago to chase the art muse. In 1990 Dan began to show his work in various galleries in Chicago, and also began to work in some of these galleries. In 1996 he became director, and later partner/co-owner of Gwenda Jay / Addington Gallery.

One day in 1997, a beautiful girl from the University of Iowa came to the gallery, and Dan was captivated. The relationship took it's time developing, and experiences like the collaboration mentioned in the column to the left helped cement the relationship, as did the common interests of art, faith, and culture. Dan has enjoyed meeting Steph's family, including groomsman Kyle Roberts, as well as Dr. Roberts, who will officiate the wedding, and Nancy Roberts, who has written music she will help perform at the wedding -- it's shaping up to truly be a family affair!