Born in Montreal in 1953, Andrea Wexler Kalinowski established herself as a free-thinking and talented young artist. After apprenticing with ceramicist Rosalie Naimer, she went on to attend the Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, then the Nova Scotia College of Art in Halifax, where she received a B.F.A. in 1975. While at Nova Scotia, Kalinowski studied with some of the best painters of her generation: artists Eric Fischl and Mira Schor. Kalinowski helped establish the Art Therapy Program at the psychiatric unit of Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, and then went on to the Hahnermann Medical School in Philadelphia, where she graduated with a Master's Degree in Creative Arts Therapy. After spending six years working at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Hospital and the Southern Home for children in Philadelphia, she decided to devote her time to painting. Since 1986 the artist has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband and two children.
- A.C.B.