Lockport gallery’s new director begins work
From Staff Reports December 7, 2012 6:12PM
Updated: January 10, 2013 6:20AM
John Lustig, the new director, began work Nov. 26 at the Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery.
Lustig is a native of the south suburbs and has a master of fine arts in painting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. His bachelor of arts degree is from Columbia College in Chicago.
He comes to Lockport after serving as the public art manager for Lancaster, Pa., since 2011. Prior to that, he held a dual position at Indiana State University as the director of the permanent art collection and the curator of the university visual collections.
He was a founding member of the Chicago Southland Arts Incubator in Chicago Heights in 1995, a non-profit co-op launched with a $500,000 Build Illinois grant that providing funding for artists in residence.
Lustig replaces Jim Zimmer, who is now serving the Illinois State Museum as director for art and history in Springfield.
He comes on board at the gallery in the midst of the museum’s 25th anniversary year and is dedicated to building upon the successes of the museum’s exhibitions and programming. The current exhibition is “Figurism: Narrative and Fantastic Figurative Art” from the Illinois State Museum Collection.
The gallery is on the first floor of the historic Norton Building, 201 W. 10th St., Lockport. Call 815-838-7400 or visit www.museum.state.il.us/ismsites/lockport/.

