Burton Isenstein

Burton Isenstein was born in Chicago in 1955 and remembers being keenly aware of the visual aspects of his every day environment long before he had an inkling that he was going to be an artist.

His fascination with the marine and coral reef environment in high school led him to a college with course offerings in marine biology. As a biology major at Pitzer College in Claremont California, Isenstein also took studio art classes with a concentration in ceramic sculpture. He finished with a combined biology and art major yet realized that his fascination with the natural world was driven more by it's visual than scientific aspects. A desire for further investigation in the visual arts brought him to the School of The Art Institute of Chicago where he received his MFA in 1980.

After finishing graduate school Isenstein set up a studio in a former tavern storefront in Chicago's Wicker Park and made sculpture until the studio was converted to a slip casting production pottery with his wife and collaborator Nancy Gardner. Production has since converted to a smaller scale with each piece being made individually without the use of molds. Much of the work is now being made in the studio attached to Nancy and Burts Garage in Oak Park.

Isenstein is Adjunct Assistant Professor at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in the First Year Program. He also has extensive experience renovating vintage buildings and is a state licensed home inspector.