Szymczak attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for her undergraduate degree, where she studied studio art, art education, and dance. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the university. Upon graduation, Elizabeth continued painting, exhibiting, coordinating, performing and choreographing, in addition to teaching full time. Szymczak is a leader, and has experience in initiating ideas from the ground up. She has made significant contributions and has played various leadership roles within arts education. For example, she originated of the Illinois Art Education Association member’s online gallery that celebrates the artist-teacher. Elizabeth obtained her Master of Fine Arts in representational figure painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is currently exhibiting in the Chicagoland area while exploring ways to fuse her passion for dance into her artwork.
