Officers
Laura Saviano, President
Laura is the Marketing Principal for Ross Barney Architects, an award winning Architectural design firm in Chicago. The firm has received significant local and national commissions, honors, awards and publicity. The firm’s work focuses on the public sector, designing projects for public schools, libraries, colleges and universities, local, state and federal governmental agencies.
Laura is a tireless advocate for Public Art and design in her adopted City of Evanston, Illinois. She serves as the President of Design Evanston, a not for profit group that promotes good design in Evanston, Illinois. Design Evanston attracts a wide range of professionals living or working in Evanston, including architects, planners, graphic designers, landscape architects, web designers and industrial designers.
She served as Chair of the Public Art Committee in Evanston for many years. The Committee administers the City’s Per-Cent-For-Art Program, placing works of art in and around new buildings and projects. Laura is a founding director of the Not for Profit organization, Friends of the Arts, organized to raise awareness and funding for Public Art initiatives in Evanston.
She holds a 1988 Bachelor of Business degree from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She received her Master of Arts degree in Photography from Columbia College Chicago in 1999 and a Painting Certificate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016.
A published and exhibited artist, she often lends her talents to capture firm projects on film. www.r-barc.com
David Galloway, Vice President
David has been passionate about Architecture and Urban Design for over thirty-five years. With over forty years as a practicing architect, he has worked on a wide diversity of projects including single and multi-family residences, additions and renovations to historic buildings, commercial and retail developments, institutional buildings, and corporate interiors. In addition to his architectural work, David has a strong interest in graphic design and Urban and City Planning and Design.
He holds a B.A. in Architectural Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.A. from Loyola University. Living in Evanston since 1983, he has actively contributed to the town’s development for over three decades. David has served as the Chairman of the Evanston Preservation Commission, a member of the Evanston Plan Commission, and was a member of the previous Downtown Plan Subcommittee. He has also been a member of Design Evanston for over thirty years, including a tenure as President for approximately 12 years.
Robert Natke, Treasurer
Robert E. Natke is UrbanWorks’ Vice President and, as the firm’s technical director, oversees project quality control and document coordination. His efforts ensure that UrbanWorks’ projects are programmatically functional, maintainable, and provide serviceable life cycles. Rob is also responsible for business operations, staffing, staff development, construction administration services and business development.
Rob holds both a professional degree in architecture and a Master of Business Administration specializing in finance and marketing from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Prior to joining UrbanWorks, Rob planned and designed projects in the adaptive re-use, laboratory, manufacturing, office and religious architecture market segments. Additionally, he directed design, construction and planning departments at several Chicago area major private universities as well as a Fortune 500 corporation.
In addition to his UrbanWorks responsibilities, Rob served as a part-time adjunct faculty member at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) teaching a 4th year architecture studio. www.urbanworksarchitecture.com
Jack Weiss, Director Emeritus
Jack’s professional career spans a period of nearly sixty years. Since forming Jack Weiss Associates in 1977 he has directed over 400 major projects ranging from printed communications and visual identity programs to signage and wayfinding systems.
Jack is a fellow and past president of The Society of Typographic Arts www.typographicarts.org. He is a co-founder, past president, and director emeritus of The Chicago Design Archive www.chicagodesignarchive.org. He is a founding member, past president, and director emeritus of Design Evanston. He was a former chairman of the 27 Chicago Designers.
Jack has served on the design faculties of the Institute of Design, IIT and Columbia College Chicago. He received a BS with distinction from the Institute of Design, IIT, and a BFA and MFA from the School of Art & Architecture at Yale University. He was honored as a Life Master by IIT in 1992.
Ariel Goldfarb, Director
Ariel is managing partner of Concentric Growth Partners, an innovation and growth consultancy. He has 20 years of experience in research, marketing and strategy, both in the U.S. and overseas. Prior to founding Concentric Growth Partners, Ariel co-founded sister firm CurtisAlan Partners in 2003, a research and brand strategy consultancy.
Ariel guest lectures on the role of customers and brand on innovation at the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering. Previously, he was on the faculty of Northwestern University’s Medill School for 12 years, where he taught Brand Equity Management in Chicago, San Francisco and London. He is a recipient of the 2010 Faculty Teaching Award, holds a Bachelors degree from U.C. Berkeley, and a Masters degree in Integrated Marketing and Communications from Northwestern University.
Ariel has been a resident of Evanston since 1999, when he came to attended graduate school at Northwestern. His afflictions are slow cycling, espresso in all its forms, and baking pizza and sourdough. His interest in joining the Design Evanston board is to explore the meaning of design and increase its relevance, awareness and impact across the broader Evanston community.
Paula Bodnar Schmitt, Communications
Paula is the owner and creative director of Bodnar Design, an Evanston-based boutique design firm specializing in holistic brand identity creation, and execution in print, packaging, signs/spaces and digital media.
Prior to establishing Bodnar Design, Paula spent nearly a decade designing for an iconic brand – Crate and Barrel. During their heavy expansion years, she lead large-scale design initiatives and helped staff, organize, train and manage the in-house department.
Paula is motivated by the Envision Evanston 2045 initiative and hopes that Design Evanston can help support the process, resulting in an even more vibrant, livable and equitable city.
Paula earned her BA in Design from the University of Notre Dame and returned for a period on the visiting faculty to teach Typography and the Professional Practice of Design.
She has been a resident of Evanston since 2003 and has served on the City’s Sign Review and Appeals Board. She lives in a landmark home with her husband and two children. When she’s not working, Paula loves to spend time at the lake, support her kids in scouting and athletics, and help friends and family with home renovation projects. www.bodnardesign.com
Elliot Dudnik, Director
Elliott is the principal of Elliott Dudnik + Associates, an Evanston architectural firm he founded 50 years ago. The firm’s local projects include renovations and additions to civic buildings, community and arts centers and numerous residential projects on the North Shore. The firm has received professional design, landmark and preservation recognitions in Chicago, Evanston, Wilmette, and International Illumination Design Awards as well. In 2011, Elliott was elevated to the rank of Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
He is Professor Emeritus in the School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Chicago, where he served as Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Director of the School of Architecture and taught undergraduate and graduate courses on design, building construction, CAD, energy-conscious design, accessibility, professional practice, and structural engineering. He has taught at several other colleges and universities in the US and abroad, authored more than 50 publications and has been the recipient of multiple prestigious grants. He is also a Board Member of the UIC Chapter of the State Universities Annuities Association.
Elliot has served as technical consultant and expert witness for the City of Chicago and provides litigation support and instruction to other firms or organizations on matters of building failures, codes, accessibility, and standards of care.
He holds BArch and MS (Structural Engineering) degrees from IIT and a PhD (Urban Planning) from Northwestern University. He has chaired or served on several AIA, AISC, and ASTM committees and is now on the Board of Trustees of the AIA Chicago Foundation.
Locally, Elliot has served on the Evanston Preservation Commission, was a member of the Street Lighting Master Plan Committee, the original Evanston Preservation Conference, and as a long-term member and participant of the Evanston Repair Cafe. www.dudnikarchitects.com