For Gretchen Hasse, art is more than just a final product — it’s a way of thinking, a means of communication, and a way to connect with others.
As an artist, curator, and educator, Hasse has spent years shaping creative minds and exploring storytelling through various media. Whether she’s guiding students through figure drawing at Saint Xavier University, 3700 W. 103rd St., Chicago, or crafting elaborate puppet performances, her passion for art’s transformative power is evident in everything she does.
“I enjoy learning what my students think, what they are passionate about, what they struggle with,” Hasse said. “Sometimes I can provide guidance, sometimes we try to figure it out together. This is one way I learn about the world outside of my own experience.”
A longtime Chicago resident, Hasse has an eclectic academic background that reflects her multifaceted approach to art. She studied art and art history at the University of Iowa, anthropology at Northern Illinois University, and film, video, and new media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Since 2019, she has been an adjunct instructor at SXU’s Visual Arts Center, where she teaches studio art, art history and writing.
Hasse said the importance of art lies in its process.
“I believe art is not just about creating something visually appealing but about learning and thinking expansively,” she said.
Her classes emphasize both skill-building and meaningful expression, encouraging students to create final projects that carry personal significance.
Beyond the classroom, Hasse is deeply immersed in her own artistic projects, including The Dinosaur Opera, an epic puppet saga that explores themes of time, purpose, and meaning through the lens of dinosaurs. Consisting of multiple short chapters, the project is designed to be performed in various environments, both indoors and outdoors.
“I think it is becoming increasingly important for people to experience art in real time, in the same physical space with other living people,” Hasse said. “I hope to develop The Dinosaur Opera into a series that encourages audiences to think about big ideas and how we can be more deliberate about incorporating long-term thinking into our decisions as a society.”
She was recently featured on WGN-TV for her incredible artistic endeavors represented through The Dinosaur Opera.
Hasse is also working on a science fiction novel, The Flight Home, which follows a teenager from the 1980s through space and time as he explores love and revolution.
She is also developing the book through Story Studio Chicago’s Novel In A Year program. In addition, she is crafting The Knee Play, a solo puppet performance about coming of age with a chronic disease, which has been featured at the Chicago Physical Theatre Festival and the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Her ongoing comic memoir, Recovery, further explores life with chronic illness.
Her advocacy extends into curatorial work as well. She is co-curating The Cursed Flesh, a pop-up exhibition and performance at The International Museum of Surgical Science on May 30. The show, which she is organizing alongside painter and disability advocate Genevieve Ramos, will feature work on physical disability and the human body.
Hasse’s impact on Chicago’s art scene is also evident through her leadership at Agitator Artist Collective in Logan Square. As a co-founder and the current director, she works with fellow artists to create exhibitions and programming that engage the community in thought-provoking ways.
“Art is so much more than making lovely things,” Hasse said. “It is a process before it is a product, and I would argue that the process of making art holds vastly more significance than the final product. Art is an important method of learning and communicating, one that challenges and even defies linear thinking.”
Whether through teaching, writing or puppetry, Hasse’s work continues to challenge conventions and encourage deeper conversations about art, identity, and the future. Her creative journey is a testament to the power of storytelling in all its forms, offering both students and audiences a window into new ways of thinking and seeing the world.