Rebecca Healy, an H-F Art teacher, credits her start as an artist to her mother enrolling with various art classes and access to art at home. Through this early exposure, Healy found her passion and realized her talent for art very quickly. Healy also credits her start to her art teacher Mrs.Boyko who taught her from kindergarten through 8th grade. “She was a really great inspiration teacher in many ways..her skills and personality (made her) a really phenomenal teacher.” says Healy. 

She continued her art career into high school with the motivation of her high school teacher Mr. Pounds. With the help of Mr. Pounds finding scholarship money for her she began taking classes at the Chicago Art Institute to begin more serious art classes to sharpen and define her painting and drawing skills. “He really put me on the right track and so I continued to do that in college” says Healy. 

Healy began her studies in Art and only moved into Art education in her junior year at University of Illinois. Healy had never planned on being a teacher and decided to take Art education on a whim. “For whatever reason that was the direction I chose…. I never thought I would teach high school,ever. Turns out I love it. “ For the rest of her time at U of I she continued to get her degree and finished up in (date). After college she began her career teaching at H-F but resigned in 2006. “I started teaching night classes for adults and the place I worked at (asked) could I teach photography and I lied” said Healy. 

Her start with photography was unconventional as she was self taught. “I’d just opened up the camera manual that came with my camera and I would teach myself the first however many pages, whatever seemed like the right amount, and I would go and teach them and then I would read more the next week and then I would practice.” When she returned to H-F in 2017 she was teaching art again and by the upcoming year she was asked to teach photography.

Healy still uses  her self taught skills to find freelance work in her area. “I made enough to buy myself pretty nice camera equipment …but I’m completely self taught and I think if I did it anyone can do it” says Healy. “You can do it, it’s just a lot of work but everyone can do it” Healy currently works as the staff photographer on the BAPA villager, her local newspaper, where she takes pictures in her community on her own time and also the Aldermen. “Thats been fun cause I’ve met tons of people that way… I took pictures of Lori Lightfoot when she was the mayor” Healy has worked various freelance jobs ranging from very different price points but plans to continue her career as a teacher as long as she can.