SITE Directors

Mikayla Hernandez Guevara (she/they)

Director of Administration

Mikayla is an art historian, curator, and artist originally from East Nashville, Tennessee. They found a love for art at a young age, and later grew to find these artistic expressions to be vital in preserving and understanding their emotions and personal cultural experiences. Previously, Mikayla has held positions as Community Engagement Intern and Gallery Facilitator at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville. Now as a second-year graduate student of Art History and Arts Administration at the SAIC, their interests have grown to focus on Chicana art, racial and ethnic hierarchies in Mexico, and issues concerning Mexican diaspora and borderland aesthetics. In addition to their position at SITE, Mikayla also works as a Graduate Curatorial Assistant at INCUBATOR.

Name (pronouns)

Director of Marketing & Communications

Bio

Nora Hamilton (she/her)

Director of Programming

Nora Hamilton is an interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago. Hamilton is currently receiving a BFA in Studio from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a focus in painting. Her practice is centered around themes of region, self-portraiture, and identity. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, her experience growing up around the limestone caves and rural plains of Central America heavily informs her practice.

Connor Totten (he/him)

Director of Installation

bio

Blakley (they/them)

Director of Installation

Blakley is currently earning a BFA with distinction at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Blakley previously worked as a gallery assistant and is currently interested in art handling as a career. Blakley has an active art practice that blends sculpture and fiber to produce large-scale interactive pieces. A major inspiration for Blakley is material, especially upcycled and sourced collections. They have exhibited their work at Bridgeport Art center, Jackson Junge gallery, Garfield Park Conservatory, and others.

Leo O’Connor (he/him)

Director of Special Programs

Leo hails from the warm west of central California. He is currently in his third year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he is pursuing his BFA in Studio Art. Presently, he is focused on creating short animations concerned self image through the lens of morality and obligation. His stories are informed by the experiences he collects from the his life, from the world, and from his friends and family. Back west, he loves his mountain home for the long walks with his siblings and his dogs. Here in the Loop, he loves Chicago for the afternoon lights on the buildings and the urban hubbub of the CTA.

SITE Archive Team

Gallery Assistants

Jaeden Hannus (he/him)

Photo Documenter

Jaeden Hannus is an image based artist and curator working between Chicago and Northeast Wisconsin. He is currently pursuing a BFA in studio art with an emphasis on photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI and others. Hannus has two solo exhibitions in 2025, ‘something once was, something still is’ at Photo Opp, Appleton, WI, August 2025, and ‘Self Portrait as a Wisconsin Man’ at Site Galleries, Chicago, IL, September 2025.

Mia Vida Garcia (she/her)

Gallery Assistant

Mia is in her second year here at SAIC and is excited to learn about the new exhibitions at SITE galleries. Working at SITE inspires her to make her own artwork in and outside of her classes. Some fun facts about Mia is that she is from New York City! She is a reader, loves journaling and writing about her journey as a whole.

Finn Johnson (they/them)

Gallery Assistant & Installation Assistant

Finn is in their second year here at SAIC. They have a focus in art history, being from Ohio they are interested in how the art culture changes when you move from a rural area and into a major city. In their free time they enjoy embroidery and playing video games. For their occasional art practice they prefer black and white photography believing that the hands-on procedures that come with film is an integral part to art.

 Andrés Loor (she/her/they/them)

Gallery Assistant

Andrés Loor is an interdisciplinary artist from Urbana, Illinois. She is a first-year undergraduate, receiving a BFA in Studio specializing in photography, sculpture, and film. Her artistic practice explores themes of intersectionality, human connection, and a desire for something more than herself. Radical vulnerability is a driving factor in her need to create, wanting to make work that can allow viewers to look inward. She is also a Gallery assistant at the SAIC Galleries, and an event photographer for SITE. 

Fallon Esquilin (they/them)

Gallery Assistant

bio

SITE Support Staff