Marlandy Berrios still feels inspired by her late teacher and mentor, Paul Rinaldi, an acclaimed artist who taught at Prairie State College for more than 20 years.
A recent exhibit celebrating his paintings in the Christopher Gallery of the Chicago Heights college brought it all back.
“He was a sweet and caring teacher,” said Berrios, now an art student at Governor State University who lives in Park Forest. Berrios said Rinaldi taught her to go from drawing and illustrating comic books to objects, people and landscapes.
“He said mistakes are how we grow,” said Berrios.
Glancing around the gallery, Berrios was in awe.
“It’s so beautiful and so colorful … to think Professor Rinaldi did all this for all these years before I was even born,” she said.
That sense of appreciation and wonder was shared by other former students, family members, friends and faculty who attended “Seeing Through Time-Selected Works of a Creative Life.”
There were the bright figurative paintings from the beginning of his career, the colorful abstract work and the more nuanced encaustic paintings, using hot wax.
“From the time Paul started painting, he never really stopped,” said his brother, David Rinaldi, who lives in New York.
He also pointed to the influence of their parents, Nicholas, a poet and novelist who is deceased, and Jacqueline Rinaldi, who were academics and bestowed their four children with their wisdom and culture.
“He works deeply with color, created his own paints,” said David Rinaldi. “After he transitioned into abstract art, he developed a style of painting called encaustic creations, which is an ancient Egyptian art (painting) form using wax.
“I think that’s what he will be best known for,” he said.
His brother spent years in Egypt, where he learned encaustic painting and where he met his former wife, Sherine.
But there was so much more to his brother.
“He was a very well-regarded educator and teacher here,” said David Rinaldi. “He loved his students and started a scholarship here.”
Some of the painting at the exhibit were on sale, with funds going to that scholarship, the Rinaldi Arts Fund, for art students.
Fabiana Chiu, David Rinaldi’s wife, who is an arts administrator and visual photographer, said her late father-in-law influenced her, too, giving her tips on manipulating the view to improve the contrast and lighten up the photograph.
“He taught me so much about how the composition happens before you even hit click (on the camera),” she said.
Haihong Guo, Paul Rinaldi’s wife, remembers how much his art meant to him, even when he became sick from cancer. Born in 1961, he died in April, 2025.
“His art makes me feel he comes to life again,” said Guo, who lives in Oak Park, which was also the couple’s home. “He could tell me exactly which year (a painting was done), he would remember it was a very cloudy day and all of a sudden the sun rose.
“That gave him inspiration,” she said.
She also remembers how hard he always worked at his art, but accepted its flaws.
“He said, life is not perfect and his art wasn’t perfect either,” recalled Guo.
The artist’s sister, Tina Banas, said the exhibit was spectacular.
“I’ve seen a lot of this work in his studio, but having it in this format really showcases the beauty and depth of his artistry and it’s wonderful to see the progress,” said Banas.
They also have a brother, Stephen. Paul Rinaldi also leaves behind adult children Francis Rinaldi and Hasan Rinaldi.
Several other students credited Rinaldi with building their confidence.
“He really helped me pursue art and make me feel I had a future in it,” said Anna McDonnell, who took studio arts, visual arts, painting and drawing with Rinaldi. “He was really caring and cared a lot about everyone’s success.”
Bonnie Skold, who took some of the same classes, remembers Rinaldi could be a stickler but in a good way.
“I’m very bad about only doing the bare minimum sometimes,” said Skold. “He could see there was a step further than where we were.”
Javier Chavira, the part-time director of the gallery who curated the exhibit, said he had crossed paths with Rinaldi.
“I always admired his work,” said Chavira, an art professor at Governors State University, who has Berrios in his figure drawing class there.
Chavira said some of his art students became tearful when he told them Rinaldi had died. When Chavira became part-time gallery director, he recalled telling also Rinaldi he wanted to give him a solo exhibit. Rinaldi said unfortunately he would be gone before it took place.
“But I want … to show what I’ve done with my life,” Chavira recalled him saying about the possibility of an exhibit.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
