FUTURA: PAST FORWARD
Hedwig Dances
Choreographer Jan Bartozcek
Assistant Choreographer Maray Gutierrez
Lighting Design Alex Ridgers
Photo credit William Frederking
Music Richard Woodbury
Video John Boesche
I’m Sanja Manakoski,
an artist and educator capturing moments,
expression, and human connection
through illustration and live drawing.
MICHAEL MERRITT AWARDS — 2019
Michael Philippi Prize for Best Exhibit: Professional Designer
In 2019, Sanja received the Michael Philippi Prize for Best Exhibit: Professional Designer at the Michael Merritt Awards. In 2018, American Theatre featured her in its “6 Theatre Workers You Should Know” series. Her career includes costume design and collaboration with major theatre companies across Chicago and the United States.
“Although Sanja’s medium is costume, her vision goes way beyond the clothes.”
— American Theatre Magazine
MORE THAN 7,000 STUDENTS
Founder of My Art Academia and University Educator
Sanja has taught and mentored more than 7,000 young artists through My Art Academia and her university teaching. She has taught drawing and design at Northwestern University, and Hartnell College, and has served as a guest lecturer at Ithaca College the University of Illinois Chicago. Her teaching helps artists strengthen their skills, trust their ideas, and develop a visual voice of their own.
ELLE FASHION AWARD — 2014
Co-Founder and Designer of KLASA, 2011–2015
Sanja co-founded KLASA, an independent Belgrade fashion collective created by ten emerging designers. Its collections were presented at Belgrade Fashion Week and received the ELLE, Grazia, and Bazzart Fashion Awards in 2014.
ULUPUDS AWARD — 2011
Best Graduation Project in Costume Design
In 2011, Sanja’s graduation costume-design project received the ULUPUDS Award for Best Graduation Project in Costume Design. The work also received the My Planet and Me Award in 2011 for its innovative use of recycled materials and was exhibited on several occasions, including at the Prague Quadrennial in 2015.
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Sanja Manakoski is an artist and educator originally from Belgrade, Serbia, now based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Her work grows out of a lifelong interest in drawing, people, costume, movement, and visual storytelling.
She studied Costume and Fashion Design at the University of Applied Arts in Belgrade, where drawing, research, textiles, and character became closely connected in her practice. Later, an invitation to continue her studies brought her to Chicago, where she completed an MFA at Northwestern University and developed a deeper focus on theatre, collaborative design and teaching.
Over the years, Sanja has moved between fashion, costume, theatre, film, illustration, and fine art. She co-created the award-winning fashion label KLASA, received an ULUPUDS Design Award, and presented work at the Prague Quadrennial. Her professional theatre work was recognized with the Michael Merritt Award, and she was featured by American Theatre Magazine in its “6 Theatre Workers You Should Know” series.
Although her background is broad, drawing has remained a constant throughout. She has always been especially drawn to the early stages of a project: reading, researching, observing, sketching, and finding the visual language of a character or idea.
Teaching is central to Sanja’s practice. After teaching drawing and design at Northwestern University, she founded My Art Academia, an online school that has reached thousands of young artists. She helps students build confidence, trust their ideas, and develop their own visual voice.
Today, her personal practice is moving increasingly toward drawing, watercolor, illustration, and fine art. She also creates live illustrations for events, capturing people, style, and memorable moments in real time—from intimate weddings and private celebrations to events for high-fashion brands. Her work continues to return to people, expression, identity, movement, and the quiet details that make one figure different from another.