Al Balinsky received his Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography from The City University of New York, Brooklyn College. He is Emeritus Professor of Fine Arts and the Founder of the Photography Programs (in 1980) at MIAD. Al has been teaching and photographing for over 30 years and is the recipient of numerous grants and awards; including a Wisconsin Arts Board / National Endowment for the Arts, and two Wisconsin Humanities Council / National Endowment for the Humanities Grants.
Al’s work has been exhibited and collected both Nationally and Internationally. His current photographic / oral history exhibition of People with Disabilities in the Workplace, created during a MIAD sabbatical, in conjunction with Independence First, Milwaukee, has been exhibited at over 35 venues in California, Illinois, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin, and is still being exhibited at this time. Al was awarded the National Council on Independent Living Advocacy Award, presented to him in Washington, D.C., for the People with Disabilities project. That project is currently being exhibited in DVD format.