Mark Nelson (b. Oakland, California) is an interdisciplinary artist and a National Board Certified art instructor in the city of Chicago where he lives and works out of his Pilsen neighborhood studio “Gringolandia”. He is a twice recipient and third time runner up of the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and a Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction. His art work can be found in private collections as well as a mural acquisition by the U.S. State Department for the 2007 U.S. Embassy and Consulate in the Republic of Panama. He has produced video documentaries for the Petrified Forest US National Park Service.