Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak was born in Cleveland, Ohio, completed her undergraduate art studies at Kent State University, and, in 1977, received her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. She now lives and works in Houston, TX.

Bodnar-Balahutrak has been a guest lecturer at the Lviv Academy of Art (1991); she received a Creative Artist Program Award in Visual Art from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston (1993). Solo shows include "Chornobyl" at the Art Gallery of the University of Houston/Clear Lake (2006); selected works from her ongoing series "Hide and Seek" at Nau-Haus Art Space and the College of the Mainland Art Gallery, and at the Arkansas Arts Center and the Art Car Museum (2010-11); and "Thresholds" at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts (2012). The artist has participated in national and international exhibitions and her work can be found in museum and private collections in the USA, Canada, and Europe. Bodnar-Balahutrak's current mixed media paintings and drawings continue to explore collage, text, and figuration. A monograph focusing on her art from 1979-2001 was published in 2005. She had taught painting and drawing at The University of Houston at Clear Lake and HSPVA, and is currently on the faculty of the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.