Ildikó grew up in the socialist Hungary in the 70s under Soviet occupation.  She studied visual art and folk dance over there.  She came to the US in 1987 and she has lived in the Northwest since then.  She continued her visual art studies at EWU (Eastern Washington University) and has worked in the folk dance/research field in the US, Hungary and Romania.  She also performed and taught folk dance internationally, also she participated and created educational videos about folk dance and post-socialist life in Hungarian villages.  In Spokane, WA, she lead the Erdély Folk Dance Ensemble with her husband Wayne Kraft for 14 years.  She volunteered in the folklore community for over 30 years in the USA and Hungary.

She is a recipient of two Puffin Foundation, Inc., grants. She exhibited in the US, Europe and Japan for the past 29 years, also participated in collaborations. She was commissioned to create the “Refuge” bronze for the Spokane YWCA in 2015. Her latest solo multimedia exhibition was "Unwanted Journeys" which included community participation. In 2021 she was included in the Washington State Public Artist Roster, Seattle, WA, 2021-2025.

She does not separate her two main fields of art, namely folklore and visual art. Cultural and environmental diversity are the main focuses in her works, and those include respecting cultures, individuals and collaborators for the common good.

Creative Life Spokane
The Bearing Project