Featured Art Alumni
Making Connections
Emma Morrison BFA Studio Art/Art Education 2017. Emma was the recipient of 2016 Blue Connection Gallery Robert Crowder Artist in Residence, where she worked on her project "Humans of Decatur", which featured large scale drawings of people she met and then interviewed about their lives Emma currently teaches art in the Rantoul School district.
Commissioned Portraits
Jessica Brooks Sebok BFA 2016. After graduation, Jessica has had success running her own business working on commissions as a portrait artist. https://www.jessicasebok.com/ Jessica also works as a Doula with the Decatur Area Birth Collective.
Michelle Sendy is currently studying Art Education in the Master's Degree Program at Illinois State University.
Erica Reese Melcher BFA 2011. Erica went on to receive her MFA degree in Painting at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in 2014. http://www.ericamelcherart.com/
Taking the Reins
Growing up in the Midwest, Lee Larkins ’08 never expected to work with some of the most well-known rap and hip-hop artists of his generation. Throughout high school, he spent most of his extracurricular time showing horses in the summer, playing ice hockey in the winter and advocating for the skateboarders of Decatur. He also enjoyed taking photographs and splicing together short video projects on a set of VCRs, but he had little interest in a career in the entertainment industry.
Digital Art Therapy
Published in the Winter 2017-18 issue of Millikin Magazine.
A self-proclaimed “girl of many passions,” Stephanie Pezzelle Gagnon graduated from MU in 2008 with a BFA in photography and design. Her artwork includes fine-art photography inspired by some of those passions, including mental health awareness.
“I've worked through anxiety and depression issues a lot over the years,” says Gagnon. “I’m a big believer in fighting the stigma and misunderstanding of mental illness by talking about it.”
Amanda Voltz, BFA Studio Art/Art Education 2008. Amanda went on to complete her MFA degree in Painting at Northern Illinois University, in 2011. Amanda is currently teaching art at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
Painting to Farming
Amy Hoffsetter, BFA Studio Art 2008. Amy received her MFA degree in Studio Art in 2017 from the Memphis College of Art. Amy is also co-owner of Dry Creek Farms, an organic food – to-table small farm. http://www.drycreekorganics.com/
From Student to Professor
Ben Cohan, BFA 2006, went on to receive his MFA in Painting and Drawing from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Ben is Assistant Professor of Art at Lakeland College in Mattoon Illinois. Ben has exhibited his artwork throughout the Midwest. http://mbencohan.com/home.html
