Learn about the fellowship projects of the Greater Lafayette Cohort.
 | Lisa Fowler (Charlestown) Utilizing the traditional lampworking techniques, I have learned how to channel my creativity and develop my own whimsical style. Creating with glass is a very personal experience. I work primarily with soft glass, because the color palette is endless. Glass satisfies my inquisitive side with its many nuances and chemical reactions while feeding my creative side often incorporating colorful patterns and funky shapes into my work. I thrive on the challenge of translating what is in my head into something solid, something that can be held in the palm of one’s hand. |
| Kimberly Innes (Anderson) I am focused currently in fiber, specifically products I construct by sewing. I use a combination of purchased patterns I often modify to improve upon the design as well as patterns I have created myself. My favorite materials to use are cork, waxed canvas and high quality quilting cotton. I mainly make bags, purses and wallets. I strive to have a fairly cohesive look to my work, always attentive to detail and quality. I enjoy creating new products and love working collaboratively with customers to create something unique they've envisioned. |
| Sadie Misiuk (Goshen) I make utilitarian work that is fired in an electric kiln or a wood kiln. My style has changed drastically from graduating college to now. My work consists of stamping and altering forms that create a symmetrical look to the asymmetrical form and currently researching traditional Polish pottery. I'm hoping within the next couple of months to make more handmade floral stamps referencing the Polish traditional flowers to incorporate in my work. |
| Dylan Quackenbush (Nashville) I create everything from mugs to large planters and urns. My medium consists of both stoneware and porcelain clays with a variety of glazes. I fire with wood and inject soda ash at the end to both create a unique finish as well as an additional flux. Recently I have also been working around a concept linked to the consequences of drug addiction in small rural towns. These vessels are less functional and focus more on a narrative. |
 | Heidi Fledderjohn (Indianapolis) I am the only Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist in Indiana. For the past 25 years, my work has explored the body and the "felt experience" as a playground, schoolroom, and the origins of personal and collective change. Like an Art or Music Therapist, I use the creative act (in my case dance and movement) therapeutically to uncover and generate emotional, cognitive, social, physical, spiritual, and interpersonal integration. |
| Mariel Greenlee (Indianapolis) I specialize in dance, movement, choreography, and education. I consult, create, and develop movement as a language for purposes as broad as a language can be. In Indianapolis I am a teaching artist for IRT, The Phoenix Theater, Park Tudor and Stage One Dance Academy. I choreograph plays for IRT, The Phoenix Theater, Summer Stock Stage, Marion University, and The Indianapolis Shakespeare Company (where I am a member), Zach and Zach Productions and Park Tudor. I also choreographed two plays for the Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2019. |
| Tony Jeffers (McCordsville) I am a graphic artist that is passionate about starting creative ventures that expand his network. I've worked as an art teacher, lead editor, brand developer, illustrator, digital artist, and now CEO. I'm no stranger to trying new things, flexing my comfort zone, and actualizing my ambitions. In 2019, I started a clothing brand called Tjers to expand my creativity yet again. The genesis of this new chapter in my life has allowed me to make many products, including t-shirts, mugs, hats, and more. My passion for creating has been ignited 10 fold as I have built an online network of 37k with the launch of his second business featuring trendy products. |
| Korie Pickett (Noblesville) I describe myself as an overall creative committed to creative movements that save lives. I pursue a lot of different mediums in my creative living journey. I created an online magazine in 2018 called Queen Spirit Magazine that showcased my photography, design, and writing abilities. In 2019, I was able to move the magazine into a print publication. Each issue features creatives that submit their works of poetry, visual arts, storytelling, etc. in order to have an opportunity at being published ever quarter. |
| Megan Sheetz (Fort Wayne) I am a multidisciplinary visual artist working in printmaking, papermaking, and natural dyeing to create sculptural forms and installations. I use natural dyes and flora imagery to explore how paper sculpture and print media can be transformed into familiar objects. Nostalgic memories of my childhood inform my ideas: quilts decorating walls, decorative figurines and china behind glass curio doors and elaborate tile designs in the sun room. My formal education in ceramics influences how I alter flat sheets of paper into three dimensional sculptures and installations. Printmaking, papermaking and dyeing processes allow direct influence on the paper’s form, fiber, and surface and creates a personal, hand crafted object. Working in this manner allows me to impart my own memory and experiences to invoke a sense of familiar connection with newly created sculptures. |
| Sara Noë (La Porte) I am an award-winning author, photographer, and artist. As an independently published author, I've enjoyed maintaining creative control over my work and applying my artistic abilities to design my own covers, graphics, print layouts, and merchandise. A Fallen Hero, the first novel in my fantasy series, was released in August 2018 with the sequel, Phantom's Mask, following in July 2020. Both books received the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. Book III: Blood of the Enemy is scheduled to be released in 2022. Seven books are planned for the series. My artwork "The Raven" and "Dapple Gray" are currently on display in the Uptown Arts district of Michigan City, and my photography has been featured on the cover of a literary journal. Several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archive. I love searching for magic and transporting people to new worlds through my various forms of art whether I'm telling a story with words, a charcoal pencil, or a camera lens. |
| Manon Voice (Indianapolis) I am a poet and spoken word artist, using my writing and performance as a medium for social practice. Much of my work confronts social justice issues such as homelessness and housing, mass incarceration, police brutality, sexism, racism, and discrimination of marginalized populations. However, as much as I see my own work as a form of activism, it is also a courageous attempt at beauty making, which I also see as revolutionary. In this spirit, I also write and create work that illuminates the nobility of the human life force. Ultimately, I consider the ethos behind my work as that of being a poetic documentarian; exploring the intersections of our past, present, and future selves, while underscoring the possibilities of our astounding human potential and capacity. I am interested in exploring and interpreting both the silent and outspoken features of our social language, in a discovery of what makes us most and deeply human. I seek to use my art and activism to create a communal space where dialogue, transformation, discovery, and inspiration can occur. |
| Ira Mallory (Indianapolis) I am a film director, writer, and producer. In December of 2019 I released my highly anticipated Hanukkah film, The Dreidel on irafilms.com and YouTube. The goal of the film was to present an educational, emotional, and entertaining piece while highlighting the presence of Jews of African descent. My present goal is to continue this work and push for greater visibility within and outside of the Jewish community. This vision of greater visibility of Jews of African descent aligns with groups like Jews of Color, Kulanu, and many others. |
| Allison Ballard (Fort Wayne) I am the founding director of Fort Wayne Taiko, the first performing taiko group in Indiana which began in 2000 as a program of the Fort Wayne Dance Collective. During 2019, I finished writing a one-woman show that tells the story of how (and why!) Fort Wayne Taiko was born. This biomythography portrays my healing journey from a dissociative disorder and the important role taiko drumming and the expressive arts played in my recovery. Using the transformative powers of love, anger, forgiveness, humor, a good therapist, and empty whiskey barrels, I created Fort Wayne Taiko as a coping mechanism for challenging emotions, as a healthy outlet for creative self-expression, and as a way to connect to self, others, and my community. |
| Idris Busari (Goshen) I am an independent singer-songwriter in the Afrofusion sub-genre. I have been writing songs since 1999. I released my first serious musical work for global distribution in physical and digital form on the 22nd of January, 2009. I released another body of work for global public consumption in April of 2011 and my latest effort was released over three years ago with a couple of professional crafted videos online to promote it. My last project took me back to Nigeria, West Africa where I worked with a seasoned music producer in my sub-genre to make one of the best albums in that musical space. |
| Micah Detweiler (Wakarusa) I am a percussionist striving to create engaging performances of contemporary music in spaces where this music is not typically heard. My main work is in chamber music and solo repertoire. The goal of my work is to make contemporary music accessible and available to people who might not have been exposed to it in the past. I am also a dedicated music educator. I spent four years working within a high school and middle school as a percussion director and assistant band director. I love being able to share the music and the technical skills that I am passionate about with the next generation of musicians. |
| Julian Douglas (Bloomington) I facilitate community oriented rhythm experiences and compose, produce, arrange, and perform rhythmically-driven contemporary world music. As a percussionist, my influences include contemporary and traditional music from the African diaspora, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, India, as well as jazz, and new music. My vision is to create and share music that draws on the global pallet of human music in a way that communicates something intimate and exotic, foreign, yet familiar to a broader and more diverse audience. In a time where some are talking about building walls, I seek to build bridges. |
| Victoria Griswold (Indianapolis) I am a violinist in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and since 2014 I have been hired by the ISO through my LLC, Concert Adventures for Early Childhood, to design programs for the ISO Teddy Bear Series. My programs introduce young children, ages 3-7 to music and instruments of the orchestra through story, movement, and live music. Each program uses five musicians and a narrator. I write the stories, arrange the music, and choose appropriate movements. Two of the programs have been made into children's books and published through the Macy's Gives program. |
| Susan Alterio (Valparaiso) I focus mainly on nature photography and tying art with ecology. In my photography I am trying to show an organisms behavior, a landscape from a new perspective, or enlarge a small object through macrophotography to show an audience the stunning details of the everyday life that surrounds us. Photography is meant to be shared, and I try to do this in a way that is easily accessible to a wide variety of people, both online and in person. |
| Tony Vasquez (Columbus) I photograph mainly architecture, concerts, events, and portraits. I have been working on an art series for several years entitled Nocturnal Luminosity, which includes both medium format film and digital long exposures of the urban landscape that I explore at night time. The series of artwork endeavors to find and capture the dynamic nature of light in the darkness. These photographs are my observations of the nighttime and have become my escape from the trivialities of the day. They are studies of how time can manipulate the light captured and the way it alters one’s perception of these environments. I |
| Leonard White (Indianapolis) I intend to create that empowers Black communities in the US and abroad. I create photographic art of African cultures, giving me the ability to bridge cultural boundaries that have separated Black Americans from their ancestral lands across the Ocean. I have a strong desire to depict the strength of Black women in my art, working to use the Black female form as the center of political statements in a society that typically leaves them out of conversations on race, class, and feminism. I believe women should be heard especially on matters concerning their own bodies, and to assist this, the women dictate how they would like to be seen in their photoshoots, allowing them to create their own stories and allegories that create a new myth of black womanhood and all of the history and potential that that embodies. |
| Evren Wilder Elliot (Indianapolis) Using theatrical play and kinetic exercise, I facilitate workshops for trans people. These workshops involve yoga and improvisational play, and heavily draw from techniques in Boal's Theatre of The Oppressed. As a Trans person, I know that safe space is vital to our communities in order to pursue wellness, and these workshops help to examine who we are within our own bodies and how those bodies are impacted by systems of oppression - and what we can do to claim our power within those systems. |
| Kimberly Janelle (Indianapolis) I am a print and commercial model, playwright, director, singer and actor. I am the CEO and owner of Kimberly Janelle Inc. (KJI), the parent company for KJI Institute for the Arts, a non-profit organization which serves as the training ground where young people can champion their skills in acting, dance, modeling, vocal instruction, and more; and the newly formed KJI Talent Agency, which serves as a bridge between the young, trained artists and opportunities that are in the industry. I began to see my gift of guidance with the youth during my time working in the school system and, as a result, I became a Certified Life Coach. |
| Susan Atwell (La Porte) I am a textile artist. For the past two years I have been focused creating one-of-a-kind and limited edition hand-spun and dyed yarns. I intend to continue to create, develop and market my new products. Creating one-of-a-kind hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns has really sharpened my knowledge of various fiber types, dye combinations and the creative possibilities of working with a large range of materials. I have worked with spinning on a small scale, experimenting with different processing approaches incorporating various materials, colors, and combinations. |
| Kay Bae (Carmel) I am midwest-based creative exploring organic, deeply textured, and delicate beauty while drawing inspiration from Eastern and Western cultures. My creativity is fueled by the beauty of lines, shapes, colors, and space in both the natural and manmade world. Most of my work can be characterized by its linear rhythm, dynamic movement, and use of varied materials that, along with vibrant colors, create bold compositions. Something I find that distinguishes my art is the attention paid to time, color, and methodology. Because of my wide-ranging interests, my work explores a number of mediums including |
| Boxx the Artist (Indianapolis) I'm a self taught artist, painter, body painter, instructor, and all around creative. My visual artwork uses acrylic, digital, and mixed mediums to capture different elements of blackness from past African civilizations to current day African American Culture. With this strong sense of influence from the African diaspora, it is used as an element to address current social issues, social climates, religion, sexuality, politics, body image, and more. Although I use people of color/people of African descent in imagery, it is cross cultural and offers perspectives open to interpretation. I focus mainly on people and experiences, and often use black and brown faces to document history as I see it being created. People are used as metaphors to address relevant social issues and create a dialogue for change. |
| Joshua Bronaugh (Evansville) I use representational painting to explore the way one senses, understands, and translates the presence of another person in space and time. Portraiture and figurative painting is necessarily interested in identity. I use the process of painting to contemplate the psyche of another person. Works of art, for me, become a prolonged meditation on the ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, intents, desires, emotions, knowledge, etc.) to the subject, and to understand the subject's perspectives in contrast to my own. My current body of work, which will, ultimately, consist of dozens of paintings of one individual, thus accentuating the sympathetic exploration of identity. Instead of considering narrative as a literary device (with iconography, etc.), I am interested in the narrative of the construction of a painting. I spend months carefully building the structure of a painting, e.g., re-measuring, rebuilding, sometimes even deconstructing several weeks or months-worth of work in order to find a more honest representation. |
| Paige Kissinger (Sellersburg) I am glass artist with a broad range of skills including kiln formed, slumped, and fused techniques. Warm worked glass is my most desired artist expression. I have completed small to large installations. I've worked with residential and corporate clients. Residential projects include glass vessel sinks, shower enclosures, countertops, lighting, entry doors, side lights, partition walls, and artwork. Commercial projects include furnishings; fountains; glazed walls; lighting; handrails; and large scaled artwork in hospitals, libraries, schools, churches, and corporations. Since beginning my personal studio, I've focused on gallery exhibitions. These smaller scaled pieces feature saturated color through fusion or layered mediums of wood, watercolor, and clear textured plate glass. I'm inspired to create a body of work, not only an aesthetic piece but a piece which unites the client to a sentiment, memory or theme. My artwork encompasses movement, light, and vibrant color. |
| Tanya Kryder (Waterloo) I am a whimsically dark, surreal, constructed reality artist. My work is emotionally charged as I create images dealing with my own healing, mortality, female empowerment, and the dark side of the human condition. I also work with alternative processes, traditional darkroom, and experimental photography. Many times, all of my creative processes layer up to create one work. For example, I will create a work in the digital darkroom with the intention of moving it to the traditional darkroom or vise versa. |
| Toni Ridgway-Woodall (Roachdale) My most well-known works explore the way various factors contribute to (wo)man's perception of the natural world, and the way our brains respond to places by building an emotional connection through memory. I continue to build my overall body of (individual) work based on this theme because of my experiences growing up in a time of major environmental and technological chances, as well as my connections to nature through my rural community. Historically, I am inspired by the classical sculpture, abstract expressionist movement, and Medieval/Renaissance engravers and book binders. My current body of work draws attention to social and cultural issues that are repeated time and time again throughout history. My choice of mediums varies because I am seeking to share information through storytelling more so than emphasizing a specific material. I repeatedly create art based in Book Arts techniques/processes (papermaking, printmaking, bindings, etc.), various forms of metal smithing (bronze, copper, etc.), and rethinking and reusing recycled materials. |
| Christina Robinson (Evansville) I work intuitively and introspectively and take much care in creating my art. What I create is the result of a continual striving for personal growth as well as a reach for a way to establish a creative career. My hope is that my work can be both visually pleasing as well as inspirational to those who view it. I currently work in a variety of mediums and love to explore new ways of expressing myself. I have experienced transformative benefits by allowing myself to create in a variety of ways without restraining myself to one particular medium or style. My hope is that one day I can find a way to share with others what I have learned so they may benefit in their own personal way. |
| Rachel Speer (Tipton) The main body of my work is abstract and explores such topics as nature, spirituality, and individuality. I do this through the expressive means of color, mark-making, and movement. My main art medium is printmaking, more specifically monotype printing. Each monoprint offers up a view into my emotional, internal states at the time they were produced. So in a way, each monoprint is a nontraditional self-portrait, but also has links to external forces that make up the world and which we are all intrinsically a part of, like nature or spirit. |
| Zachary Will (Evansville) I mainly specialize in creating unique custom-made metal art pieces for indoor decor as well as outdoor. I have had about 4-5 years of continual experience with all shapes and sizes of metal artwork from miniature art show pieces, to indoor and outdoor Christmas ornaments, trophies, decorative pieces, and even large outdoor structures as part of landscape designs and outdoor furniture pieces. |
| Sarah Wolfe (Vincennes) I am fascinated with anatomical drawings, specifically the heart, and am exploring medical and anatomical drawings opportunities with a local physical therapist who is looking for an artistic bend to their social media posts. I also create sculptural pieces that reflect on the fragile nature of our environment and fertility. These seemingly disparate works allow me to speak from both sides of my creative mouth; the sculptural pieces fulfill a need to create a home, over and over, and keep it safe for whomever may reside there. The anatomical drawings are part of a long reaching series (over the last 5 years, I have drawn close to 60 hearts in various media). We ascribe great emotional power and vision to our emotional hearts, and these pieces often intersect those moments of feeling heart heavy, lighthearted or weary. Some are bright and joyful, ready to leap out and hug you; others withdraw and shelter in place. |
Learn about the fellowship projects of the Floyd County Cohort.
 | Angie Andriot (New Albany) Instagram: @angieandriot My art is about connecting to Spirit. It evokes a whimsical yet contemplative approach to looking at the world. My goal as an artist is to help people uncover reality by integrating what you see with what you perceive – to find that sacred space where subject and object unite. I co-lead a creative, contemplative community called Limen Place, where I teach art as a spiritual practice. |
 | Brian Hitselberger (Lafayette) Instagram: @brianhitsstudio I move between making paintings, works on paper, wall-based installations and artist books. Time, magic, distance, and the night sky are some of the most enduring subjects and themes in my projects. I am interested in reimagining the challenges of making art as opportunities and plan to explore these concepts in a book project. |
| Cortlan Waters Bartley (Jeffersonville) I am a hand lettering artist and calligrapher who works across a variety of mediums from traditional pen and ink to paint, chalk, and digital media. Taking inspiration from my own lived experience, pop culture, and everyday joys, my pieces often reflect elements of those themes through integrated design, and occasionally photography. |
| Madelyn Copperwaite (Floyds Knobs) I am a graphic designer who loves all things branding, including logo design and advertising. Creativity and expressing myself though art, both with digital work and through print medium, is what motivates me. I enjoy being surrounded by other creative people in an environment that allows for a great deal of teamwork and collaboration with others of varying specializations. |
| John Hickerson (Jeffersonville) I am a videographer working on a project to educate the local population about some of the great events that happened locally but have helped shape our nation and society. As a black man who grew up in and around Jeffersonville, I have a strong connection to the places and people that make up the diversity of this region. Offering a home-grown and youthful yet historically accurate presentation of events, people, and place will help foster a better understanding of the role black Hoosiers have played in our broader history. |
| Jaime Young Irvin (New Albany) I am a Dramatist. Though my roots are fully in theatre and acting, I also work in video production. My time is divided between a production company, writing, producing, directing, and editing. I co-own Closecall Entertainment, where I am the primary editor and writer. I have also worked as a “teaching producer”, meaning I work on video projects with creators new to filmmaking everything they need to know to get projects off the ground with small budgets. |
| Kris Lasher (Ferdinand) Writing original songs and monologues for a fully produced stage show, composing a collection of lullabies for adults, establishing an arts and environmental education organization called Project ACORN, and managing the bakery for the Sisters of St. Benedict are only some the experiences and results of my creative practice. Music is my primary medium, but I include writing and community organizing on my list as well. |
| ShiFen Liu (Indianapolis) I explore genuine feeling or emotion deep in a person. I use that emotion to help myself make art. My body of work deals with gender issues, feminism, materialism, health, and human rights. To carry out research, I have worked in retail stores and observed shopping behaviors. Most of my work is created in the field. These sketches and drawings made on the go, help me make sense of how the world functions. |
| Katherine Magalski (Brookville) The process of creating objects by hand has fascinated me since childhood. The objects I make are the result of contemplation, memories, and separation from our materialistic society. My materials and media include ceramics, fiber mix media, and wood. I have been teaching myself how to macrame and wrap stone and ceramic pendants with the goal of selling jewelry and functional pottery. |
| Valerie Milholland (Sellersburg) I envision a retail/class space to accept and sort art supply donations to redistribute through sales, classes, kits, and coordination with schools and community organizations. Currently, I run small, pop up experiences with up-cycled tie dye at craft shows. My envisioned expansion would create jobs and an outlet for art supply hoarders emerge from their stuffed closets and up-cycle their supplies. |
| Tahj Mullins (New Albany) My main creative work is animation, character design, illustration, and graphic design. I animate videos for record labels, write and illustrate children’s books, and freelance with the city of New Albany as a graphic designer. |
| Skye Studebaker Nicholson (Columbus) I write poetry and personal essays. For me, poetry is an intimate exchange between the reader and the words – sometimes there is chemistry and sometimes there isn’t. I am working with an illustrator to collaborate on a self-published collection of poems framed around my personal recovery journey titled Alchemy. The book uses the metaphor of alchemical transmutation to tell my story of transformation through poetic verse. |
| Sam Rosenburg (Bloomington) I am musician currently performing under the moniker Mister Goblin and have released multiple albums on the NY-based label Exploding in Sound records. Over the course of my career in music, I have been fortunate to tour the USA and Europe and my work has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Stereogum. I am currently working on a very ambitious full-length project to be recorded in Chicago, produced by Bartees Strange. |
| Julia Youngblood (Floyds Knobs) I am a visual artist with undergraduate and graduate degrees in photography, and informal painting mentorship by folk artist and sculptor LaVon Williams and painter Sue Terry Driskell. My acrylic paintings are created in lightweight wood boards. My subjects include landscape, portraits, healing mandalas and symbols. Through painting I explore my spiritual relationship to the land and topics such as voter suppression, honoring LGBTQIA+, the pandemic, The Red Dress Movement for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. |
Learn about the fellowship projects of the South Central Indiana Cohort.
 | Dan Alexander (Bloomington) I am a visual artists working in mediums such as watercolor, acrylic, charcoal, pen and ink, digital media, and occasionally sculpture to create portraits, caricatures, and illustrations. I work traditionally and digitally; in front of viewers and in private. I enjoy teaching and sharing my knowledge with other artists and contributing to the local Bloomington arts community. |
| Dusty Baker (Salem) My main creative work is a collection of stream of consciousness writings resulting in poetry. Each writing occurs in a historically significant location within Washington County, and flows from items, people, activities, etc., tying human interactions to inert objects. While my poetry is historical fiction, it is strongly influenced by historical facts. |
| Sharon Bonner (Indianapolis) I create abstract florals and abstract art using acrylic paint. My work is being sold in shops in Muncie and Beech Grove, Indiana. I am a member of the Eastside Art Collective and am working to make the Eastside of Indianapolis a bright spot of artistic endeavors. I am a black woman who loves to paint nature and I want to amplify the artistic voices of others like me. |
| Janet Chilton (Carmel) Painting is my most successful studio art. While I had my studio at the Stutz in Indianapolis I painted large-scale, expressive work that drew on my life-long study of color. I also created a series of expressive drawings set to music using Sumi ink and brushes of my own design. Several of my paintings from that era are in private and commercial collections. Currently, I am attempting to bring my skills (maker, educator, community facilitator and small business owner) together to create a practical business model that will sustain me. |
| Lisa Dodson (Martinsville) I create everything from mugs to large planters and urns. My medium consists of both stoneware and porcelain clays with a variety of glazes. I fire with wood and inject soda ash at the end to both create a unique finish as well as an additional flux. Recently I have also been working around a concept |
 | Krista Hall (Jasper) I am a storyteller. I have been a working documentary photographer since 2008 and have been teaching myself documentary filmmaking of the last two years. Two years ago, I discovered documentary family films and fell in love with this form of storytelling. My work entails spending four hours with a family and documenting their life, details of their children, some of their favorite family activities, things that will change over the next year. It is my goal to capture all the love in a family and preserve it so they can relive it over and over. |
| Ursula Curiosa (Evansville) My main creative work is a corpus of paintings, sculptures, various crafts, some photography, editing, and essays. My craft experience includes origami, kirigami, made-to-order paper notebooks, and macrame creations. I have also had the honor of facilitating the creative art of writing at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Michigan through the Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. |
| Brick Kyle (Bloomington) I am a self-taught portrait and still life photographer, capturing the magic of the ordinary through light and color. I arrange still lifes that are an observation of obsessions arising out the pandemic. My portraiture is an evolving body of work that focuses on capturing the color and character of artists and performers in the queer community. Using drag as a vehicle to capture hidden personas, these intimate portraits are a result of collaborative and playful studio sessions. |
| Justine Scott Lemon (Anderson) I use creation as a way to fight for my own wellness as well as the beauty in the world that is found in the truth of each artistic expression. I am an interdisciplinary artist working in mediums including painting, drawing, sculpture, writing, photography, murals, and more. A majority of my art is meditative, contemplative and healing for me, my partner, and my two young children. |
| Tanner Lemon (Anderson) I am a primarily self-taught portrait artist working in graphic design, acrylic, and oil. When you look at someone, you can only gather a small amount of information about that person. I try to paint the rest of the information. How does that person feel of a daily basis? Where have they been? Where are they going?0. |
| Georgiya Mitchell (Bloomington) I make wearable art: unique garments, accessories, and jewelry. As an environmentally conscious designer, I have developed a technique for upcycling yarn by unwinding industrial knitted garments that I thrift. I then re-knit the upcycled yarn into my own designs. My dream is to find a balance where I continue to explore and grow as an artist while also developing skills in marketing and distributing my art. |
| Matt Ramsey (Vincennes) My current work is in scenic and landscape photography, with an emphasis toward the rural or agricultural scene. I produce, present, and sell my photographs in print products ranging from calendars to signed limited edition prints on fine art papers. I aspire to produce thoughtful work that challenges the popular conceptions of landscape photography as reserved for the grand generic vista, and as unsuitable to communicative expression. |
| Zach Roy (Palmyra) I am a green wood worker specializing in wooden spoons and other cooking/home utensils. The wood is gathered sustainably from the forest without power tools. I then carve functional items for the home using an axe, knife, and saw. Based on Scandinavian sloyd techniques, I take inspiration from cultures around the world and add them into the usable crafts I create. When the items we use are meaningful, hand crafted, practical, and beautiful, it brings a beauty to common tasks in a profound way. |
| Mitchell Schuring (Bedford) I am a freelance graphic designer and muralist. I design everything from logos, promotional items and illustrations, to large-scale murals and street art pieces. I also design and print/embroider hats and apparel. My goal is to transition into street art full-time and make art accessible to as many people as possible. |
| Jennasen Snyder (Indianapolis) I am a composer and performing musician. I lead several different musical projects/bands. I write songs and lyrics, collaborate with other musicians, and handle the business and creative aspects of these projects. Most recently, I recorded a full-length pop rock album for children and families. I am also diving into creating audio recordings in Digital Audio Workstations and have begun training as a mix engineer at a local studio. |
| Sarah Spomer (Bloomington) My graduate work explored the synthesis of psychology and fine art to describe the complexities of navigating difficult mental states. I integrated drawing and metalsmithing and used texture as a representation of intense emotions. I sought to create highly gestural work that communicates the experience of processing these emotions and using art as a catalyst for mental clarity. My goal is to push these textures and gestures into new contexts and figuring out how to adapt these highly conceptual works for a broader audience. |
| Amanda Webb (Ninevah) I am a singer/songwriter/bandleader working in South Central Indiana and Northern Kentucky. I write and record original music using a blend of styles such as blues, pop, country, and rock. My band has competed in the International Blues Challenge which required us to dig deeply into the preservation of the blues genre. There are very few women bandleaders, and, at 45 years old, I bring a uniquely distinct perspective to the music industry. |
Learn about the fellowship projects of the Northwest Indiana Cohort.
 | Raymar Brunson (Gary) My main creative work is videography/cinematography. I currently shoot music videos and short films with a Canon DSLR in Gary, IN. I edit all of my work with Adobe Premier Pro on an Apple computer. When a project comes along, I spend a lot of time with the client trying to plan out what we’re creating together. Whenever I work on a project, no matter how small, I always put my love of cinema into it. |
| Terry Chouinard (Gary) A blend of street and documentary photography is the current focus of my personal practice. I am also a bookwright – a craftsman skilled in a broad range of book arts, e.g., calligraphy, typography, printing, papermaking, binding, etc. A bookwright not only designs books but builds books. I am hired by clients such as publishers and schools for my design sensibility, level of craftsmanship, program design, and system design. |
| Martin Clinch (Indianapolis) I am a narrative and sequential artist, working primarily in 2-dimensional work, both traditional media and digital media. Recurring themes in my work are the intersection between the supernatural and the mundane, and creating empathy for monstrous and outsider subjects. My goals are to publish several series of sci-fi and fantasy comics/sequential art projects, illustrate for writers whose work I love, and educate and give access to publishing and printing for other artists with narrative work. |
| McKenya Dilworth (Gary) My main creative work is rooted in writing plays and performative art. For me, the two are not separate. I write the works to be performed. Whatever is being explored onstage has the potential and space to be digested by both actor and audience, making courageous conversations more of a tangible possibility. I have directed internationally and was the Artist in Residence for the Black Cultural Center at Purdue University from 2004-2006. |
| Eve Eggleston (Indianapolis) Teaching, beekeeping, and creating – these three spheres encompass my main creative work. My creative practice has always been born of curiosity, and obsession with the bizarre, a desire for new experience, themes of femininity and ecological sustainability, and an aim for inclusion and understanding. My main media are graphite, pen & ink, and charcoal. I have participated in many events across Indianapolis, such as Masterpiece in a Day, the Monster Drawing Rally (Newfields), Flava Fresh D. Del-Reverda-Jennings), and Indy Mural Fest. |
 | Diana Ensign (Indianapolis) I am a writer whose primary focus is spirituality, healing, personal growth, and compassion. In 2011, I created the Spirituality for Daily Living blog, which contains reflective essays on topics relevant to all spiritual seekers. In 2013, I published my first book, a spiritual guide with mindfulness tools for wellness. I currently publish under my own imprint: SpiritHawk Life Publications. Two of my books, Heart Guide and The Freedom to Be are Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards) Gold Medal Winners. With all my writings, I invite readers to delve deeper into their heart space. I believe firmly that we heal the trauma in our lives and learn more about each other, we create a more loving planet. |
| Jeff Hagen (Nashville) My medium has been watercolor for over 50 years. During that half-century of painting, I have developed a unique style mixing architecture, history, and whimsy to create a deep sense of place in the Heartland. When I paint a town, I paint both its present and past. I bring back the memories of old structures and buildings that have been torn down and weave them together into a townscape. |
| Addie Hirschten (Indianapolis) I am a botanical and impressionist painter, author, and public speaker. Teaching painting classes in my gallery, Studio Alchemy, as well as online is also part of my creative practice. I host the “Alchemy of Art” podcast and have authored several books including The Alchemy of Art: Stories for the Classroom and The Alchemy of Painting: Developing Your Style and Purpose |
| Pete Kaminski (La Porte) My main creative work is based in book cover design. This entails using fonts and imagery to create and express a cohesive message. My process is focused on the power of emotions and the passage of time. I entered the graphic design field after college and spent a decade in publishing. As a next step, I feel ready to expand into book design and writing. |
| Brie Petty (Valparaiso) I am a writer, editor, and publisher of collaborative zines. Perennial Magick & Poetry is a series that began in 2014 and has been published annually. My mission with any zine I publish is to include as many mediums and textures as possible. Aside from collaborative zines, I also publish my own poetry chapbooks. These are medium-length publications, usually meditating on a theme or a season of my life. I was featured in a group exhibit titled Fold, Staple, Riot! at the Indianapolis Herron School of Art. This was a great moment of accomplishment – not only for me personally but for zines to be looked upon as the art form they are. |
| Joe Rauen (Munster) I am a builder and performer of unlikely musical objects. My art blurs the lines between performance, sculpture, and design. There is always the need to engage the techniques of musical instrument building to make instruments capable of playing in tune. The instruments are visually striking in their own right. As a performer, I play many instruments together giving the effect of a strange orchestra. The performances are nearly always interactive and attuned to the specific audience at hand. |
| Madeline Richardson (Hammond) I am an illustrator. I create original characters and their corresponding universe. My tonal range extends from horror to cutesy. I am also a designer, experienced with logos, patterns, and covers. My long-term ambitions are to sustain myself with my art and teach it to others. |
| Jessica Peterson Rogers (Hammond) My main creative work is literature, with an emphasis on writing and editing. I have been a web desk reporter and free lance reporter for South Bend Tribune, WSBT-TV, and The Post Tribune. Thanks to a career pivot, I became a co-teacher at the elementary and high school level. I assist kids by breaking novels apart via literary criticism and interpretation so they have a clear understanding of the text. I was published in the Gary Anthology, and during that process, I was inspired to pull together a literary magazine for high school kids. Thus, an idea was born. |
| Ida Short (Goshen) I am a visual artist with projects ranging from custom illustration to designing and executing high-end letterpress prints for clients. This includes, but is not limited to, business cards, personal stationary, and invitations. There is always an element of education in my work because clients are very involved in the design process. I created Short Stack Press, LLC to build a business that keeps me printing, creating, and interacting with clients. I would also like to start a nonprofit printmaking guild in Goshen. |
| Akili Sosa (Goshen) I create hand-drawn animations. I am interested in the cross section of analog and digital and the exploration of line and color vs other animation principles to push the medium in a different direction. I focus on making small vignettes of everyday life and try to leave space for the audience to think. One of my major works, The Flower Princess, premiered at the Busan International Kids and Youth Festival in South Korea. |
| Carmen Vincent (Chesterton) I am a passionate freelance video editor and documentary filmmaker located in Northwest Indiana. I find great joy in editing all types of content, including documentary and narrative films, commercial videos, promotional videos, educational content, and more. Along with freelance video editing, I direct, produce, shoot, and edit documentary films that tell raw, often misunderstood stories. As a creative with invisible disabilities, I moderate discussions about disability for local and national groups and organizations. |
Learn about the fellowship projects of the Marion Cohort.
| Max Drury (Fishers) I am a designer at heart. Whether that means using vector graphics for a logo design, writing drafts for a novel, sculpting board games pieces, paneling comics, or leading creative teams – these are the things that get me excited to learn and work. After hundreds of hours studying the game nights of friends and family, I have been investing time in self-publishing a unique board game. This is the first step in a broader ambition to make a business that reaches young people and their families with meaningful creative content. |
| Jo Gormong (Marion) I am a visual artist whose main medium is oil paint. I work with intensely lit still life setups and am heavily based in color theory. My work captures luminous mannequin and figure still life setups that I work from to create a painting that captures the color and feeling of the setup. The aim of my work is to create an environment where the viewer gets lost in the visual experience of the color relationships in a painting as well as the narrative subject matter. The blending of one color into the next is as much the focus of these paintings as the objects depicted in them. |
| Angelita Hampton (Indianapolis) I am a mixed media artist working in contemporary expressionist and surrealist styles. I primarily treat subjects of social justice, employing imagery and text, while combining digital paint with hand-drawn paper sketches, photography, watercolors, and collage. I create art designed to challenge perceptions of race, gender, sexuality and social status though black portraiture and female figure in conjunction with popular images and ideology from American history and Black culture. |
 | Lauren Johns (Nappanee) I am pursuing a business in interior design. This involves working with clients to design homes, offices, and commercial buildings. I help design space, select finishes, furniture, and equipment to create an environment that supports and enhances each client’s personal or business goals. One of my long-term goals is to establish a design collective modeled after design centers found in larger cities. |
| Cierra Johnson (Indianapolis) My work is about identity and the power it has to shape our lives. It seeks to examine how we define ourselves, how we relate to each other individually and how we interact with our community and environment. My current practice is in mixed media, painting, and illustration. I make images about the ethereal nature of human experience with a vibrant and textured look. My newest work is rooted in mythology and the feminine black experience. |
| Clare Longendyke (Indianapolis) My creative work is rooted in classical music. I am a classical concert pianist, arts entrepreneur, educator, chamber music coach, and a mentor to artists wishing to explore the entrepreneurial aspects of their artistry. My career balances itself into three prongs: I am a committed and active performer, I find ways to teach audience members and my students about the history of classical music and its links to other genres, and finally I am the founder of the Music in Bloom festival and all-around go-getter. |
| Jaylan Miller (Marion) I am a memoirist and journalist. I write nonfiction essays and memoirs that are centered around my experiences. My current work chronicles my life as a young woman growing up as a pastor’s child in the evangelical Christian church. I am also working on a related project which tells the story of my sister’s wedding in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I recently finished my first year of my creative writing MFA at Emerson College and am focusing on finishing at least one full length memoir soon. |
| Braxton Moore (Indianapolis) I am a digital illustrator, visual artist, and beat-maker. I want to create synergies between my visual art and my music. I am confident in my creative abilities, but looking to attain the next level when it comes to the business of art. I want to see my art in galleries, on saleable prints, and generate interest in the work I have on Soundcloud. |
| Eliza Mowery (Indianapolis) I paint impressionist-style landscapes and lifestyle scenes, mostly with acrylic and chalk. My work reminds people of play, summer, and nostalgia. Ultimately, the way I use my work to connect with others is by giving them a place to rest and experience whatever feelings arise while looking at my paintings. I know the need for quiet and calm intimately, so I use my work to offer and connect with this place of calm we all need. |
| Melissa Parrott Quimby (Indianapolis) I am a contemporary visual artist concerned with topics related to nature. I emphasize the movement of shape and color in my collages, paintings, drawings, and ceramic sculptures. The paper cut-out collages incorporate an assemblage of flat shapes using bold, vivid hues to create an organization of patterns and rhythm of space. The clay work focuses on the use of monochromatic glazes emphasizing the simplicity of the form. |
| Cathy Shouse (Fairmount) I’m a journalist writing for Travel Indiana magazine, Glo women’s magazine (Ft. Wayne) and Home Living magazine (Ft. Wayne) as well as Directions in Nursing newspaper (regional). My creative work is contemporary romance novels that feature small towns and rural type/ranch settings, inspired by places in Indiana. I’d like these stories to be known in the county and for people to visit the are to see what they’re reading about. I’m a member of the National League of American Pen Women and the Romance Writers of America. |
| Yeabsera Tabb (Greenfield) I am a Social Impact Designer and Interdisciplinary Visual Artist. My process includes merging design research, design thinking, and placemaking with visual arts. My current primary focus has been relief woodcut prints and other printmaking processes. I love storytelling and problem solving through art and design thinking. I’ve held internships and fellowships in the area of creative placemaking and visual storytelling at the Harrison Center, Marion Design Co., and City of Marion’s Arts Commission. |
| Teresa Vazquez (Fort Wayne) My work is mainly two-dimensional fluid media works (including inks, watercolors, and diluted acrylics) that explore the imagery, characters, settings, and narratives of dreams. I consider dreamwork an integral part of my creative work, and visual art to be the perfect medium for exploring dreams. Texture, pattern, proportion and especially color, are the most important elements of my mostly abstract pieces on canvas, paper, Yupo, and ceramic. Working in ever-larger scale is a creative goal, as well as producing more commercially accessible works that showcase my artistry at more affordable price points. |
Learn about the fellowship projects of the Northeast Indiana Cohort.
| Matthew J Brown (Fort Wayne) I am a sculptor and musician focusing mainly on soundscapes and visual effects such as makeup, prosthetics, lighting and video projection. Combining these forms creates a cohesive experience of visual and audio arts. I have self-produced, recorded, engineered and performed my own music for 22 years. I am compelled to create and explore the human condition. |
| Lukas Clevenger (Marion) I am a tattooer whose work is deeply rooted in the tradition of American Tattooing, drawing from Americana, European, and tribal folk art. My process often begins with reference images of old folk art, paintings, ceramics, textiles, etc. I am always learning and striving to create unique designs with a strong 2D layout, contrast, and simple color pallet. Aside from tattooing self-devised designs, I also offer custom work based on customer requests. |
| Isaac Benjamin Dees (Fort Wayne) My main creative practice is creative writing, including, but not limited to, songwriting and spoken work poetry. I also organize cultural events, including music, spoken word performance, and culinary arts. As the events continue, the types of art forms included will expand. I want to facilitate space for artists to think, work, and create together. |
 | Drew Fletcher (Huntington) My main creative work is graffiti and modern art influenced paintings that incorporate urban and street art methods. I have worked in large and small scale. I complete paintings in layers with graffiti style backgrounds and drippings as underlay before the full image is created using acrylic paint, watercolor, sharpie, paint markers and pastels. I also experiment with collaging recycled papers and the use of crayons in paintings to create urban portraits. |
| Em Guerrero (Fort Wayne) I am a storyteller, workshop facilitator and installation folk artist of Mexica indigenous ancestry. My art embodies my ancestral traditions and contemporary Latinx symbols to encourage and inspire audiences to expand their knowledge of diverse cultures. The arts are an essential part of a universal language which can joyfully bring people together. |
| Curtis Jarrett (Huntington) As an artist, I practice large scale oil painting that has been described as “graphic surrealism”. I have shown my work all around the Midwest. I want people to enjoy my work and be able to afford its value. |
| Audrey Johnson (Lafayette) I am a classically trained opera singer, and I bring American heritage to life through music. My mission is connecting audiences with American song to inspire positive, inclusive patriotism and engaged citizenship through my company, Of Thee I Sing: American Heritage Through Song. I curate, create, and perform solo vocal one-woman shows that focus on specific events and time periods of American history. |
| Sunday Mahaja (Goshen) I am a creator that works with discarded metals to express beauty, humor, and functionality. My work tells a story and brings imaginations and dreams into reality. I started welding during college, and after graduating, I went back to school to study TIG and MIG welding. I am certified through the American Welding Association. I work in discarded metals to give new life to discarded materials and reduce the amount of metal that ends up in landfills. |
| Rhonda Newsome (Richmond) I am a self-taught metalsmith and artist. My materials include metals, clay, gemstones, enamels, and paints. I make wearable and functional art, including jewelry, ceramics and metal objects. Jewelry is intensely personal – what we choose to adorn ourselves with is very intuitive and special. I love being part of that. I love creating things that speak to others; jewelry that will be treasured, given to a loved one, passed on, or kept as a reminder of a good memory |
| Sarah Schwab (Huntington) Mainly I work with sewing and fiber arts, jewelry making, paper mache, painting, pottery, and a variety of other crafts at Pathfinder Services Creative Arts Studios. I also teach and coach individuals with disabilities. Creating ceramic pieces and collaborative watercolor and acrylic works are also current pursuits. I want to use arts business tools for my personal practice as well as for professional development when assisting individuals with disabilities in pricing their work and gain a sense of independence. |
| Abby Schwantz (Fort Wayne) My primary artistic focus is photography, marketing/graphic design, embroidery, and jewelry making. In 2019, I started embroidery on a variety of items, including hoops, clothes, bags, etc. I like making custom projects above anything else. Making something that someone has specifically asked for and helping them bring a vision to life is the most fulfilling part of making my art. |
| Janelle Sloan (Pleasant Lake) I own and operate a community art studio in Angola, Indiana. The focus is clay, including; wheel throwing, tile making, and hand-building. I also work in a dark room for black and white photography, and make jewelry, paint, screen print, silhouettes, batik, drawing, lino cut, macrame, and more. I offer classes to the public in all forms of these disciplines. My passion is creating handmade tile installations, as well as custom creations. |
