Archives

Born in Thibidoux, Louisiana, in 1983, Gavin Michelli grew up in and around Baton Rouge. After he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus in painting and drawing from the LSU School of Art in 2006, he took a brain-full of nerdy know-how and set out in to the world of freelance artwork. Since then, he has worked for a myriad of clients, using every style and medium imaginable. Most of his work comes from comic books, where he colors sequential pages and provides painted covers and pin-ups. “Occasionally, I also fight super villains,” he laughed. View Gavin’s website at gavinmichelliart.com.

Gavin was also the in-house illustrator at Lamar Advertising, where he rose through the ranks to become a senior graphic designer. At Lamar, he made artwork for all kinds of businesses in addition to his beloved comic books. Lamar Graphics houses one of the largest art departments in the Southeast, and Gavin had the opportunity to train a new crop of artists in addition to learning from some of the best graphic professionals he has ever encountered.

Gavin lives in Baton Rouge with his wife and son.

Gavin’s Portfolio

Tony McDonald received his Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting and drawing from LSU in 1976. McDonald’s paintings and sculptures have been exhibited at the Alexandria Museum of Art, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, and numerous other galleries across the South. His most recent body of work continues his exploration of dream and myth imagery. In January 2015, the Orville Hanchey Gallery, located on the campus of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, hosted Luminescence, an exhibition of new paintings by McDonald and Andrea Pramuk (Professor Emeritus Ed Pramuk’s daughter).

Artist’s Statement

“My work tends to be more intuitive than inspirational. I use the tools provided to me by my great teachers and mentors, Ed Pramuk and the late Michael Crespo, and I am constantly revisiting the writings and teachings of Hans Hoffman and a few more of the pioneers of 20th-century art.

“I have learned that if you work at it and are responsive to what the paint will tell you, the connection between memory, brush, and media will make itself apparent, and then it is up to you to refine and shape the painting.

“I work in series as my website (tonymcdonaldart.com) shows, but there may be years between items within the series.”

Tony’s Portfolio

Graphic designer Courtney Marse (MFA 2014) blurs the lines between surface designer, apparel designer, and textile designer. Her work explores the illustrated and abstracted narrative and its application to three-dimensional surfaces such as engineered prints for apparel.

During her design research and study as a MFA candidate in the LSU School of Art graphic design program, Courtney was able to further her graphic design abilities and meld them with her illustration and apparel design interests. Her recent investigations have been design engineered for textile surfaces and exploring the advantages of digital textile printing technology. Her latest collection of work was presented at the SCFD Southern Design Week. Additionally, she partnered with designer Andi Eaton Nickens to produce a collection for Hazel & Flo, available spring 2015.

Courtney received a BA in mass communication, advertising, and visual communication and her MFA with a focus in graphic design from LSU. View Courtney Marse’s website at courtneymarse.com.

Courtney Marse’s latest collection of work was presented at the SCFD Southern Design Week.

Carmon Colangelo joined the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts as its first dean in July, 2006. As dean, Colangelo oversees the school’s four academic units—the College of Art, College of Architecture, Graduate School of Art, and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design—as well as the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Dean Colangelo also serves as a member of the University Council and as the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Collaboration in the Arts.

A widely exhibited artist known for large mixed-media prints that combine digital and traditional processes, Dean Colangelo’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Argentina, Canada, England, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico and across the United States. His work has been collected by many of the nation’s leading museums, including the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York; the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University; and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Born in Toronto, Dean Colangelo earned a BFA in printmaking and painting from the University of Windsor in Ontario in 1981 and an MFA in printmaking from Louisiana State University in 1983.

Colangelo was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the LSU College of Art & Design in 2014, and he was the keynote speaker at the 2014 LSU College of Art & Design Commencement Ceremony. Read his commencement speech, “Accepting Leadership,” here.

Carmon Colangelo’s Portfolio

A relocated Texan, Georgia Jones Godwin has pursued interior design, art instruction, and computer graphics for Texas and Pacific coast newspapers. She received her BFA in painting and ceramics from the University of South Alabama in 2010. In 2014 Georgia received her MFA from LSU. Her ceramic work has been published in two Lark Publication books, 500 Figures in Clay, Vol. 2 and Ceramic Sculpture: Making Faces. Georgia is currently a ceramics instructor at the University of South Alabama. View more of her work at georgia-jonesgodwin.squarespace.com.

Georgia’s Portfolio

Holly Streekstra (MFA 2006) is an adjunct professor teaching sculpture at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design at Hamline University. In fall 2013, she was an artist in residence at Titanik Gallery in Turku, Finland. She was a Fulbright Teaching Scholar in Hungary during the 2013–14 academic year, lecturing in mixed media at Kaposvar University. Read more about Holly at hollystreekstra.net.

Katherine Mathews Landry earned her BFA with a focus in photography from the LSU School of Art in 2004 and has continued to hone her skills, working with Jeannie Frey Rhodes before opening her own business, Katherine Landry Photography, in 2008. She hand her husband, Jeremy, have two children, Mazie and Mack, and a dog, Millie. In her spare time, Katherine volunteers through the Junior League of Baton Rouge and the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre Board. Her accomplishments have earned her features in the Wall Street Journal, Destination Weddings magazine, Skiing magazine, and the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Katherine’s Portfolio

Adrianna Speer received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from LSU in 2012 and is currently a first-year MFA candidate and teaching assistant at Louisiana Tech University. “I credit all my art professors at LSU for laying the foundations of my work; they have influenced my work and impacted my life in such positive and challenging ways,” she said. Since graduating from LSU, Adrianna has studied painting in rural southern France, West Ireland, and Greece.

Adrianna’s Portfolio

With over 15+ years of experience, Amy (Phillips) Albin began her career in the print industry designing everything from small publications to large-format graphics.

Before co-founding Cultiv8 Creative (a partnership agency), Amy spent 7 years in the digital and tech realm working on a variety of projects across multiple industries. Throughout those years, she held roles as both a project manager and a creative director, advancing her skills in client management.

Today, as the Design Strategist at Cultiv8, Amy focuses her talents on partnering with other agencies and organizations to design marketing collateral, publications, social/digital campaigns, and advertisements. Over the years, she and her business partner have enjoyed working with 180+ brands and producing 100+ websites. With a master’s in entrepreneurship from LSUS, she also handles all things related to business management for Cultiv8.

In 2024 her company Cultiv8 Creative was recognized as one of the LSU100 fastest-growing companies.

Fun facts: Amy is a two-time graduate from Louisiana State University with a BFA and an MBA.

Katie Burk received her BFA in graphic design from LSU in 2008. Currently, I am Senior Graphic Designer at the marketing agency Nobody in Washington, D.C. Prior to that she was the graphic designer on the live events team at The Atlantic, where she works on branding for local, national, and international events. From 2008 to early 2014, she was a graphic designer in the Marketing, Branding, and Communications Department at NPR headquarters, where she contributed to marketing campaigns including “I ‘Heart’ NPR.” View Katie’s work at mizburk.com.