BIO

Hi, I'm Matt! I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and moved to the Chicago suburbs in 2016, but I've been living on the north side of the city since 2018. I love learning about new places and people, so I have very much appreciated living in a place like Chicago with such a rich history and culture. I graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota with a degree in math in 2015. Currently, I work for a nonprofit that focuses on college access, helping to develop our STEM programming and supporting the academic coaches who work with our students. Even though I committed to studying math more deeply in college and it has played a major role in my career thus far, art is something that I’ve always been drawn to and loved to practice. I love to explore, play and create, and have always found art to be a wonderful way of doing all three. I particularly like photography, drawing and painting (oil and watercolor). In my free time I enjoy puzzling, consuming TV and movies, and playing ultimate frisbee. I am very excited to develop my creative practice and be there for others doing the same!

INSPIRED BY

Queer folx thriving
A student making a connection and showing growth
Some ants' have the ability to lift between 10-50 times their bodyweight

EXPLORING:

I have a couple ideas, and I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with it. I recently got a glass dip pen with ink and I think I want to experiment with the combination of that and watercolors. I've also been interested in trying to write some poetry (something I've always thought a lot about but never done) or trying oil painting again. Regardless, I want to center the project around a transformative moment I experienced this summer.

INSPIRATION FOR PROJECT:

I'm starting with a transformative moment I had this summer (I don't feel like going into details about it now). I think I will end up including past experiences that connect to it, but I may not. Overall, everything the world is going through right now is overwhelming for many of us, and I'd like to create something that can inspire empathy in the communities I am a part of.