Studio Artists & Judges

Meet the Artists

Ileri Alabi

The peace I find in creating art comes from God.

I use art as a way to explore and understand myself across different mediums. Each material allows me to express a different part of my growth and identity.

Through clay, I form vessels that reflect the process of shaping who I am. In jewelry, I aim to reflect the beauty of God’s work in and through me. With graphite, I use shading to show depth and the layers of my growth over time. Across all my work, I see a reflection of my journey and who I am becoming.

Brianna De La Pena

Art is a way for me to capture the beauty of God’s creation in a single moment.

Growing up, the beach has always been the place where I feel the most at peace; it's the place where I can slow down, reflect and watch the world around me. Being able to bring that feeling to life on a canvas is truly a blessing.

Each piece reflects my love for the sea and its creatures, and my hope is that viewers feel the same sense of wonder and respect I do. Painting the ocean, beaches, and forming the animals allows me reflect on the wonder of the world He created, and each piece is a way for me to honor God’s creation.

As I continue my studies in animal science by the Florida coast, my art will continue to be a way to celebrate and honor the life of the places and animals I care about most.

Emma Greenwood

Art is my safe space – free from judgment or mistakes – where I can be myself and turn my emotions into something meaningful and visually powerful.

My goal is to make work that makes people think, and that it lingers with them long after they’ve seen it.

Working with paint allows me to explore both abstraction and realism in my work. For me, I am more focused on expressing emotion in a beautiful way across many different themes.

Lillian Huna

The reason I make art is to make others feel something. I want my art to create a feeling you can’t describe.

As light reflects on a surface or through a nostalgic image, it creates a bittersweet feeling inside.

Making art is therapeutic for me, and I create it for fun, painting whatever I'm feeling in the moment. I paint these memorable images mostly with oil paints because of their blending abilities. I also love using ceramics and watercolors.

When people look at my art, I want them to feel a type of emotion that haunts us but also gives us peace.

Grace Krieg

My Artwork is made to convey the sacrificial, yet intentional love of Jesus.

The theme of my show is “My Walk with God,” and how He genuinely wants to know me and answer my questions. I made art because I want others to understand that Jesus has intentionally put them here and has a purpose for them.

The reason I have chosen this theme is to glorify God, and I a firm believer that being a Christian artist does not mean you have to make art with overtly Christian symbols. But for me, I have found that I feel most fulfilled when I am completely sacrificing my talents and gifts and making it about the one who gave them to me.

As I work with oil paints, I hope everyone who looks at or reads about my art understands how intentional love of Jesus is. If the viewer only sees me within my art, and not Jesus, my art would be meaningless.

Yuki Okumura

My main theme for this year's Studio Art show is something that is memorable or important to me. I paint these memories from my life experiences, and they help shape my creative process.

I mostly use oil paints for my paintings because of the tactile qualities and visual effects.

Others may not recognize the story within the painting when they first look at it, but for me, it is filled with memories that make it truly lasting.

Victoria Otunuga

Art, at its core, should help people find solace within themselves or impel them to discover a new perspective in our world.

Often, I feel like my values, my perspectives, and my experiences as a Black woman were irrelevant because they often seemed too different and fanciful. This, in turn, made me feel more insecure about my presence in this world.

The feeling of having my voice constantly invalidated left me to wonder where my piece fit into the puzzle. This compelled me to dive deeper into art to create the representation of Black voices that I wanted to see. It gave me joy to see the figures that were just in my mind come alive in my own hands.

I hope that when you look at my art, you see the beauty in yourself, or you find beauty in the world around you.

Heather Sheehy

Ever since I was young, I have always had a connection to nature.

Being outside, feeling the breeze in my hair and running around the front yard trying to catch butterflies, gave me a sense of peace and happiness. Lying in the grass, looking up at the clouds made me feel calm.

My art reflects the things in my life that make me the happiest, while also highlighting the small details within this big world.

There are so many things that we can miss that are right in front of our eyes, and my goal is to bring that to life. The beauty of God’s creation should be emphasized always.

Holly Steinhorst

I make art purely for fun. My art is not serious but is made to be even a bit silly to make people smile.

I want to express happiness in a simplistic form. To express this playful side of my personality, I use mainly acrylic or watercolor paints.

I hope that when others see my art, they use their imagination and see childlike joy in my art.

Julia Thai

Art for me is a way of using my surroundings to create something that embodies my imagination and talents given by God. To me, art calms the mind and engages the brain which brings me inner peace and tranquility.

I choose to incorporate the meaningful moments and people in my art to emphasize the feelings and emotion that I feel they convey. In addition, the things I make in art also represent the culture I was raised in and surrounded by.

I lean towards making ceramic pieces and paintings because they bring out different meanings. Ceramics helps me connect more with how shaping and molding things of God’s creation works, while painting uses the skills that God has given me to create inspirational art. They both provide the best of both worlds.

I hope that by looking at my pieces of art, viewers can understand that simplicity and ordinary objects can convey a lot of meaning.

Morgan Wayne

Since I was little, cars have been a big part of my life.

It started with my grandpa's '55 Chevy, which sparked my appreciation for cars. As I got older, my interest only continued to grow. I gained more knowledge about different models, engines, and the performance of cars, and began to notice each crucial detail that makes a car unique.

Attending car shows with my dad is the highlight of my summer, where I enjoy taking photographs of cars. Throughout the school year, I have turned those photographs into oil paintings, capturing more than just their appearance.

I try to highlight their character and the feeling they give me, hoping that I can help others to appreciate them in the same way.

NathaLee Wold

I create art as a way to express thoughts and emotions that are often difficult for me to put into words. The process helps me understand myself better and turn my ideas into something visual and meaningful.

As an artist, I love bringing my work to life through fun colors, dimension, and unique ideas that make each piece stand out.

My art is influenced by the way I see and feel the world around me, along with my personal experiences and emotions. I enjoy experimenting with different approaches to make my work feel more dynamic and engaging. I mainly work with drawing materials like pencil and pen, but I also use digital tools when it fits what I’m trying to create.

I hope people can connect with my art in their own way. Whether it’s through the colors, the feeling, or the overall idea, I want my work to make someone pause, think, or feel something real.

Meet the Judges

Trenna Tafoya

Trenna is a Minneapolis-based artist who experiments in forms such as ceramics, fiber arts, and other mixed media.

With a background in both science and art, her work investigates the aspects of both nature and human experience. Her focus is in capturing abnormalities and striking visuals within her surrounding environments, often interpreting them through sculpture and three-dimensional objects.

She emphasizes movement in her work through her thoughtful use of shape, color, and texture. In her free time, Trenna enjoys spending time with friends, family, and exploring the natural world.

Jenna Mikish

Jenna Mikish is currently an educator at Shakopee High School. She teaches a variety of courses, ranging in 2D, 3D, practical design, and mixed media.

Beyond work, Jenna resides in Clearwater with her husband, Mike and their two kittens: Severus and George. She specializes in watercolor, screen printing, ceramics, and mixed media.

Her work draws inspiration from the natural world - featuring organic forms, wildlife, and earthy textures. Jenna’s artistic practice reflects a deep appreciation for both craftsmanship and accessibility. Her ceramic pieces, including hand-built mugs, vases, and other vessels often include illustrative surfaces. Her imagery incorporates delicate imagery of plants, animals, and landscapes.

Alongside her personal work, she is passionate about guiding students in developing their own creative voice through hands-on, process-based learning.

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