Graduating Year: 2020
Education: BFA Painting
Gina recently brought her mural design for the Newport Flood Wall on Dave Cowens Drive to completion for the city's 225th Anniversary! This mural, entitled "Education Empowers", tells the story of the Southgate Street School; the original building stands today and is now the home of the Newport History Museum. It was the first and only school for Black children in Newport immediately following the Civil War. The 19-panel wall will eventually become a chronological timeline of Newport's rich history.
Graduating Year: 1999
Education: BFA Graphic Design
Hammonds travels the globe as a design advocate and onboarding leader within IBM’s enormous design and engineering teams. In 2015, as part of Cincinnati Design Week, he conducted an in-class design workshop and spoke at NKU about his work in radical collaboration, user-centered empathy, and the legacy of IBM’s innovation-based culture that he has been integral in evolving.
Oen was recently selected to be one of the jurors in Fast Company’s international 2020 Innovation by Design Awards.
Career: Design Principal, Employee Experience Design at IBM
Graduating Year: 1995
Education: BFA Graphic Design
David W. Mack is an American comic book artist and writer, known for his creator-owned series Kabuki and for co-creating with Joe Quesada the Marvel Comics superhero Echo. Early life Mack graduated from Ludlow High School in 1990, where he had written and acted in many of the school theatre productions. Mack earned scholarships to Northern Kentucky University for five years, a four-year scholarship based on his portfolio of art works, and in his fifth year the Dean's Scholarship for academics. He graduated in 1995 with a BFA in graphic design.
Graduating Year: 2019
Education: Spatial Arts
Career: Landscape artist at Laika Studios
Graduating Year: 1998
Education: BFA Drawing
Hollis Hammonds is a Kentucky born artist who has been living and working in Austin, Texas since 2007. Her work crosses media from drawing to sculptural installation and has been exhibited throughout the U.S. including solo exhibitions at Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, SC; the Dishman Art Museum in Beaumont, TX; the Reed Gallery at the University of Cincinnati in OH; the Museum of Art at Southern Mississippi University in Hattiesburg, MS; the Hiestand Galleries at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX; and at Women and Their Work gallery in Austin, TX.
Career: Associate Professor of Art and Chair of the Department of Visual Studies at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX.
Graduating Year: 2014
Education: BA Visual Communication Design
Tyler Reed (BA Visual Communication Design, 2014) was accepted into the Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund — a program extended to give relief to creatives during the pandemic. Reed will be spending the month of August creating while using a beta version of Adobe Illustrator for iPad. Adobe selects creators for the program who are, “passionate about creating personally fulfilling work, sharing their journeys, and activating fellow creatives to craft the careers they want by empowering them with knowledge.”
Tyler is the creative mind behind the Rude Pets Club — a series of humorously illustrated creature characters. Reed was also interviewed about his work by Cincinnati Refined in May, and appeared on CincyLifestyle in June. In addition to his RPC work, Reed is an illustrator for Brill Creative.
Graduating Year: 2000
Education: BFA Graphic Design
Landscape artist, sculpture, illustrator. Active in pursuing art grants and public projects such as large permanently installed sculpture at the Newport Scholar House, funded in part through a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
Aside from teaching amazing Art and Design students at University of Kentucky as Assistant Professor of Digital and Print Media, David also currently has work in an online exhibition, FACT/itious, at Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University. He'll also have work in the exhibition, This is America*, at UK Art Museum in October. David earned an MFA in Studio Art from Purdue University in 2012.
Why did you choose to study at NKU SOTA?
I grew up in small-town Western Kentucky, and was excited to study in an exciting Art program near a big city.
Graduating Year: 2021
Education: Bachelor of Music in Performance (Instrumental)
Laura Lamb is an orchestral percussionist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has performed with the Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Akron, and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestras. She graduated from Northern Kentucky University with a Bachelors of Music degree in Percussion Performance in May 2021, and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Percussion Performance at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music.
Laura has studied with Michael Culligan, Associate Principal Percussionist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Jeremy Branson and Chris Allen, members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Paul Evans.
Laura has previously attended the Brevard Music Festival and the Chautauqua Festival Institution. Additionally, she is a recipient of the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts Scholarship and is also an Undergraduate Instrumental Music recipient of the Three Arts Scholarship Fund.
Graduating Year: 2019
Education: Bachelor of Arts, Music Audio Production
Graduating Year: 2017
Education: Bachelor of Music in Performance (Instrumental)
Career: Student at the School of Arts and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland
Graduating Year: 2020
Education: BFA in Playwriting
Career: Award-Winning Playwright
What they do: currently writing new plays and having his plays produced throughout the United States and United Kingdom.
Necessary job skills: creativity, storytelling, research skills, strong work ethic, ability to work alone and collaboratively with others, have a passion for understanding other people and cultures
Career Path: writing and producing plays in college, submitting plays to festivals, attending graduate school in playwriting
Graduating Year: 2014
Education: BFA in Theatre Performance – Musical Theatre Track
Career: Professional Actress on Broadway
What they do: currently performing in the new Broadway musical, Some Like It Hot
Necessary job skills: strong acting, singing, and dancing technique, creativity, strong work ethic, ability to work alone and collaboratively with others, persistence, and a positive attitude.
Career Path: community and semi-professional theatre, regional theatre, cruise lines, national tours, and Broadway
Graduating Year: 2007
Education: BFA in Theatre Performance
Career: Actor’s Equity Association Stage Manager
What they do: Currently the Production Stage Manager for the first national tour of Disney’s Aladdin
Necessary job skills: communication, organization, critical thinking, problem solving, ability to be self-motivated, conflict resolution, dedication, and excellent attention to detail
Career Path: community and semi-professional theatre, national tours, international tours
Graduating Year: 2015
Education: BFA in Theatre Performance – Dance Track
Career: Owner of Rapture Dance Company, dance teacher and choreographer
What they do: Currently running her dance company, teaching children to dance and participate in dance competition
Necessary job skills: dance technique and training, entrepreneurial mindset, ability to mentor and communicate effectvely with a wide range of people from children to parents, organization, and problem-solving skills
Career Path: competitive dancer and choreographer, studio owner and teacher
