Born in Kentucky, raised in Ohio, and currently residing in Iowa City, Iowa, I am very interested in the Midwest — for both its charms as well as its challenges. I am particularly dedicated to the Midwestern landscape, its total transformation through agriculture, and the political, social, and environmental consequences of that change. Some of my paintings also explore the complicated nexus of food, agriculture, nostalgia, and marketing.

I have taught painting and drawing at the university level since 2011, and worked for 3 years as the Director of Public Art for the Iowa City Downtown District. In addition to my studio work, I have designed, executed, managed, and mentored dozens of mural projects – from private commissions to large municipal scale work in historically sensitive areas to community engaged and participatory mural and public art projects. In addition to my studio practice, mural work, and teaching, I also work as a consultant for murals and other public art projects and programs.

My mural work focuses on bringing the human touch into the built environment in ways that are sensitive to urban context, natural environment, and community. I am always excited to work with stakeholders on murals that are participatory or address issues of social and environmental justice in a community. The projects most dear to me diverge from the more prevalent commercial language and goals of “placemaking” and instead focus on formal qualities of painting like surface, texture, color, gesture, edge quality, and mark-making, in ways that marry my studio work and my public work – with an aim to make access to art more democratic and equitable.