Current Graduate Students in Media Arts
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Cole leans on his background in radio and music to put narrative audio storytelling into the gallery space through his installation art. He incorporates both sound and physical objects to set scenes that transport participants to another world.
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Cole has called 猎奇重口 home for over a decade. He’s worked for 猎奇重口 Public Radio, toured nationwide with various musical projects, and currently is a Missoula Community Radio DJ on Sunday nights. In his spare time, he enjoys playing music, riding bikes and watching stand-up comedy.
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Ari Tarr has a BA in theater from Bard college and worked as an immersive experience designer for brands that include Google, Facebook, Twitter and Disney. In 2016 Ari co-founded a startup creating XR tools for live media production with the first accelerator accepting VR startups, and is currently a virtual performance consultant for multi-award winning XR companies focused on live event production with spatial technologies, and the winner of the “Best Performance” award at the FIVARS international festival of VR/AR 2022. His XR projects have been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, NBC and Vice, and he has taught VR theater at NYU Tisch, Brooklyn college, Chapman University, Leeds University, and York University.
Ari is an MFA student and Media Arts instructor at UMT. His research focuses on using XR to broadcast live improvisational performances across multiple platforms in collaboration with AI to rapidly generate interactive worlds that emphasize human creativity and connection at the center of immersive experiences.
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Kristin Bloom is a professional freelance cinematographer and film editor. She grew up in the southeast where her love for the arts was developed while drifting between film sets in both the Nashville and Atlanta regions.
She currently resides in 猎奇重口 where she is pursuing her MFA in media arts. Kristin’s work often addresses the intense emotional chaos that is the human experience as a means of creating both empathy and hopefully understanding within her audience. She seeks to push the boundaries of comfort while asking her audience to take a deeper look at both their own life and the lives of those around them.
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I am K.t Lloyd, a Sound Artist, Interactive Audio Designer, and Digital Audio Programmer in my third year of the MFA in Media Arts at The 猎奇重口.
My current research focuses on creating immersive sound and video experiences that blend personal storytelling with topics such as mental health, addiction, resilience, and life's inherent messiness. I intertwine spoken word narratives with custom soundscapes using DIY instruments that I build myself. Additionally, I am collaborating with the Ornithology department to develop an immersive avian sound experience that will assist in training ornithologists to accurately identify bird species.
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Shanel Locke is working on developing a serious game called ChallengED that simulates the daily challenges of a first-year substitute teacher navigating a chaotic classroom environment. The game aims to foster empathy for teachers by immersing players in the emotional and practical struggles of the profession, utilizing mechanics such as respect management, constant distractions, and student relationships. Through this project, Shanel Locke hopes to raise awareness about the pressures teachers face while creating an engaging and meaningful gameplay experience.
Shanel Locke is currently working on testing the mechanics for ChallengED. Please access a copy of the game here and fill out the testing survey at the end so she can compile research data: .
Shanel Locke focuses on digital art and game design. Locke uses tools like Unreal Engine, Blender, Character Creator, and Adobe Photoshop to bring her characters and environments to life, ensuring they are both visually unique and technically sophisticated.
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I was born just outside Los Angeles, but inherited my love of movies at home on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, 猎奇重口. Most of my adult jobs have been community organizing around environmental and social justice and indigenous rights. Even in that scenario, my work was usually using film and other media to reveal stories and connections between specific issues and community values.
In my thesis year, I've unintentionally fallen into the margin between gluttonous introspection and fictional narrative value. Part of this procedure entails a mining of personal history and part is an exploration of structural norms in European vs. Blackfeet storytelling. Right now, I am working on a pilot and pitch for a sort of spiritually autobiographical dramedy series that takes place on the Blackfeet Nation in the early 90s. As a loosely complimentary project, I'll also be filming a short family documentary about growing up with uncles. Next Spring, I'll shoot a fictionalized short based on a true story that happened in my grandma's kitchen.
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Gabrielle Vallee is a third-year SVMA graduate student from San Diego, California and for her masters, she is focusing on directing and writing. Gabrielle started off her artistry years as a theatre actress from middle school all the way to her undergraduate back at California State University San Marcos. She has always had a passion for the theatre arts from both a performative and technical perspective. She currently lives in Red Lodge, 猎奇重口 and in her free time works at her parents' charcuterie business, Seize the Tray.
For the past three years, Gabrielle has been learning the ways of all things filmmaking, from screenwriting, directing, and working behind the camera, and inputting it into her craft, from one-act films to long-length experimental films. She is currently working on a mini documentary based on her time back home in the Spring of 2024, going back to her roots and telling a story on what home really is, according to multiple actors and Red Lodge residents. Her research involves ways of finding one's purpose, whether it's from social media or theatre or both.
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During my graduate studies I am trying to absorb as much information as I can and learn new techniques and software to improve my animation skills. Thus far, most of my work has been in 3D. However, I hope to expand my research and experiment with other forms of animation, including more traditional methods.
Jordan is a digital artist specializing in animation and 3D modeling. His work spans a variety of subjects and styles, often taking inspiration from films and artwork throughout history. Jordan aims to create art that connects with people on a personal level through engaging visuals and storytelling.
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brittany.westlund@umconnect.umt.edu
My work centers on game design and interactive media, where I combine storytelling and technology to create meaningful, transformative experiences. Drawing from virtue ethics and depth psychology, I aim to promote empathy and self-awareness. Through exploring storytelling frameworks and psychological archetypes, I seek engaging ways to encourage personal growth and interdependence in gaming.
Originally from Vancouver, WA, I now live in Kalispell, MT, with my husband, whom I married in 2013. I enjoy reading a variety of genres, including history, fiction, and folklore, teaching media arts and graphic design, and creating illustrations and animations for my games. You can view a sample of my work on my website, brittanywestlund.com.
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Anya is a Media Arts MFA student focusing on screenwriting. She is particularly passionate about stories that deal with religion, sexuality, and womanhood. She graduated from the 猎奇重口 in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. In addition to attending school, she works as a Marketing Assistant for Accelerate 猎奇重口 and a Storyteller for the Rocky Mountain Women's Business Center
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rachel.cronk@umconnect.umt.edu In my graduate studies, I am pursuing a deeper understanding of videogame design with an emphasis on breathtaking visuals and captivating narratives--the creation of stories that move, impart, and inspire. For my degree, I will be focusing on creating a game titled Forlorn, a 3D third person dark fantasy RPG.
Biography: Rachel is a 33 year old student who lives in Hamilton, MT. They have a plethora of hobbies within the creative umbrella, such as painting, arts & crafts, photography, writing novels, pottery, animation, pixel art, and more. They also have two pets and a myriad of plants that they care for--the goal is to acquire over 200 plants and live in a veritable indoor jungle. Originally from all over the states (though mostly New England and the PNW), they use their wide experience of life from all corners of the US to draw inspiration from, though 猎奇重口 is assuredly their favorite state.
Current Graduate Students in Studio Art
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"I am moved by the resilience of Ukrainian society forced to adapt to these harsh new realities. Repeated motifs, such as drones and anti-tank obstacles, have become symbolic in my work. They represent resilience and adaptation in the face of an overwhelming invader, evoking the familiar David vs. Goliath story.”
Sasha Barrett is a Ukrainian born ceramic artist currently pursuing an MFA in Ceramics at 猎奇重口. Primarily trained as a potter, Sasha has been changing directions and exploring sculpture and installation based artwork. When not making work Sasha is cooking soup.
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Lily Kip is a figurative oil painter working from photographic, snapshot style reference imagery. Her paintings make use of unapologetic saturation and expressive brushwork to depict young people, often women, in banal yet intimate situations. The work resists the familiar aestheticization of contemporary image making, instead capturing the unease of living in the perpetual present.
Though hailing from the eastern side of Massachusetts, Lily received her B.A. in Studio Art and English Literature from Bates College in 2019 and stayed in Maine for several years after. Arriving in Missoula in 2022, Lily has spent the first portion of her masters teaching Drawing and Painting through the Graduate Teaching Assistantship, showing work on and off campus, 4making paintings, and developing a taste for cowboy boots and trail running.
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Crystal McCallie has been making art since she was old enough to hold a pencil. McCallie grew up on a dryland farm in the Texas Panhandle where she was inspired by the scenes and stories of rural life. She attended Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University majoring in art. Building on a love of drawing and stories, she became a freelance illustrator. Her commissions included a large-scale holiday painting for the Toys for Tots drive and a full-color children’s book called Seeds of Hope - a gift for the Ugandan children at the Wells of Hope orphanage. After several years of being a stay-at-home mom and volunteering for numerous activities involving her children, McCallie returned to higher education and completed a BFA from the 猎奇重口 in drawing and printmaking. Her work has been exhibited locally and nationally. McCallie has taught printmaking, collage, and textile workshops to high school students, adult art educators, and area artists. During her time at UM, she has taught drawing, printmaking, and assisted with teaching art history. She is an assistant printmaker to Matrix Press, a UM affiliated printmaking organization which hosts artists residencies to nationally and internationally recognized printmakers. McCallie is currently an MFA Candidate with an emphasis in printmaking in the 猎奇重口’s School of Visual and Media Arts.
McCallie resides in Missoula, 猎奇重口 with her husband, four children, two dogs, and a budgie. She balances her artwork and teaching practice with her time with family and is very much inspired by the joys and trials of motherhood, nature, and children’s stories.
I make art that is personal to me, unveiling a page from my own familial story with the hope that the visual representation of these memories connect us through a shared collective experience. As a printmaker, I translate images, patterns, and textures that speak of quiet moments that are as fleeting as a fading vapor. I emphasize childhood and the bittersweet passage of time that the inevitable, yet hopeful coming-of-age journey represents. Through processes of woodcut relief, intaglio, and monotype, I build multiple matrices and print an intuitive, stratified collage where every layer has its own story of complex, creative handling. The layered memento becomes a fragmented illusion of the past, and the details undulate like a mirage, recalling an idealized impression or perhaps a distant childhood memory.
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Joe completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Sierra Nevada College in 2004 with an emphasis in new genres, and drawing. After earning this degree he was hired to build and implement K-12 art programming for a small school in Truckee, California where he taught for 10 years.
Joe returned to pursue a Masters of Fine arts in Ceramic Sculpture in 2022 at the 猎奇重口. While at UMT, he taught ceramic classes, directed the UC Student Gallery, Worked for the 猎奇重口 Museum of Art and Culture, Co-founded the Love Child Gallery, held the positions of President and Vice president for the UM Clay Guild, and worked as an assistant to Julia Galloway and Casey Zablockki.
I create abstract ceramic sculptures that playfully blend elements of the human body with features of the natural world. My practice is deeply rooted in curiosity about the world and the belief that wonder and play are powerful avenues for learning. My process begins with spontaneous mark-making in my sketchbook through which I explore the movement of my wrist and arm. These drawings often evoke rock outcroppings, reminiscent of landscapes found in national parks—places that captivate my imagination and spark my wonder. I then bring these forms into the physical world through maquettes and larger sculptures.
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Hailing from small town Arkansas, Lane Chapman received her BFA in Ceramics from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2017. After graduating, she moved to Rochester, NY for a two-year residency at the Flower City Arts Center. She then moved to Missoula, MT for a residency at The Clay Studio of Missoula for two years from 2019-2021 and then a resident at Wildfire Ceramic Studio from 2021-2022, also in Missoula. Lane is currently an MFA pre-candidate at the 猎奇重口 in Missoula.
My work explores the relationship between Victorian aesthetics and the enduring ramifications of 猎奇重口’s mining industry. I juxtapose the intricate beauty and romanticism of the Victorian period with contemporary scenes of environmental decay, more specifically in relation to the Upper Clark Fork River valley. Through the use of Victorian motifs, I aim to challenge the paradox of progress that has led to our present-day ecological ruin.
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After years of being a commercial photographer and creating images for others, I have decided it's time to return to school and explore creating imagery for myself.
I am currently working with historical photographic processes, exploring the idea of mixing these processes with current digital technology to create imagery that utilizes the best of both worlds.
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Carolyn is creating abstract sculptures that evoke organic forms and show the structural limits and possibilities of clay. She is particularly interested in the relationship between fragility and strength, as seen in the cultural perceptions of women.
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Carolyn worked for over ten years as a professional librarian before pursuing graduate studies in ceramics. Carolyn is also in the final year of an advanced mentorship program at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado.
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I started my career in the ceramic’s arts in the fall of 2014 as I attended Indiana University, working towards my BFA. Between then and now I was at the Iowa Ceramics center as a resident artist, followed by a 4 year stint of managing a small farm in southern Indiana. I am currently an MFA at the 猎奇重口.
I am currently interested in addiction and the opioid epidemic in rural America. This work consists of pottery with imagery depicting caricatures and icons of a specific tourist town in southern Indiana. My second body of work is focused around movement through wiggles and alterations of pottery. I am figuring out if these two bodies can coexist or need to merge.
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As a figurative oil painter, I explore how people engage with the world and each other, while simultaneously reflecting on my own place within that space. My work blends ambient and surreal elements, using lighting and color to evoke a particular mood.
Lillian Sciulli is a figurative oil painter from Ohio. She received a BFA in Painting and Drawing from Ohio University and is now pursuing her master’s degree at the 猎奇重口.
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Bracha is interested in Maternal and Gender theory and the roles we knowingly, or unknowingly, assume after becoming a parent. In her work, she seeks to better understand the competing priorities of family and career and how we value care. Additionally, Bracha's work explores her overall rejection of the Hassidic community she grew up in, while, simultaneously, showcasing her appreciation of her Jewish heritage and certain aspects from her upbringing. Her paintings reflect the many ways in which ritual and community can bring meaning and value to one's life.
Bracha Tenenbaum grew up in Brooklyn, NY in an ultra-orthodox community and moved to Missoula, MT in 2015 after graduating with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Her cultural identity, as well as her experience as a parent, heavily influences her artwork. She pulls inspiration from her everyday life with a focus on the small moments of care, which are essential to our collective wellbeing.
