Alumni Artists Featured Nationally

In a special issue published each year, Southwest Art magazine—one of the art world’s premiere publications—features 21 up-and-coming artists under 31 years of age. To mark the issue’s 10th anniversary, Southwest Art opened the contest to all artists across the entire country.

Among this year’s 21 winning artists were two PCC grads, Christian Hemme (’10, FL) and Andrea Orr (’06, MFA ’09; OH). Christian won second place and $1,000 for his painting titled A Broken Heart. Andrea earned the distinction of having her painting, Morning Has Broken, featured on the cover in addition to the article inside.

Christian chose to enter a painting he started during his senior year at PCC and completed during an internship with artist and PCC grad Adam Clague (’06, MFA ’09; MI). While he never expected the painting to be featured in a national art magazine, Christian feels more confident approaching galleries with his work because of this success. “I consider the classical art training at PCC under the direction of Mr. [Brian] Jekel to be absolutely paramount to my success,” he said. “I am actually a first- and second-generation student of Mr. Jekel; it was ’01 MA grad Marit Guild who actually instilled in me the desire to be a career artist and taught me many of the fundamentals of representational art. I studied art under Marit for six years through middle and high school; once I graduated she recommended I continue my education under Mr. Jekel at PCC. Which I did.” Having completed PCC’s undergraduate art program, Christian believes the classical art training in painting and drawing compares with prestigious art colleges in the United States, and completely eclipses large state schools.

Andrea also appreciates the art training she received at PCC. “You will get no better art training in a Christian environment than you will at PCC,” she said. “And the Master of Fine Arts program helped me catch the vision that the Lord uses artists when they give their talents back to Him.” Andrea’s cover painting, Morning Has Broken, has interested many art collectors. “The response from magazine readers and art collectors has been overwhelming,” she said. “The cover painting sold within a few days after the magazine was distributed, and I have had many people contacting me or my gallery about its availability. I’m grateful for the blessing it has been. I really just wanted to use the feature to bring glory to God in some way.”

Studio art students at PCC study traditional drawing, painting, and illustration methods to effectively communicate using their God-given creativity in art. PCC’s experienced art faculty emphasize commitment to excellence and Christian principles, combined with constant practice to prepare graduates for a variety of art fields. See Studio Art major for more information.

Published: 9/1/2010