2024 MURAL PROJECT ARTISTS
Fort Collins Gateway Mural:
Asiye Uçtuk
she/her
Asiye is a Turkish American artist and college student currently studying graphic design and mathematics at CSU. Inspired by the raw elements of nature merged with geometric control, most of their work swings from the extremes of black and white to bright saturated hues.
@auctuk_art
Chelsea Ermer
she/her
Chelsea is a local artist who lives and works here in Fort Collins, CO. She studied art education at CSU and graduated in 2012. An art teacher at Fossil Ridge High School for the last 11 years, she focuses on teaching students Drawing, Painting, Art History, Digital Art and Advanced Placement. As an artist Chelsea loves painting and experimenting with any artform she can get her hands on. She has painted 6 pianos, 5 transformer cabinets & various other murals and projects around Fort Collins.
“I am beyond excited to help contribute to this mural that celebrates all this city has to offer. Art is my passion and what I have decided to dedicate my life and career to. I could not be more excited to continue sharing my artwork with all the wonderful people in the town that I love.”
@chelseaermer_art
Cindy Burkhart
she/her
As a Yankee raised in the South, a New Englander with a Carolina drawl, and a “gaijin” raising toddlers in Japan, Cindy Burkhart has had reason and opportunity to reflect on the power of place. Though she is now firmly planted in Northern Colorado she continues to use her art-making to explore the relationships between people and their environments. She is happiest when she is drawing, outside, or both.
Cindy studied painting and art education at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and has been lucky enough to take part in workshops at Anderson Ranch in Colorado and Penland in North Carolina. She recently retired from Front Range Community College where she taught Art Education and Art Appreciation. Her work has been shown locally at Wolverine Farm and The Lyric Cinema Café, and is included in anthologies We are the West, Tributaries, and Muse published by 20 Bellows Press.
You can see her work and contact her through her website: www.cindyburkh.art
Dominique Montaño
she/her
Dominique Montano is an educator and wildlife artist from Fort Collins, Colorado. She focuses on highlighting animals and nature in an attempt to illuminate the dangers threatening the world around us. A master’s graduate at Colorado State University focusing on zoology and comparative physiology, Dominique has always been fascinated with the incredible diversity of animals and how they operate in the world around them. Many of her subjects feature dripping or fading areas, alluding to the pressures of human-wildlife conflict that deteriorate the ability of nature to thrive in their environments, as the subjects mix into the background.
An interest in animals and comic books at a young age led to a convergence in interests. Illustrating the wildlife she is enthralled by is an opportunity to bring a small amount of that same fascination to the viewer. Focusing on animal movement and the duality of nature allows her passions to coalesce, utilizing an academic career in zoology to strengthen her visual prowess in art."
@montano_art
Imani Samuel
she/her
Imani is a local FOCO artist who specializes in creating soft, whimsical art with Gouache, Colored Pencil and a bit of magic!
There’s nothing like imagining something and being able to create it out of nothing! And there’s nothing like giving others the chance to dream - to allow themselves to dive into their imagination!
@imanisketchbook
Mike McPuff
he/him
Born in 1992, Mike grew up around tons of cartoons and colorful imagery. Growing up, he was the kid always drawing eyeballs in his notebook, and making little comic books to sell or trade with friends. In his teenage years he discovered Skateboarding, where he was introduced to Punk and Hip Hop culture. He had a spiritual experience around 2013 that connected me with the style he is known for to this day. In 2017 Mike quit his job at a cell phone store, and decided to pursue art full time. Since then he has done over 35 murals, and opened up a tattoo studio in Oldtown Fort Collins!
@mikemcpuff
Miles Buchan
he/him
Miles’s work explores his condition and experiences in living with extreme light sensitivity and “legal blindness”. Between the binary of the sighted and the blind, exists a spectrum of perception that is chronically neglected yet drastically affects lived experiences. As an individual with Oculocutaneous Albinism 1, his sight varies and depends greatly upon my surrounding environment. Light, movement, and scale shape my reality in unique ways that draws and drives my focus. This has shaped his conscious and unconscious mind in ways that he is still discovering.
When creating work, Miles is negotiating between my artistic vision and limited ability to see. When someone views the work, there is a conversation that is created between their perspective of life and his own, bridging gaps between the understandings of people who find themselves in different parts of the spectrum.
@milesb.creatn
Natalie Freeman
she/her
Natalie is a visual artist with an interdisciplinary background: culminating in art influenced by the sciences and research observed through a creative lens. She finds inspiration through interrelationships within the natural world.
This tenacious curiosity and numerous interests has led her to be not only an artist, but also an anthropologist, museum archivist, lab researcher, model, teaching assistant, paleontologist, historical tour guide, art coordinator, and more. While she is currently a corporate girlie in the sustainability industry, she is also going back to school for nursing.
Above all these goals, art is - and will always be - a constant.
@blind.falcon.studio
Ren Burke
she/her
With painting and drawing as her primary media, she also creates fabricated metal sculptures as well as linoleum and woodblock prints. Regardless of the medium, a central theme is the natural world and animal life in particular. The rawness and honesty of nature is refreshing to Ren, filling her with a constant sense of wonder.
Ren’s paintings and murals are generally bright and colorful; the block prints bold and graphic. She renders my animal subjects in a playful manner, some with an underlying current of drama and tension. This contradictory aspect alludes to the unpredictable essence of the wild and our place on the outside looking in.
She has been exhibiting my work around Colorado and nationally since 1998. In addition to gallery work, she has also received numerous public art commissions. She is currently represented by Trimble Court Artisans in Fort Collins, CO.
@patinatrix
Ryan Sauter
he/him
With over 25 years dedicated to continuous growth and learning in the arts, Ryan remains deeply committed to fostering and preserving creativity. His artistic journey commenced with mastering the foundational skills of sketching and painting. This early phase laid the groundwork for later exploration into the digital realm with vector graphics.
His quest for innovation propels him to continuously explore new artistic methods and mediums. These experiences across different artistic platforms have not only broadened his perspective but also cultivated a versatile skill set. For Ryan, creativity is deeply rooted in an ongoing process of change, inspiration, and growth. It's not merely about producing art but about continuously evolving as an artist and individual. He has come to understand the joy of painting and creating is an integral part of who he is.
@creation.station.art
Millenium Family
Tim Corley | he/him, Heide Unger | she/her, and Ryan Corley | she/her are the artist family behind Millennium Gallery of Living Art Tattoo and Body Piercing. Heide and Ryan are Fort Collins natives, and Tim has lived in Fort Collins since he was 5 years old. Tim and Heide opened MGLA in 1995, and Ryan has worked for them since 1999. Tim has been playing music since the age of 14, and has had several local bands, including JAB and Alien Outlaws. Heide has been voted Best Tattooist in Fort Collins several times, and is known for her beautiful fineline work and cover ups. She loves being a mom, cooking, and gardening. Ryan enjoys working with many other art mediums outside of tattooing, including painting, jewelry, and taxidermy art!
"History and tradition is a very important part of our family, and all the work we do. We are beyond honored to be a part of this project, and think this mural could have no better home than Jefferson Street, the founding block of Old Town! We are excited to represent both the history and variety of music that Fort Collins is known for. This project is going to be a lovely legacy for our hometown!"
@mglatattoo
Willow Sedam
she/they
Willow Sedam is a Fort Collins artist working across a wide variety of media, from ceramic sculpture to mural painting, with a love for and focus on the natural world around us.
@mold.space