Creative young artists from Detroit
Eleanor Aro
Eleanor works mainly in acrylic paint, depicting cityscapes, children, and more in a different light. Most of her artwork shows the more authentic side of Detroit. 2020 was her first time in the Mint Creative Summer Jobs program and she was part of Mint Learn & Earn for almost three years. As of fall 2024, Eleanor is a graduate student at the University of Michigan.
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Oluwaseyi Akintoroye
Team leader Oluwaseyi Akintoroye, came back for a third year with Mint Summer Jobs. She does photography, acrylic painting, and drawing in her spare time. She loves experimenting with new forms of art.
“Being able to paint for others and organizations has broadened my experience with creating art with themes I’ve never tried before. It taught me that the most impactful and educating pieces are those that bring me out of my comfort zone.”
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Faith Jones-Honey
Faith likes to create mixed media art. She puts her feelings, thoughts, and observations into her artwork. Some of her art goals for this summer are to master acrylic painting, create new and creative ideas, and practice my leadership and time management skills.
Faith attends College for Creative Studies and in 2024, served as a youth leader with Mint.
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Alexis Bagley
Alexis Bagley is a painter and digital artist whose work includes abstracts, Afro-surrealism, and more. She also creates traditional and digital art that focuses on women of color in space settings. She served as a Mint team leader, assisted in running the Mint Summer Jobs, and still sits on the Mint board of directors. Alexis is in college working toward a nursing degree.
“Because of Mint, I found out that I could be an artist. I was taught that I could sell my work, I could create from my soul, and I could be who I wanted to be. I would not be where I am as a person without this organization.”
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Moumita Chadhury
Moumita discovered her passion for art at a very young age. She started by drawing simple figures and objects using colored pencils to give them shape and definition. Then, she grew her interest in nature and began drawing sceneries. Her artwork is inspired mainly by her Bengali culture, which is bright and colorful. Most of her artwork incorporates nature to remind her of Bangladesh, where she grew up. During her summer with Mint, she learned about different artists.
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Theodore Eggebrecht
When Theodore first started drawing, he liked to use Japanese animation as a reference. Usually, he draws his original characters or show characters using watercolor, digital media, and alcohol markers. Theodore’s Mint experience has taught him how acrylic paint works and how to use it. Also, he often comments on the trans experience in his art.
He currently attends Wayne State University as of 2024.
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Michael Hartman
Michael’s biggest inspiration growing up was his older brother. His older brother started doing art before him. Michael hopes to get better at acrylic painting. Even if just a little, because acrylics, oils, gauche, etc., types of artwork are new territory for him, and he hopes to get better at it.
In fall 2024, Michael started studying at College for Creative Studies.
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J’Von King
J’Von is very passionate about art and is always eager to learn new things. Some of his hobbies are drawing original characters and writing their own original stories. One of his art-related goals is to further improve his acrylic painting skills on canvas boards. Since working with Mint, J’Von has improved his acrylic skills, learned to photograph his art and networked with other artists. An art style which he would like to try in the future is semi-realism.
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Jessica Fligger
Jessica has been painting with acrylics a lot, and most of her subjects are women. Many pieces respond to social issues today, such as sexism, homophobia, and racism, so they have significantly influenced her art. She appreciated learning about different art styles, and has become an accomplished printmaker. She attends the University of Michigan where she’s majoring in architecture.
“I have grown so much as a Mint artist. I feel more confident in my work, especially because of the guidance I received from my artist peers! I have learned so much about color, shading, and form, and this is evident in my work.”
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