By Elise Wantling
In this blog I would like to talk about one of the artists featured in our art exhibit we cohosted with InterUrban ArtHouse, titled Who Does She Think She Is? This blog features Mariah Katherine Coulter, a UMKC alumni and artist.
Mariah wears many hats, including doing graphic design work, teaching painting parties, painting commissions, and face painting. After she graduated from UMKC in 2016, she planned to work as a corporate graphic designer, but due to the competitiveness of the market decided to become an entrepreneur instead. Now, Mariah works part time jobs so that she has time to create.
She also works in an after-school arts program. She has worked at 3 schools and 2 community centers since beginning her artistic career. Mariah specifically works in the inner city, where she grew up, and has a mutual respect with her students because she comes from a similar background as them. She believes that “relating to them in that way encouraged them [the students] to be their best selves in my class.”
In Mariah’s program, the students first start with snacks to give their brains an energy boost. Next, Mariah introduces a project and connects it with a school subject, like science, math, history, music, etc. The students can create whatever they like based around the topic that was introduced. Her favorite part of working with the kids is seeing the creations they come up with. She’s inspired by their childlike amazement at what they’re able to create. “As adults, we tend to forget about freedom in creating art.” she says. “Art is what you make it, just like life.”
Mariah started painting in the 5th grade when her art teacher, Mrs. Brown, got her into arts and crafts. She played the violin at the time, but gradually started to use her music stand as an art easel. She continued to pursue art through high school, when she was introduced to graphic design by her media teacher, Mrs. Kubic. Mariah’s art focuses on topics that she feels inspires love or thought. She was naturally drawn to becoming an artist and inspired by many other artists like Bob Ross, Basquiat, Banksy, Faith Ringgold and Ernie Barnes. She loves to mimic the PBS documentaries about Jackson Pollock for his abstract yet bright work. She is drawn to how natural these artist’s works feel, “natural as in watching how nature and the people living in it connect”
Mariah’s favorite work she’s made is the elephant piece shown to the left. She made it for her mom, and it sits upon her mother’s fireplace, as her mom loves elephants. Mariah loves this piece because she likes how free she was with the colors, as she is drawn to bold colors as an artist. She hopes to go to Cuba someday for that reason.
To see more work by Mariah and other artist like her, check out the Who Does She Think She Is? Virtual art tour!