MEET THE ARTISTS: Young Voices, Big Ideas

For the 7th and final edition of our 2026 MEET THE ARTIST series, we’re doing something a little different. Instead of spotlighting one artist, we’re celebrating a group of young artists whose perspectives remind us why creativity matters. Each has a different relationship with art, but together, their stories reveal how deeply art can shape the way we see ourselves, our communities, and the world around us.

Vibrant. Surreal. Spiritual.

For Sam Morningstar, age 22, art has been part of his life from the very beginning. “I’ve been an artist my entire life,” Sam shared, describing creativity as an integral part of their upbringing on Chicago’s South Side. For Sam, making art is more than creating something beautiful. It is a way to explore ideas, communicate, and make sense of the world.

Color plays a central role in Sam’s artistic identity. “I’ve always just loved color and vibrant things,” they explained. That love of bold color and imagination comes through in their description of their work as vibrant, surreal, and spiritual, bringing together visual energy and a deeper sense of meaning.

Personal. Silly. Light-hearted.

At just 16, Luke Smith, a student at Oak Park River Forest High School, has been drawing since he was three. While he considers art a hobby, he recognizes that its value goes beyond the finished piece. Art is about the experience of creating, learning, experimenting, and thinking about what someone else might take away from the work.

Luke describes his art as personal, silly, and light-hearted. He enjoys the freedom to create cartoonish characters and playful imagery, but he also sees how humor and simplicity can have a deeper impact. “Even if it’s cartoonish, I think it is still fun and can make people feel stuff.” For Luke, art doesn’t have to be serious to be meaningful.

Saturated. Expressive. Surreal.

Garnet Harper, 17, is a senior at Oak Park River Forest High School. Although art had always been around her, it was a painting class that helped her realize just how much she loved it. That experience turned something familiar into something meaningful and made art a bigger part of her life.

Garnet is drawn to saturated colors, expressive imagery, and surreal ideas. She especially enjoys transforming the ordinary into something unexpected. “I love the idea of taking something familiar and making it unfamiliar,” she explained. That shift in perspective is part of what makes art exciting: it invites us to look at the everyday world differently and imagine what else it could be.

Practical. Precise. Critical.

For Conrad Parker, a 16-year-old student at Oak Park River Forest High School, art was encouraged from an early age. With a graphic designer for a mother, drawing became a natural part of growing up. That early exposure helped establish creativity as something that could be explored freely, without necessarily needing a specific purpose or outcome.

Conrad approaches his work with a practical, precise, and critical mindset. Thoughtful decision-making is an important part of the creative process, and he values the opportunity to think carefully about what he is making. As he put it, “Critically thinking when I’m like making pieces” is part of his approach. His perspective is a reminder that creativity isn’t only about inspiration. It also involves problem-solving, attention to detail, and the willingness to question your own ideas.

Cute. Happy. Queer.

At 22, Viola Larios has been creating art since freshman year of high school, finding in it a comfortable and powerful way to express what can sometimes be difficult to put into words. For Viola, art is also a tool for empathy, an opportunity to step into another person’s experience for a little while and see the world from a different perspective.

Viola describes her art as cute, happy, and queer, reflecting work that is optimistic, pink, and vibrant. That joyful aesthetic carries meaning beyond its colors and imagery. Through her work, Viola hopes to remind others, especially transgender and queer people of color, that they are not alone. Their art creates space for visibility, connection, and hope.

Growing up around Chicago and Oak Park has also shaped the way these young artists see creativity. The community’s diversity of artists, styles, and perspectives has provided opportunities to encounter art in many different forms.

Their three-word descriptions offer a glimpse into just how differently each artist approaches their work. Sam gravitates toward vibrant color and spiritual surrealism. Viola embraces joy, optimism, and queer expression. Conrad brings a thoughtful, analytical perspective, while Garnet enjoys transforming the familiar into something unexpected. Luke finds meaning in playful, personal, and light-hearted creations.

There is no single formula for making art. Some artists begin with an idea, others with a feeling, a color, or a character. What connects these young creatives is their willingness to experiment, explore, and discover something new along the way.

For these young artists, art education is about much more than learning technique. Lectures and textbooks can introduce ideas, but actually making something is what can unlock creativity and passion.

That is why the loss of art programs in schools can have such a profound impact, especially on teenagers. For some young people, drawing, painting, or creating may be their most important outlet. One artist described doodling in high school as “all I really had.”

Taking those opportunities away can mean taking away an important form of expression at a time when young people need it most. Art education gives students the freedom to explore their interests, develop their voices, and discover abilities they may not have known they had.

Perhaps the most powerful idea shared by these artists is that art can help us understand one another.

Art gives people the opportunity to step outside their own experiences and see the world through someone else’s eyes. It can introduce perspectives we might never otherwise encounter and create empathy where there might have been misunderstanding.

For Viola, that means creating work that shows other transgender and queer people of color that they are not alone, and that there is hope. For Luke, even cartoonish art can make people feel something. For Sam, color and surrealism offer ways to explore ideas beyond the everyday. Each approach demonstrates that art can connect with people in different ways, whether through joy, humor, reflection, or recognition.

We’re proud to feature these emerging artists and celebrate the creativity, honesty, and perspective they bring to the U3 community.

Their work is a reminder that art isn’t simply something we look at. It is something we experience, use, share, and grow through.

Whether you have been creating since you were three or are picking up a paintbrush for the first time, there is value in making something that didn’t exist before.

So, keep drawing. Keep painting. Keep experimenting. Keep connecting through creativity.