Allison ’26 is a Nickelodeon kid. As a child, she drove around in her Dora the Explorer Jeep and had Miranda Cosgrove stickers on everything she owned. The shows and cartoons she watched taught her to appreciate and create art.
In sixth grade she drew a cartoon turkey for Thanksgiving, the first drawing she remembers making. Later, she drew one of her puppies, which won a prize at the Grayson Gallery and Art Center in Grayson, Ky. She continued to make art, but Allison’s high school counselors told her that art was not a career path and refused to sign her up for an art class. The art instructor in her school, Ms. Reynolds, stood up for her.
“She went and fought for me,” Allison said, “and I don’t know what she did, but she texted my mom and said, ‘Tell Allison she’s in my class tomorrow.” Allison had some of her fondest memories in Ms. Reynolds’ class. She drew a bit of everything, but portraits were her specialty.
“I started drawing a lot of portraits and people were impressed by them,” Allison said. “I always love seeing people’s faces when you draw them. I drew one boy. It was a picture of him and all his football gear. When I showed it to him, he said ‘Oh my gosh! You even got the scar on my eyebrow!’ I love when people can look at things they think might be a flaw and see the beauty in it because it’s a piece of art.”
Allison was constantly reminded that art was not something someone of her socioeconomic status could pursue. She doubted herself even as she received her acceptance to Berea. But once she took on the position of exhibitions associate at Berea’s Doris Ulmann Galleries, she felt her dreams were coming true. The museum of 16,000 artifacts that span a period of 5,000 years gave Allison access to an understanding of how art was interconnected with global history. Under the guidance of Dr. Kelsey Malone, curator of the Berea College art collection, Allison investigated and curated artwork and created exhibitions that told a story.
“I love fashion prints,” she said. “The one I’m working with now is from the second oldest French magazine from 1836. On the surface, it looks like this pretty little print that was in the magazine that people used as a reference to get clothes made at dressmakers. But then when you learn more about it, you get to know how the prints were made by men. It tells you about this stereotype that women had to have tiny waists. So, it was fashioned to please the male gaze. The corsets would change women’s bodies. It’s just interesting to see that even back then that was a problem because it’s still a problem now.”
For Allison, her job and academics are closely linked. What she learns in Dr. Malone’s Museum Studies class she applies every day at work. She works hard to make museums interactive places that all people can access and appreciate. Last summer she took her experience in museum work to the Nickelodeon Studios in Los Angeles in an internship funded by Berea’s Office of Internships and Career Development. Working for Nickelodeon fulfilled a dream she’d had since middle school. Allison could experience firsthand the creative forces behind the art that shaped her as a child.
“I got to see the original Sponge Boy—not SpongeBob—Sponge Boy show bible,” she said. “I got to do stuff with physical assets like the original “Avatar, The Last Airbender” storyboards. The original Patsy the Pirate Costume. I got to catalog them.”
While she is busy researching and studying artwork from around the world, Allison also spends considerable time making art. She made a portrait of her husband welding which was displayed in the Team Kentucky Gallery in the Kentucky Capitol near the Governor’s office. But her goals are set on museum work and making inclusive spaces where people of all backgrounds can access art and understand how art is a part of our daily lives and how much we are shaped by it.
Allison also wants to advocate for young artists and curators like her, let them know that art is a meaningful career path and become a voice of support that buoys children above the discouragement she faced as a child.
