Young Illustrator Shines in Owego by Laura Rudd

This article appeared in the Tioga County Courier, used with permission.

Katie Campbell of Owego, an undergraduate student enrolled in the fine arts program of Marywood University in Scranton Pennsylvania, decided to apply her talents as an artist to the Tioga County Historical Society & Museum by creating unique posters and advertisements for the upcoming Brazieres 4 A Cure exhibit.

The Brazieres 4 A Cure exhibit is a traveling show of “re-imagined” bras that were painted, quilted or otherwise embellished by crafters in the Southern Tier to be a humorous way to bring the message of breast cancer awareness to the public and help raise funds for the American Cancer Society and Encore Plus to continue their effort of providing free mammograms to financially eligible women.

Ms. Campbell was interested in furthering the museum’s goal of promoting this humorous exhibit that addresses a very serious issue affecting the health of many Americans today. Using colored pencils, ink and pen Katie drew whimsical bras suspended from a clothesline. These fanciful undergarments featured seashells, ruffles, pearls, patches, and a slinky boa. Another larger illustration is of an unclasped light pink bra soaring on wings with a darker pink breast cancer awareness ribbon on the left cup. This image is infused with hope and actually appears to be moving forward off the page.

Katie Campbell was raised knowing the beauty and value of artistic expression and was encouraged to draw from a young age. All of her work is drawn by hand, using the computer only to send scanned pictures of her work to others.

She gathers inspiration from many places including nature, early-illustrated children’s books and by studying the works of other artists. Fortunately for Ms. Campbell the Marywood University Arboretum encompasses 115 acres located across from the university’s campus. Hosting over 105 varieties of trees (with a comparable collection of shrubs), this arboretum’s beauty begs to be studied as one walks its extensive plantings of ornamental grasses, annual flowers and long established perennial beds that provide splashes of deep, vivid color and a richness of textures. Straying further afield in the near future, Campbell plans on leaving for Florence, Italy in the spring for a study abroad. “I love traveling, especially to outdoor parks where I can walk, look, study things closely, take pictures for later reference and think about the beauty around me”, says Campbell.

Though very busy during the academic year, Ms. Campbell would like to help more non-profit and charitable groups in the future through her illustrative designs.

Ms. Campbell’s Poster is being circulated to merchants and organizations throughout Tioga County and can be seen on display at the museum. The Tioga County Historical Society & Museum will be hosting this traveling exhibit from September 17th-September 24th at 110 Front Street. The museum’s hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 10am-4pm. The museum will have extended hours on September 18th to accommodate visitors attending Owego’s 3rd Friday Art Walk. For more exhibit information call the museum at 687-2460.

The Brazieres on exhibit will be placed up for auction on November 6th from 6-9pm at the exhibit’s closing reception at the Binghamton YMCA on 80 Hawley Street.