COLLEEN MATTIS MPS-2005

COLLEEN MATTIS

Savannah College of Art and Design-2009

Savannah, GA

BFA-Art History

While at Mercyhurst Prep, Colleen excelled in photography, was a member of NAHS and was a recipient of the Creative Arts Award and the Excellence in Photography Award. With a desire to continue in the arts, she attended Savannah College of Art and Design. She graduated Cum Laude in 2009 with a degree in Art History.

A Photography major in her first two years, she switched to Art History when the college transitioned from traditional photography to digital. While at SCAD, she took advantage of internships that involved helping curate art exhibitions, where her responsibilities included installation, publicity, and acting as docent at receptions. She also had the opportunity to meet artists and professionals of note in the art world, including Art Critic Robert Hughes and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.

Colleen received 15 credit hours, a full semester's worth, for her participation in IB. "My art classes at MPS gave me a big head start over many of the other incoming students at SCAD. There is no doubt in my mind that the education I received at MPS set me up for my great success at Savannah College of Art and Design. Not only was I encouraged in high school to pursue my passion for art, but I was prepared to do so."

Colleen is currently pursuing a career in writing and art criticism, while continuing to create art with her camera.

MEAGAN BIELANIN 2004

MEAGAN BIELANIN





Penn State University, The Behrend College





BA English Literature/Political Science

Meagan left the basketball court and classrooms of MPS behind and went to Penn State Behrend where she continued her basketball career and her excellence in the classroom. A Dean's List student every semester, she graduated with distinction. While at Behrend, she served as an undergraduate teaching assistant, and also volunteered for Erie's Voting Department during elections, working with the new voting machines. She served as a basketball camp counselor at Behrend and was an assistant coach for the Erie Saints Basketball Organization for two seasons. She had the opportunity to study abroad while at Behrend, spending a summer in London at the University of Northampton and while there she took time to travel to Italy and France. An experience she "wouldn't trade for the world".

Currently Meagan is in Law School at Case Western University in the JD program. During the summer she did legal work for the City of Cleveland's Building and Housing Department. She lives in Cleveland Heights and is looking for an assistant coaching job, to keep her hand in basketball.

Meagan credits Mercyhurst Prep and the IB program for preparing her to excel at Behrend. "Because of my great teachers in the program at MPS", she pursued a major in English Lit. and Political Science with a minor in International Studies. She received nearly a semester of credit for her IB work.

HEATHER HERTEL 1991

HEATHER HERTEL

Syracuse University Edinboro University

Syracuse, NY Edinboro, PA

BFA Painting MFA Painting

MS Art Education

Heather was one of the pioneer students in the IB Art Seminar class at MPS and she left to continue studying art at Syracuse. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and was a Rhodes Scholar nominee for the university. She continued her education at Syracuse receiving an MS in Art Education in 1998. Heather then returned to Erie to work on an MFA at Edinboro, which she completed in 2003. She also took the opportunity to study abroad at Santa Repararta International School in Florence, Italy.

Heather has been an active exhibitor of work throughout her career, with solo shows in Erie, Edinboro, Meadville, and Pittsburgh. She has participated in numerous juried exhibitions across the country, from California to Virginia. Her painted sculpture "Alo" can be see in front of the Regional Cancer Center in Erie, PA.

She has also been awarded a full fellowship from Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and a grant for a residency at the Vermont Studio Center. She organized the NPAA exhibit at the Lucky Gallery in New York City and has also directed collaborative projects with students and faculty from Slippery Rock University and University of Pittsburgh.

After teaching at Edinboro University and Mercyhurst College, Heather recently became an Assistant Professor of Art at Slippery Rock University and she continues to paint, draw and do collaborative works, making beautiful things in general.