Meet the Artists

Creative young artists from Detroit

Mint Artists are usually Detroit residents ages of 14-22, in high school or college or on a gap year. They may work in many visual mediums—photography, ceramics, digital art, jewelry and fine paintings. Mint summer workers are selected based on their artistic abilities, work ethic, passion for their craft, and community involvement.

Some of our 2021 summer artists include:

Are you a young artist who’d like to get volved? Read more about our programs and application process here.
Eleanor Aro is at her canvas painting.

Eleanor Aro 

Eleanor works mainly in acrylic paint, depicting cityscapes, children, and more in a different light. Most of her artwork shows the more authentic side of Detroit. 2020 was her first time in the Mint Creative Summer Jobs program and she was part of Mint Learn & Earn for almost three years.

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Oluwaseyi Akintoroye

Team leader Oluwaseyi Akintoroye, came back for a third year with Mint Summer Jobs. She does photography, acrylic painting, and drawing in her spare time. She loves experimenting with new forms of art.

“Being able to paint for others and organizations has broadened my experience with creating art with themes I’ve never tried before. It taught me that the most impactful and educating pieces are those that bring me out of my comfort zone.”

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Faith Jones-Honey

Faith likes to create mixed media art. She puts her feelings, thoughts, and observations into her artwork. Some of her art goals for this summer are to master acrylic painting, create new and creative ideas, and practice my leadership and time management skills. 

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 Alexis Bagley

Alexis Bagley is a painter and digital artist whose work includes abstracts, Afro-surrealism, and more. She also creates traditional and digital art that focuses on women of color in space settings. She serves as a Mint team leader, assists in running the Mint Summer Jobs, and sits on the Mint board of directors.

“Because of Mint, I found out that I could be an artist. I was taught that I could sell my work, I could create from my soul, and I could be who I wanted to be. I would not be where I am as a person without this organization.”

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Moumita Chadhury

Moumita discovered her passion for art at a very young age. She started by drawing simple figures and objects using colored pencils to give them shape and definition. Then, she grew her interest in nature and began drawing sceneries. Her artwork is inspired mainly by her Bengali culture, which is bright and colorful. Most of her artwork incorporates nature to remind her of Bangladesh, where she grew up. During her summer with Mint, she learned about different artists.

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Theodore Eggebrecht

When Theodore first started drawing, he liked to use Japanese animation as a reference. Usually, he draws his original characters or show characters using watercolor, digital media, and alcohol markers. Theodore’s Mint experience has taught him how acrylic paint works and how to use it. Also, he often comments on the trans experience in his art.

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 Michael Hartman

Michael’s biggest inspiration growing up was his older brother. His older brother started doing art before him. Michael hopes to get better at acrylic painting. Even if just a little, because acrylics, oils, gauche, etc., types of artwork are new territory for him, and he hopes to get better at it.

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J’Von King

J’Von is very passionate about art and is always eager to learn new things. Some of his hobbies are drawing original characters and writing their own original stories. One of his art-related goals is to further improve his acrylic painting skills on canvas boards. Since working with Mint, J’Von has improved his acrylic skills, learned to photograph his art and networked with other artists. An art style which he would like to try in the future is semi-realism.

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Jessica Fligger

Jessica has been painting with acrylics a lot, and most of her subjects are women. Many pieces respond to social issues today, such as sexism, homophobia, and racism, so they have significantly influenced her art. She appreciated learning about different art styles, as she is still trying to find a personal way of creating art.

“I have grown so much as a Mint artist. I feel more confident in my work, especially because of the guidance I received from my artist peers! I have learned so much about color, shading, and form, and this is evident in my work.”

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