Introduction

Hello there!

My name is Erica Batoha, I am a rising Junior in the Sculpture concentration of the Fine Arts

program at Uarts. I consider myself an interdisciplinary artist, initially entering the University

believing I would be earning my degree in Illustration, with a background heavy with plenty of

drawing and painting next to my dimensional work. Prior to my attendance at Uarts, I studied and

worked in the medical field, spending some of that time in the Army as a medic and ophthalmic (eye

disease) technician. My background outside of the arts helps inform my work frequently; I find myself

focusing on the figure often as subject matter, with themes of man and nature, identity, and

relationship recurring.  

When I found out about the Summer Fellows Program, I was ecstatic to know I hadn’t missed the

deadline (barely). I submitted my application and shortly after was contacted by Julie Woodard, a

kind woman in Career Services who interviewed me and gave me an overview of the program. Prior

to the interview, an email was sent out to review specifics of potential alumni matches for the

program. Understanding that I could learn an incredible amount from any artist I would have been

matched with for the summer, I perused the list and really fell in love with the work of Kay Healy.

Kay is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who is an alum of the Uarts Book Arts and Printmaking

Master’s Program. She is one of the longest participators in the Summer fellows program, and her

studio is found at Artspace 1241. Her work contains themes of home, displacement, and loss, and

her most recent pieces use drawing, ceramics, and stuffed fabric as media. Her work struck me

because there is a real sense of play in the way that she approaches her work, while the content

involves more stark subject matters. I appreciated that after just looking on her website I was able to

tell that Kay has a lot of interest in working with communities and representing others’ stories in her

work.

Expressing my interest in working with Kay, Julie informed me she was a popular choice, so I kind of

dismissed the idea of being matched with her, happy with any of the artists on my top-3 lineup. I was

pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Julie only a couple weeks later introducing me to Kay

as my preliminary match.

I exchanged a couple emails with Kay and we arranged to meet at the studio she shares with her

husband, and she warned me that they also have a dog Eleanor who tags along (I could not have

been more excited). I will write all about our meeting and the beginning of our work together in the

next post.

Thanks for reading!