ENERGY - Humboldt Magazine - Humboldt State University

“Give me your lunch money,”
shot during a machine
gun and flamethrower
demonstration at an annual
gun show in Knob creek, Ky.,
is one of stephanie burke’s
favorite pieces.
Stephanie Dawn Burke Anything But ‘Still’ Life
receNt GradUate stephaNie daWN
bUrKe (’07, Studio Art, Anthropology) is
finding that her only still moments are the
ones captured in her photographs.
Since earning her Masters of Fine Arts
degree at the Art Institute in Chicago, Burke
has become a busy and recognizable figure
in the windy city’s art scene.
After first moving to Chicago, Burke and
her husband, Jeriah Hildwine (’02, Studio Art,
History), were excited to explore the city’s
deeply varied art scene. But they found it difficult
to navigate. “That’s what inspired me
to do the blog,” she says.
Burke’s blog, “The Gallery Crawl,” became
the comprehensive source for art exhibits and
openings that Chicago’s scene lacked. And
the art community recognized her efforts.
“I was called by someone who had seen
my blog,” Burke says, about being approached
to work for Art Talk Chicago. She soon became
Editor in Chief of the publication.
stephanie dawn burke, self portrait
Burke has also been Managing Editor
of Chicago Art Magazine, and is currently a
columnist for the Bad at Sports art website
and an art teacher with Wilbur Wright Community
College and Hyde Park Art Center.
“It’s insanity,” Burke says. “I work all the
time. I have very little down time. We have to
leave town periodically just revamp.”
In her free time, Burke works on her
own art. Her current work focuses on two
main themes.
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Dawn Burke
One is related to gun culture, largely inspired
by the annual firearms display she and
Hildwine attend in Knob Creek, Ky. The two
are also working on a project called “Shooting
with Artists,” Burke says. “We take our friends
who are artists and teach them to shoot.”
The other area of Burke’s current work
is more sentimental, she says. “I’m going to
places that have personal history to me and
showing how they’ve decayed.”
Despite her current frenzy of projects,
Burke envisions a long-term future in art. “I
just want to find some way to work forever in
art,” she says. And she offers her own advice
on how to make that happen.
“The moral of the story is you have to
be everywhere constantly,” Burke says.
“There’s a degree of ‘right place, right
time.’ But you don’t get to there without
persistence and networking. I’m there
when things are discussed and I make sure
people can’t ignore me.”
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