Artist Statement & Bio
Cole Spencer Heck (he/him/his) is a visual artist living and working in Lawrence, Kansas. He received a BA and BFA from the University of Kansas in 2015. While at the University of Kansas, he received several scholarships, grants, and awards. Some of these include the University of Kansas Art & Design Scholarship, the School of the Arts Travel Grant, and two University of Kansas Libart awards: 1st place and highly recommended (one of which is a part of the permanent collection).
Since graduating, Heck has worked with youth and young adults in various capacities through the non-profit organization VanGo. At VanGo he has served as an Assistant Art Director, a volunteer, and a Teaching Artist. Heck has also worked on a variety of other projects throughout the Lawrence community such as assisting with several murals and donating work to local organizations to assist with fundraising. Most recently, he was commissioned to create community portraits for the East Ninth Street art project.
In his personal work, Heck primarily focuses on two dimensional drawing, paintings, and printmaking. He is interested in researching and understanding the mediums he uses in order to achieve an intricate level of detail. For example, this is made apparent in his portraits by manipulating and combining graphite, charcoal, gouache, ink, colored pencil, and watercolor. Heck derives inspiration from literature, current events, and simply getting lost within whatever medium grabs his attention first.