Kierstyn Budz went to Eastern Illinois University for her BA and MA in English and creative writing. Currently she is pursuing her MFA in creative writing and online teaching at Southern New Hampshire University. She has a lifelong passion for storytelling and bringing readers into the depths of her imagination. While her primary focus is science fiction and fantasy, she has an interest in playwriting and enjoys crocheting and painting in her free time. Her work has been published in The Vehicle, Blueroom, and The Evening Universe. She can be found “@kierstynbudz” on all social media. 

Sof King is a student at EIU.

Madeline Krost is a junior art education major. Being an art education major Madeline has tried many mediums including printmaking which is the medium of her work “Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum.” Although this work is from a printmaking class, Madeline particularly enjoys ceramics. 

Hailey Leggans is a graduating senior at EIU completing a BFA in graphic design and studio art, with a special focus in figure drawing.

Ryan McGrath is an English major at EIU, Navy veteran, and florist at Bell’s Flower Corner here in Charleston, Illinois.

Kassey Shipman is majoring in art education at Eastern Illinois University, therefore most of her time is spent making art with various mediums. She takes a lot of inspiration from nature and the rural town she grew up in. She spent her childhood roaming around the woods and is passionate about being able to explore that experience through her work.

Grace Walker is a third-year undergraduate student at Eastern Illinois University, majoring in art education and minoring in art history and studio art. Her work typically focuses on observational storytelling with hidden meaning, capturing the themes of family, identity, and under-appreciated aspects of daily life. For "Constructed," however, she ventures into representational work, depicting a series showcasing the subtle acceptance and glamorization of certain appearances and behaviors towards women in the media. Over her time pursuing art education, she has received several honors in juried shows across southern Illinois as well as in EIU's art department, including Best of Show(s), departmental awards (Ruth C. Boyd Cook Memorial Art Award, Glenn Hild Painting Award, and more), and publication in Blue Room Magazine. Grace's work can be found online as @gracewlkerart on Instagram.

Pamela Zimmerman grew up on a 100-acre farm in New York state, where she spent all her time making up stories about her pets and dolls. When it comes to art and fiction, she's fascinated with how stories can be told by visual cues and enhanced with decorative and meaningful elements, whether rendered in words or colorful pastels. Storybook illustrations have captured her fancy since a very young age, and she's dreaming of writing and illustrating medieval fantasy books. In the meantime, she makes art as the inspiration strikes (or if she has a commission to fulfill), and writes fiction and nonfiction, and poetry that rhymes if she's lucky.