Lauren Levato Coyne

Award-winning artist Lauren Levato Coyne was an exceptionally curious child who began creating when she was just six-years-old.

“I was curious to the point of annoying everyone around me,” she joked. “And I’m still a very curious person. The very first thing I remember making was text and image-based. I did a drawing of a newspaper. I drew a picture of what the lead story was, which was the dust bunnies taking over the bedroom. I was interested in the arts from day one. At the age of six, I told people I was going to move to New York City and be a writer. I was always a creative person.”

Levato Coyne attended Cranbrook Academy of Art from 2018 to 2020.

“Cranbrook was the only graduate school I wanted to attend,” she said. “I describe it as a Montessori for adults. You are very self-directed, which is a good alignment for me. And I liked that it was a very small program.”

Levato Coyne earned a Master of Fine Arts in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She also graduated from Purdue University and earned a certificate in political journalism from Georgetown University.

“I’ve been working in the arts basically since I left high school in 1997,” she said. “My passion lies in thinking and ideas. All the formats: drawing, painting, sculptures, essays – they are all a method of thinking.”

Levato Coyne trained as a political journalist and spent a decade working as a daily news reporter.

“I worked at The Times of Northwest Indiana,” she said. “I loved it. I wanted to be a newsie ever since I can remember. I wanted to be Lois Lane more than anybody. I think of journalism as a force of justice in the world.”

As a painter, sculptor and writer, Levato Coyne is inspired by the world around her.

“I have a very rich internal world,” she said. “I have a constant stream of words, images and sounds. I’ve just never been bored in my life.”

Levato Coyne won the 2026 AICA-USA Irving Sandler Award for New Voices in Art Criticism and the 2026 Artist in Residence Award from the Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies.

“It’s been phenomenal,” she said. “I had several years where I thought my career was utterly dead-in-the-water. It’s phenomenal every time you win an award, but especially meaningful after a dry spell.”

In addition to her art work, Levato Coyne teaches art in the Paleobiology and Oceanography departments at Williams College in Massachusetts.

“I love teaching art to scientists,” she said. “I’ve been invited into a lot of science classrooms. I absolutely love working with people who say they don't know how to draw. I show them how wrong they are. Art is my great equalizer – it's a human experience.”

Levato Coyne credits her success to a host of professionals who have helped her along the way.

“I’ve been working in the arts for almost 30 years,” she said. “It’s a very hard field to remain in. I wouldn't have gotten this far without teachers, collectors and everybody in between.”

Moving forward, Levato Coyne is focused on continuing to write and create extraordinary pieces.

“I think that sustainability is overlooked in our culture as we look at growth,” she said. “My biggest goal is to maintain what is happening right now: writing, visual work and teaching. They are all in a balance with each other right now. I’m just going to enjoy this rare, perfect moment.”

Levato Coyne lives her life with one very important sentiment.

“Don’t quit,” she said. “I truly believe this. Whatever your creative passion is, never give it up. It doesn't even matter if no one ever sees it. Do it for yourself.”

Story: Katey Meisner

Photo: Jon Verney