“…challenged me to challenge myself”

Renee Couture, Class of 1999

Hometown: Spirit Lake, Iowa
Majors: Studio Art and Spanish
Minor: Women's Studies
Graduate School: Vermont College of Fine Arts, MFA in Visual Art; TEFL/TESL Certificate, Centro de Estudios Interamericanos, Cuenca, Ecuador, South America
Place of Employment: Umpqua Community College
Title: Assistant Professor of Art; artist

“The faculty at BVU challenged me to challenge myself, and I was encouraged to integrate my different areas of study, thereby enriching all of my course work. The art department faculty was genuinely interested in my work. While I was mentored by members of the faculty, they also treated me as a fellow artist. With their high expectations, I came to have high expectations for myself and the work I produced. My time at BVU helped cultivate my confidence in risk-taking and following my ambitions.”