Photo by Branaugh Morton/Nutmeg Publishing
Krista Mitchell is an artist, writer, and curator based in Connecticut. A Presidential Scholar at the University of Connecticut, she is currently pursuing dual degrees in Art and English with a concentration in Creative Writing, with an expected graduation date of December 2025. Working primarily in the traditional mediums of mixed-media collage, ink, and marker, her work reimagines the aesthetics of the past, exploring themes of nostalgia, liminality, and consumerism. Her artistic craft is heavily influenced by the art movements, popular culture, and music of the 1920s through the 1980s, including art nouveau, art deco, mid-century design, pop art, retrofuturism, psychedelic art, city pop, and vaporwave. She also dresses in an entirely vintage wardrobe and curates an ever-expanding collection of antiques that inspires her artistic practice.
EDUCATION
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Bachelor of Arts, Dual Degree in Art & English with Creative Writing concentration, December 2025
AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS
2025 Gloriana Gill Art Award in Illustration, UConn Creative Writing Program
2024 3rd place, Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction, UConn Creative Writing Program
2024 Honorable mention, Aetna Creative Nonfiction Award, UConn Creative Writing Program
2023 Fine Arts Talent Scholarship, UConn School of Fine Arts
2022 Fine Arts Talent Scholarship, UConn School of Fine Arts
2022 Long River Review Art Award, UConn Creative Writing Program
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Joker Stardust, VAIS Gallery, Storrs, CT
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 The Wonder of Winter, Mansfield Community Center, Mansfield, CT
2023 20th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Downtown Storrs, CT
2022 How We Heal, Enfield Public Library, Enfield, CT
ART PUBLICATIONS
2025 Long River Review, UConn Creative Writing Program
2024 WHUS Zine: What Are You Afraid Of?, WHUS Radio
2024 Long River Review, UConn Creative Writing Program
2022 Long River Review, UConn Creative Writing Program
WRITING PUBLICATIONS
2024 Here: a poetry journal, Eastern Connecticut State University Department of English
2024 WHUS Zine: What Are You Afraid Of?, WHUS Radio
2024 Long River Review (online), UConn Creative Writing Program
2022 Poetic Journeys, UConn Creative Writing Program
2022 Willimantic Writers Literary Magazine Volume II, Willimantic Writers Group
PRESS
2025 "Krista Mitchell’s ‘Joker Stardust’ exhibit ponders life beyond consumerism," Daily Campus
2025 "Art Exhibition No ‘Joke’ in Asking Hard Questions," UConn Today
2024 "Addressing student loneliness and isolation on college campuses," Connecticut Public Radio, for "Home by Sundown"
2024 "A glance inside a Vintage Wardrobe," The Lookbook, Nutmeg Publishing
TALKS
2025 Humanities Undergraduate Research Symposium, UConn Humanities Institute, on Joker Stardust
2024 Conversations on the Loneliness Epidemic, CT Collaborative to End Loneliness & UConn Humanities Institute, on "Home
by Sundown"
2024 Humanities Undergraduate Research Symposium, UConn Humanities Institute, on "Home by Sundown"
2021 Long River Reading Series featured poet, UConn Creative Writing Program
SELECTED ORGANIZATIONS
May 2025 - Present WHUS Radio: On-Air Weekly DJ
April 2025 - Present UConn Humanities Institute: Advisory Council
May 2024 - Present Stafford Historical Society: Museum Volunteer
January 2023 - May 2025 Daily Campus: Staff Artist
December 2023 - May 2024 Long River Review: Arts Liaison, Poetry Panelist, Web Team Member
July 2021 - September 2022 Willimantic Writers Group: Member
October 2021 - May 2022 UConn Creative Writing Club: Secretary