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Morgan Adams, who graduated from Southwestern Michigan College with straight A’s in 2016, grew up in Dowagiac at the height of the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival in an arts-rich atmosphere that enveloped the community and its schools.

But the salutatorian of Union High’s Class of 2014 probably would have gravitated to art anyway.

At the April 28, 2016, student art show, Dr. David Mathews selected Adams’ banana watercolor for the Presidential Award. She received certificates for graphic design and drawing.

She was accepted to Michigan State and Western Michigan, but decided to stay close to home and “get as many courses as possible under my belt at a community-college rate. I'm the first to graduate college from my family.”

From SMC, Adams moved to Grand Rapids for Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.

Art garnering more attention

Since returning in 2021 as a graphic designer/photographer with Midwest Energy and Communications (MEC, for which SMC’s esports arena is named), Adams’ artistic eye notices a change.

“Local chambers are putting more effort into prettying up downtowns like Stone Lake (Cassopolis) and Dowagiac. Now you have murals on buildings, fresh new architecture and new, innovative public elements people can interact with for recreational purposes.”

“I hear from co-workers their kids are showing interest in art careers and how many camps are available at such a young age to broaden their education and skills.

“I feel like there are more opportunities now for art careers than ever. Even technology is a huge help. Creative people can do anything they set their minds to. We are problem-solvers, storytellers and makers.”

The Addys

Adams, who waitressed for six years at Lindy’s during high school and college, was the subject of a 2018 Dowagiac Daily News article the first time she entered the Addys (American Advertising Awards).

Adams came back with silver medals in advertisement campaign and copywriting from Grand Rapids.

A mock  advertisement for Ball Mason Jars showed a framed image featuring an illustrated life cycle of a butterfly accompanied by different sizes of Mason jars, emblazoned “A size for every stage of life” across the top.

“I had to create a concept piece for a brand advertisement, and I was just really inspired by my own nostalgia [with Mason jars],” she said.

“I went on to do a second year of ADDY awards and won Silver for a perfume package design, Silver for an integrated consumer campaign featuring Ole Smoky Moonshine and Gold for a publication design, ‘It's a Circus in Here.’ That publication took me on to a District 6 Gold winner, then to a National Gold Addy award,” Adams said.

Her National Gold Addy Publication winner spawned Adams’ two-book project, “It’s a Circus In Here,” capturing family history, interactions and experiences through photography, illustrations and “short stories from a family of short people.”

Volume One, Process, centers on L&J, the family meat-processing business. Preserve expresses the process of canning, gardening and sharing meals together as a family.

“My intention is that these collections of shared stories will become a comfort to my family to look back on. For the outside audience, these stories provide a unique and entertaining perspective on family, how it adds character and creates a stable foundation to grow.”

As an SMC student, Adams in 2015 joined the marketing office as an intern, doing graphic design, often for the Toilet Paper and the Napkin. She did social media and helped plan and market student events.

When she left for Kendall, Adams intended to pursue interior design. So, how did she end up at an electric utility?

“I did (interior design) for a semester, but realized I missed graphic design a ton. Realistically, I didn't want to be in college for five more years and I already had my graphic design associate degree. I decided to reapply to Kendall for its graphic design program and got in. Thankfully, about 50 percent of my BFA was made possible through SMC's classes being so transfer-friendly with Ferris.

“All of those scholarships I received to use at SMC made it a no-brainer to attend there and it allowed me to save money while I worked when I attended to be able to pay for two years of my housing while at KCAD so I could focus on my schooling and not have to work multiple part-time jobs. I completed my graphic design BFA in the fall of 2018.”

Prior to MEC, Adams worked in Elkhart for a company that made suspension systems for trailers that towed recreational vehicles. She bought a house with a Niles address that is equally close to Dowagiac and Cassopolis.

“I would drive by MEC and told myself if I ever got an opportunity I would apply. The community spoke very highly of the company.“
When a position opened, she beat out dozens of other applicants.

“I've always wanted to have less of a commute and to be able to utilize my degree and work for my local community. MEC was the perfect fit,” she said.

Colleague Nick Bogen always wanted to be a meteorologist, but embraced GIS mapping.

“It's really cool he ended up working here,” she said. “We are still good friends from school and in charge of planning our 10-year class reunion.”
Adams loves MEC’s "community, how it impacts people I know and family who utilize the co-op. My grandma put postcards I made to market fiber internet on her refrigerator until they finally signed up for the service. 

“I love the variety of projects I get to work on, the resources at my disposal and the opportunities to continue learning. Also, they have great benefits and take good care of their employees.”

Photography

Adams’ MEC design duties include quarterly campaigns marketing fiber and propane services. She creates emails, print, digital, ads, helps with social media, billboards — a variety of media.

“It involves taking pictures during outages to explain to customers what's going on. I take employee pictures to market our services or to highlight specific people for transparency and relatability. I take photos for our Country Lines Magazine and capture our community involvement as well.”

“Going with an art degree is very scary,” she admitted. “You are constantly doubted by people in your life and society. ‘Starving artist’ is no joke. KCAD had a food pantry students were allowed to utilize because it was so hard to make ends meet and they also had  winter coat drives. It was a risk to ‘follow my bliss,’ as my high school English teacher called it.”

Art or medicine?

“The way I look at it, you can either hate what you do for a living and make lots of money, you can love what you do and make hardly any or you can find a happy medium. And sometimes people get lucky and love what they do and make lots of money. I know I couldn't pay for the medical degree which was my other passion. I wanted to be a chiropractor.

“Art and medicine, very opposite. I knew whatever I set my mind to I would succeed. I just needed to do one that wouldn't break me financially. Once I graduated from KCOD, I came home. I love the city but it's not where I want to live. “

“I had to bartend/waitress and do freelance work for several months until I found a job that actually utilized my degree. That was a very scary and self-doubting period of my life.”

“But then a job opened up in Elkhart for me at MORryde and I worked there for several years. I've been able to do graphic design for a metal manufacturing company and now a utility. It's comforting to know my degree can be so widely utilized, provides me with job security and even remote opportunities.”

She is related to renowned aviation artist Rick Herter, who painted the Kalamazoo Air Zoo mural as well as Pentagon commissions.

ArtPrize inspiration

“I know my time in GR really exposed me to all the opportunities that are out there with art and how you can have many random art accents everywhere. They had murals everywhere, under bridges, on sidewalks, sculptures in the river, as random objects in open spaces people could interact with. ArtPrize actually inspired me to go to GR and attend KCAD.

“The churches there were so beautiful. The interior design and branding that went into a lot of the buildings were very inspiring. I definitely felt very invigorated and had a lot more creative juices flowing being in a city like that. GR is art-driven and does a good job making it accessible to the masses.”