Kelan Chang

by Gordie Felger

Kelan Chang ’16 (studio art, business administration, public relations) credits his Coe and post-grad successes to the Art & Art History Department faculty. He advises first-year art students to “start building relationships with the department faculty and upperclassmen now. They are going to be the ones who support you the most.”

Kelan especially noted the guidance of Assistant Professor of Art Jen Rogers. “[She] was my advisor, mentor and at times university parent,” he said. “There is not another individual who made a bigger impact on my artistic growth as Jen did. Jen helped me become a better artist and basically a better person.”

Jen also introduced Kelan to the director of the Iowa Ceramics Center, which led to an internship.
Kelan now lives in Miyazaki, Japan, and works as an assistant language teacher at JET Program USA. He feels his studies at Coe directly contribute to his success in that role.

“As an artist, your goal is to convey information and feeling, not by talking about the art, but by making the art speak for you,” Kelan said. “If the art is successful, it doesn’t matter what language you speak, because everyone will receive the information visually. I use this ability in my lessons every day. By intentionally choosing and making visuals for my lessons, I can communicate information to my students that would be otherwise impossible had I not studied in the Coe College Art Department.”