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Not long after landing in Minneapolis as an exchange student from Brighton University, Grace Easton began to think about prolonging her semester-long stay. “I remember going through security at the MSP airport where they were telling everyone, ‘Welcome home! Welcome home!’ and I thought, I need to do anything I can to stay in this place,” says Easton, who went on to enroll at 51���Ϲ��� as an international student. “In the UK, we didn't have much contact with our professors, whereas at 51���Ϲ��� everyone is at school, in their studios the whole day. I thought that was the absolute right way to run an art school. It’s all about showing up and being together as a community.”

Now based in London, where she works as a senior illustrator for Smythson of Bond Street, a British, luxury leather goods brand, Easton says she still benefits from the close bonds she made with 51���Ϲ��� classmates. “Now that we’re all on social media, I can still follow along with what all my peers are doing and where they landed,” she says. “You will find that the friends and connections you make at art school are so strong because you’ve all had this experience of being on the outside looking in. When you’ve all been told this isn’t going to be an easy ride, it’s a really bonding experience.”

A freelance illustrator behind a host of picture books, Easton also has her own book project coming out in 2024. “Book publishing is such a slow process. I’ve come to realize I want that book to be my story and my images–I want to have ownership over the whole thing.” As an early career illustrator, she’s felt the pressure “to say ‘yes’ to everything, but one thing I’ve learned since 51���Ϲ��� is that a career is long. You can take the time to really hone what it is you want to do.”