Howdy 100 State! My name is Ryan Prehara and I am a born and bred Atlanta native turned Sconnie. At age thirteen my family and I decided to move up to Madison, Wisconsin where I went to high-school and then continued to go to college at UW for a Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing.
I will be concluding my education at UW Madison this fall, however, I’m not quite certain on what my next steps will be. As COVID still haunts this country’s every move, entering a career seems to be more daunting and difficult than ever. My goal though, is to move to New York City and become a self sustained studio artist making a living off of exhibitions and commissions. Unfortunately New York is still a hot spot for COVID, so I am feeling lucky to at least presently be part of the 100 State Art’s team.
I chose to intern at 100 State for a myriad of reasons. For one, 100 State was one of the first places I ever publicly presented my work in an exhibit. I then continued to show art at 100 State multiple times after and have always felt welcome and respected as a local studio artist. Secondly, the idea of joining a community building non-profit organization that helps aid local businesses and artists is a truly beautiful thing. If it weren’t for businesses like 100 State, the reality of becoming an artist would seem vastly more unreachable.
In my free time you can find me on my front porch with a canvas in front of me and buckets of paint to my side. You may say that in this sense I am always working, but this is why I’ve chosen to go down the path of becoming a professional studio artist. My philosophy is, if you aren’t doing something you love, then why are you doing it?
Lastly, one funny thing about me is that I have a strange phobia of fish. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I have always been and most likely always will be afraid of those scaly little creatures. As I’ve grown older I’ve gotten past the fear enough to be able to swim in a lake with my friends, or even enough to learn how to surf! This being said, if you see me in a large body of water other than a pool or a water-park, I am probably very tense, so don’t test me.
