Mia Eckes is a mother to six wildly creative children (2 sets of twins and 2 singletons), loves neon and never turns down an offer for coffee. She considers herself a master of improvisation and reframing messes in the creative life. As a fiber artist, she describes her work as “painting with stitches” and is interested in how the presence of God can be experienced in the material and ordinary. Working with textiles, she connects contemplative prayer into her process and views her artist calling as sacred- her tactile art like a doorway to the invisible. She has exhibited her work in Minnesota and New York. Mia is also a certified Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach, and founded Cloudwalker Studio to connect with clients through her art, gentle prompts and the creative process. She emphasizes the importance of acting on creative impulse and acknowledging small steps and encourages accessibility to materials, frequent walks in the clouds, embracing innate creativity, and approaching roadblocks with compassionate curiosity.

Mia obtained her BFA in Fiber Art and Ceramics from Minnesota State University, Mankato. In the midst of her master’s work, she married and became a mother. Her studies led her into the generative research of creativity and the role of arts in early education. She received her MA in Human Development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, Mia is an advocate for child-led, interest-based learning and since the pandemic, provided child-led learning experiences for her kids, known as “Unschooling”.

She lives in suburban Coon Rapids, MN with her darlings and husband Joe. Here she greets the day wholeheartedly with untamed hair, a cup of coffee, and ear plugs handy.

Jess Sweeney is a wife, a mother of two girls, and an artist exploring the in-between spaces of everyday life. In her paintings of people and objects, as well as her writing, she seeks that wonderful “shine on things” that philosopher William Desmond talks about; to uncover what is often unseen.

She is the founder and curator of Commonplace Living, where she seeks to find and cultivate the wonder, beauty, and glory found in the everyday. She is also the Director of the Collegium Institute’s Ars Vivendi Arts Initiative which cultivates a space to explore the intersection of beauty, making and the life of the mind through workshops, artist retreats, and lectures. Her work has been featured in Dappled Things, Genealogies of Modernity, Everyday Mamas, The Curator Magazine, and recently at The Delaplaine Arts Center.

She completed her undergraduate studies in Art History and English at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Florida and earned a Masters in Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas, MN, where she explored memory and childhood in the work of Terence Malick and the thought of St. Augustine. She has taught art history, Spanish, and humane letters, as well as founding and running an art & art history program for elementary and middle school students. The surprise of motherhood thus far has been how it has forced me and inspired me to continually find and refind myself, to let it shape me artistically and spiritually, in the process of nurturing and loving two new little people. She lives in West Philadelphia in a one bedroom apartment with her two and a half year old daughter, one year old daughter, and husband, Terence, a philosopher and writer.