Hi! My name is Kasey Prisco. I’m 21 years old, born and raised in New Jersey, but I fell in love with Colorado and am hoping my adventure here has only just begun. I am a senior here at CU Boulder, majoring in psychology and minoring in art. If 15 year old me could see into the future and recognize the value that art now holds in my life, she would be in a state of bewilderment. Before I was 15, I had no idea that I had the ability to draw anything more than a stick figure. During this time of my life, there was a whole lot of darkness and barely any light. I was completely consumed with heavy, loud, dark thoughts that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with, but I knew I had to translate them somehow because I refused to believe in suffering without purpose. So, I would write. Every emotion I would experience throughout the day was put to paper. But one day, the English language failed me as I could not find the words to describe just what I was feeling, so I drew. That first little sketch on the backside of my math homework was something I didn’t think much of at the time, but it changed my life forever. That one sketch introduced me to an entirely new language by which I could finally communicate and be understood. I was free. My journey as an artist taught me to find the beauty in everything, and in times when you can’t see it, you invent it. Art is the beautiful gift that pulled me out from under the surface and taught me to breathe again; Art was the light in my darkness, and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to share this gift.