The Versatile Creativity and Meaningful Connections of Artist Nellie Vance

During the George Floyd protests in 2020, Vance designed a Black Lives Matter poster that was subsequently made into a yard sign that could be found all over Riverwest.

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Her Story

Whether she is illustrating a stunning natural landscape, designing the stylish new logo for a Milwaukee brand or painting a portrait of someone holding their beloved cat or dog, Nellie Vance uses her artistic versatility to “teach, open minds, create connections and inspire change” as her website reads, working with mediums ranging from graphic design to watercolor and gouache paintings to digital sketches. She is senior designer of Milwaukee-based marketing agency Core Creative as well as co-founder and creative director of Black Space, a free mental wellness resource for Black and Brown men, women and LGBTQIA+ folks.

Originally from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and raised in Green Bay, Vance had aspirations of being an artist since she was little. “I was always drawing,” she remembers. “When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, it was always an artist.”

Vance began taking art more seriously as she got older, working with portraiture and watercolors for the first time in high school. After graduating from UW-Milwaukee with a degree in art & design, she began doing graphic design on the side, which ultimately led Vance into her current position at Core Creative, where she has been for over six years, primarily working with Milwaukee Tool. She has done freelance work for companies like LionArt Media and Milwaukee Film.

BLM Poster

During the George Floyd protests in 2020, Vance designed a Black Lives Matter poster that was subsequently made into a yard sign that could be found all over Riverwest. “I did a lot of walking during the COVID quarantine days, and it was awesome to walk around the neighborhood and see my signs up,” she affirms. “I got emotional seeing that.”

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Vance began attending Black Space group therapeutic experiences from the very beginning. “I went to their very first session, and it just kind of stuck,” she recalls. As creative director, she oversees the organization’s branding, graphic design and social media. “Being able to be part of the organization on a deeper level has been super rewarding. I really love my little fam there and what we do.”

Since its inception in 2020, Black Space has creatively grown and evolved in order for the communities it serves to feel as seen, heard and included as possible. Vance reflects, “When we first started, we wanted people to see themselves in the flyers, so we did lots of characters with different body shapes, skin tones, hair types, and genders. We still do that, but we want to do it in a more refined way, and I think we’re slowly getting there. For people who Black Space serves, mental wellness is a new thing for a lot of people, so we’re trying to treat it as such but also keep it visually relevant.”

Black Space holds three quarterly sessions: one for women, one for men, and one for LGBTQIA+ folks. Visit its Linktree for more information.

Portraits of People and Pets

In terms of her art practice, Vance specializes in portraiture and loves to draw people, but she is especially known for her pet portraits, which she started doing after she drew a friend’s dear late pet. “It’s cute and I love it,” Vance remarks. “I haven’t drawn my cats Jack and Jill yet, but that’s a good thing to bring up.”

As of late, Vance has felt artistically inspired by the world of anime, emphasized by the large Spirited Away poster hung on her wall. “I’ve been looking at the art of certain movies and shows and doing my style spin on some of that as a drawing exercise.”

Nature is a recurring theme in Vance’s work as well. Fond of birds, particularly crows and ravens, Vance contributed in 2019 a crow sketch to Junk Drawer Magazine, accompanied by a poem of an anonymous author titled “Like Firewood.” In 2022, two paintings by Vance depicting the Black Rocks at Presque Isle on Lake Superior were featured in a Bay View Gallery Night exhibition at Ursa.

“I hadn’t done painting in a while and hit an art block, but doing that really dragged me out of that,” Vance recalls about Bay View Gallery Night. “It got me back to that place where I could do it again. I had never done a show like that where I sold art hanging up, so it was a really cool experience to be a part of it.”

That said, Vance hopes to do more large-scale pieces and art shows in the future. “If I could do a few of those and build up some comfort with that, it’d be cool to do another show.” She currently has limited availability for commissions and can be contacted at vance.nellie@gmail.com or via Instagram.