We recently connected with Manteneh Koroma and have shared our conversation below.

Manteneh, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Throughout my life, I have always drawn and wanted to educate myself on drawing fundamentals and various skills related to the creative arts. However, once I got to middle and high school, I could branch out and teach myself specific modes of art like animation and video editing. Most of the knowledge I use today can be attributed to the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and what I learned there. However, I am still learning new skills like sewing and diving deeper into animation and design principles.

Starting college was challenging due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, so I had to relearn many art skills after my first year. However, I took many courses outside my major that positively contributed to my artistic journey at MCAD.

Manteneh, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an independent artist born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I just recently graduated from MCAD with a BFA in 2-D Animation, and right now, I am using those skills to practice the fundamentals I have learned while working on affording the animation software.

Through school, I recently worked with a client on an animated TV show on YouTube, designing and animating a few characters and backgrounds for the show. I have also participated in an exhibition highlighting MCAD students and local MN artists of color.

I am still very new to the professional field, but my goals are to continue posting personal projects on my internet platforms and networking in person. I can’t wait for new opportunities to come!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My biggest goal and passion is storytelling. I want to make sure that I am telling a story that will leave an impact on my audience, whether through an emotional drama, a comedy, or something mysterious. I want to create characters that stay with an individual and potentially represent them in the story. Narratives that will help an audience feel something is always my goal, but also to allow conversations to begin. Not everyone has to agree or completely relate to the story I am trying to tell, but if people can come together and talk about the story or artistic concept, it tells me that I have done my job as an artist.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Before going to college, I wish I had known how helpful and cheaper other learning resources like SkillShare or LinkedIn Learning were. While college isn’t a bad option, it can be costly and intense for someone who is just starting or cannot afford to spend $50,000 a year. Even free sources like YouTube can be a great starting point for learning art and design fundamentals. However, many employers still ask for degrees, so I think college is still the safest option if you want to work in the industry or corporate field. Also, colleges can offer you internships or bring in individuals to meet with students and provide knowledge in a way that might be harder to achieve outside of college.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.koromahouse.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koroma_house/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manteneh-koroma-animator