Elena, 57.1

cami mauriello

April 2, 2025

Cami Mauriello is a junior majoring in visual arts and minoring in theatre. His paintings have been featured in issues 56.2 and 57.1 of Dialogue. Dialogue staff member Erin Hasler sat down with Cami in March to discuss his creative life at Calvin and beyond.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Erin: Can you tell me a bit about your art journey?

Cami: The thing I always tell people is that I’ve been doing art since I could pick up a crayon. I think I really started being focused on art when I was nine or ten. I had this older cousin who really got into drawing Pokémon. He could draw them so well, and I wanted to draw just like him. From then on art became my favorite thing in the world. Although most people now know me for my painting, I didn’t start painting until sophomore year of college. My first year, I took Intro To Painting, and I had never touched oil painting before then.

E: You have a lot of art around campus; could you tell me what it’s been like to get involved with the various parts of art life on Calvin? What has your on-campus journey of art been like?

C: It’s been very, very special. I think I’m in a very special position of being involved in both theatre and visual arts. Surprisingly, there’s not a lot of overlap at this school who are doing both. I fulfill a really nice niche, like the poster design. The person who was designing the posters for CTC (Calvin Theatre Company) before me was also a graphic design major. When I came in I was the only other visual arts major in CTC, and since she was a senior and I was a freshman she was like “You! Would you be interested in this?” After that I started getting involved with the people who ran CTC and knew about my art skills because I was designing posters, which led to me leading the painting of the mural in lower Spoelhof. What’s nice is getting your foot in the door helps lead to other opportunities, and I’ve been given a lot of opportunities in that regard. Dialogue was a very happy add on to the posters and the mural.

E: Let’s talk about that! What’s been your experience with Dialogue?

C: All things considered, it’s been very good. Of all the art I have on campus there’s nothing more enjoyable and bizarre than seeing my art on the cover of Dialogue (Issue 56.2)—in a good way! You guys put in a lot of work to make this a very official publication. I remember the Dialogue release party, standing around and seeing literally twenty people holding my painting in their hand. It’s also a painting of my best friend. People I had never seen before were holding this very personal painting of my best friend. It’s a weird feeling because something I never expected to be public became public. But I’m so thankful for it and so happy about it. I’m so thankful I was given the opportunity to be on the cover and also have bits of the actual visual identity of the publication be based around my color scheme.

E: What’s been your favorite piece that you’ve submitted to Dialogue?

C: I think it’s Elena, the painting that became the cover. This is one of my favorite pieces I’ve made in general, not only because it’s one of the first big personal pieces that I’ve made and represents a lot of growth for me, but also it’s a very joyful painting. I really like that. It was the first time I realized I could make a painting like this. The other piece that I really really like is this painting for Little Women that I made my freshman year that was in the previous edition of Dialogue (57.1). I’m very proud of that. That’s probably one of my best paintings to date, and I have more I’m going to submit soon.

Christmas at the March Household, 57.1

E: When you’re painting, what do you draw from?

C: It’s a mix of personal experience and wanting to experiment with visual style. I had this assignment when I was in advanced painting, the very first week, to paint forty six by six inch paintings in a week. I literally just went through my camera roll and found images that I liked that looked interesting and painted those. I will always have more fun painting things that I have a personal connection to, rather than just anything, and I think a lot of artists can relate to that.

E: If you were to label yourself as an artist, what are you more inclined to call yourself?

C: I’m definitely more of a painter than I used to be. It’s hard labeling myself under one media because I’m getting a visual arts undergrad, so I’m constantly working in different mediums. Like right now, this semester, I’ve gone deep into graphic design. So I think of myself as a graphic designer. But at any point last year if you had asked me I would have said painter, and at any point in high school I would have said illustrator. I am a painter, I do paint, but it’s hard to label myself under any one medium while I’m in an educational environment and learning new things. And, of course, I always hope to be in an educational environment and to be learning new things. That’s my noncommittal answer for you.

E: Do you have a favorite medium so far?

C: Paint. Listen, if you’re an artist and you’ve never used oil paint before, you’re never gonna go back. It’s such a good medium. It’s literally just color; you get color and put it wherever you want. That’s how I approach paint anyway, and I feel like that’s the most fun way for me to engage with visual art.

E: You designed all the posters for this CTC season, will you design the posters for the next year as well?

C: Yes, I did the graphics my sophomore year, I did the graphics this year, and I’m going to do the graphics next year. I’m very excited. It’s one of the only places where I get to overlap my skills as an illustrator and as a graphic designer fully.

E: Where do you see yourself going, beyond Calvin?

C: That’s always the question. I would love to find internships for designing graphics for other theatre companies because I’ve been enjoying that here. Honestly, because I am an art major, I am going to go wherever my heart takes me. I have a feeling I’ll be doing lots of little things over the years for various things and places. But I’m excited for those opportunities.

E: Anything else you’d like to go over?

C: I’m a very approachable person, if you ever want to talk about my art, just come up to me and talk to me.