Paris Stinson graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a concentration in 2D media in the winter 2025 semester. Stinson began her educational career at EMU in physics, but shortly into her academic career, she felt the fit was not right.
Starting in middle school and continuing into high school, Stinson had created and designed sets for the performing arts. It was there that she fell in love with the art world and stories told with just images.
The passion Stinson felt about set design led her to take the leap into fine arts and pursue her lifelong passion for creation and painting. Influential professors during Stinson’s time at EMU included Amy Sacksteder, Dustin London and Maria Ruggiero, who each inspired Stinson in their own ways, helping her realize that she was a painter first.
“I am a painter, here to make paintings, not to replicate a photo,” Stinson said. "If it doesn't look like a photo ... good; it's a painting."
"Violent Cherries" (2025) is an oil painting by Paris Stinson. (Courtesy of Paris Stinson)
Post-graduation, Stinson started an internship at the Riverside Arts Center under the supervision of Maggie Spencer, head curator and manager of operations. Stinson works with Spencer and helps create the story being told through art galleries. Stinson and Spencer have collaborated on curating and organizing the Riverside Arts Center's fourth annual Black Artist Exhibition in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Ronnie and Gloria Peterson. The exhibition began Jan. 16, 2026, and will run until Feb. 28, 2026.
Stinson served as co-president of EMU’s Intermedia Gallery Group from 2024-2025, a position that helped her gain curating experience before beginning the internship. Stinson said she leans on her previous gallery experience from the IGG to curate the work she does with Spencer.
The objective of the IGG is to provide support and help EMU art students flourish. The IGG highlights specific student artists and hosts themed shows with a variety of different artist callouts. Art callouts are a method for galleries to reach out to artists in the community to submit work to different exhibitions.
During the pandemic, IGG had to pause gallery showcases and struggled to make a full comeback. Stinson's shift into co-presidency came out of a necessity to help restore the organization by filling the committee board. She knew she wanted to be able to support the student organization and fellow classmates by keeping the group alive and thriving. Later, in 2025, Stinson stepped down from co-president to secretary to focus on her own work and make room for other artists to experience a leadership position.
Originally a physics major, Stinson's progression from science to art was full of personal development and experimentation.
“At the beginning, I had a very rigid idea of what art was like. I thought it was something you paint and you're done, completing paintings just to complete assignments,” Stinson said.
At the end of Stinson’s sophomore year, she began looking for her purpose as an artist, seeking to create — not just for the passing grade, but as way to bring her subjects to life. She asked questions focused on which subjects, themes and genres would be at the core of her work.
"Amara" (2025), a watercolor painting by Paris Stinson. (Courtesy of Paris Stinson)
“Being a Black artist, sitting in art history lectures, it was always the same thing — same pattern, same portrait, same kinds of people being portrayed,” Stinson said, “I am a Black female artist; how would I want to see myself in a painting or a body of work?”
Stinson began working in surreal and abstract work.
"The evolving story through the artwork ... can change and deepen with each spectator,” Stinson said. "I feel that abstract work gives me the freedom to experiment that really feeds the science side of me.”
Before beginning a piece of work, Stinson focuses first on who or what the inspiration is. Second, she focuses on the way the piece would look within a gallery and how it will be received. Third, she focuses on who has not been painted — not just Black people, but concentrating on Black people who have not had their stories told. In the future, Stinson said she would love to explore painting more of the Black queer community and tell their story.
“I think this way of thinking allows for everyone to get represented,” Stinson said.
In 2024, during her first show, Stinson won the Annual Juried Student Art Show. Her painting “Track My Flow” was created using acrylic gouache and micron pens. Stinson was featured in the 2025 Cellar Roots 51st edition for “Lick Me” (2025), an oil painting self-portrait. During the 21st annual Art in the Legislature program, Stinson was a highlighted artist for “Puzzle Me” (2025), a watercolor self-portrait inspired by collage artist Ed Woods, as well as "Amara" (2025), a watercolor portrait inspired by the Greek god Aphrodite, known as a shape-shifter with the ability to turn into whoever the spectator believes to be beautiful.
“To me, Aphrodite would be a Black woman, because that is the pinnacle of beauty, in my opinion,” Stinson said.
"Black Boy Joy" (2025), an oil painting by Paris Stinson. (Courtesy of Paris Stinson)
Her recent oil portrait “Black Boy Joy” (2025) was featured in the “Matters of the Heart” exhibition hosted by Dzanc House. The process of creating the portrait began with the idea of how to bring joy to life. The inspiration for the portrait was Stinson's brother, and the focus of the portrait was on joy pertaining to Black men. Stinson arranged a scene for her brother to stand in the spotlight on an auditorium stage. Creating a stage for the portrait was intended to not only encapsulate the surroundings but allow Stinson to get herself into the right mentality to portray the subject in the intended way.
Stinson uses photography as an avenue to stage portraits. This allows her to be in control of the full start-to-finish process of staging the photos and controlling the environment and subject, as well as bringing her vision to life through brush strokes and canvas.
Stinson has begun taking commissions for watercolor paintings post-graduation. Choosing to focus on portraits, Stinson works for clients and her art community to provide art services. Stinson focuses her art on provoking feelings and eliciting a response from the audience.
“What your medium is, is what your art should look like,” Stinson said. “You shouldn't fight it, because in my opinion, it is taking away from art and experiencing art.”
To follow along Stinson’s art journey and see new paintings, follow @paris.makes.art on Instagram. Visit parisstinson.com to view, purchase or commission Stinson’s work.
Paris Stinson graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2025. The artwork in the background includes "Black Boy Joy" (2025) and "Violent Cherries" (2025). (Courtesy of Paris Stinson)
