Kristin (Siegfried) Ballenger ’09 is a maker and restorer of violins, violas, and cellos. She has recently had instruments in the Celebrating Women Luthiers Exhibit in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Burlington, Vermont. In November, she will have three instruments featured at the Anaheim 2022 Competition and Convention of the Violin Society of America. As well as her new making, she does fine instrument restoration for Reuning and Son Violins in Boston.

Morris ’75 and Linda (Brown) ’76 Tammen are using their retirement years to launch a new business with two of their children, Katrina Tammen Reber ’05 and Evan Tammen ’09. Artesia Brewing, located on their farm outside of Thawville, Illinois, opened its doors last fall and features varieties of hard cider, mead, and beer made with the fruits and honey from their farm.

“Two of our bestselling beers are named after a special IWU memory that my husband and I share,” Linda recently said. “I am sure I have told customers the story at least 50 times since we opened last fall. It always gets such a great reaction.”

Learn more here.

Angela (Tomazin) Hesemann ’09 is the co-founder of BreakAway Meetings, LLC, a startup company that brings the custom food and beverage experience of in-person conferences and meetings to virtual events. Like many others working in the hospitality industry, Angela and co-founder Kim Carlson were laid off at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the event world went virtual, they noticed a lack of fun and customization in virtual gatherings. BreakAway Meetings allows organizers of virtual events to choose food and beverage packages, customize their contents to match a theme or focus, and ship packages directly to meetings attendees in advance of their event.

Robert Porter ’09 was appointed public administrator and public guardian of McLean County by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

Congratulations to Lauren O’Connor ’09 on her upcoming publication of Robin and the Making of American Adolescence.

Synopsis: Holy adolescence, Batman! Robin and the Making of American Adolescence offers the first character history and analysis of the most famous superhero sidekick, Robin. Debuting just a few months after Batman himself, Robin has been an integral part of the Dark Knight’s history—and debuting just a few months prior to the word “teenager” first appearing in print, Robin has from the outset both reflected and reinforced particular images of American adolescence. Closely reading several characters who have “played” Robin over the past eighty years, Robin and the Making of American Adolescence reveals the Boy (and sometimes Girl!) Wonder as a complex figure through whom mainstream culture has addressed anxieties about adolescents in relation to sexuality, gender, and race. This book partners up comics studies and adolescent studies as a new Dynamic Duo, following Robin as he swings alongside the ever-changing American teenager and finally shining the Bat-signal on the latter half of “Batman and—.”

The book is released on August 13th, 2021. You can read more about it here.

Our Assistant Director of Career Engagement at Illinois Wesleyan University, Brian Richardson ’09, has been hired as the Associate Director of Career Services in San Antonio. Congratulations, Brian!

Kaelyn Riley ’09 finished her M.A. in English at UC Davis in 2011, and her M.F.A. in creative writing at Colorado State University in 2014. Since then, she has been living and working in Minneapolis as a senior editor for Experience Life, an award-winning health, and wellness magazine published by Life Time Fitness. She married her husband Ben in January 2018, and bought their first home together in South Minneapolis last fall.

Elizabeth (Sowatzke) Schlicht ’09 gave virtual practice interviews to students on March 12, 2021. Elizabeth majored in voice as a student at IWU’s School of Music. She was planning to continue studying music post-graduation, but decided to pursue other interests during her senior year. Elizabeth is currently the Executive Director of the Association Acumen in Milwaukee utilizing her skills in non-profit management and marketing. This was a great opportunity for music or marketing majors to explore career options and develop their interview skills! Thank you, Elizabeth!

Katie (Whalley) Banville ’09 along with her husband Bryan and daughter Juniper have gone from having chock-full 2020 calendars of creative work to spending virtually 24 hours a day of the past nine months quarantining at home.

With many planned shows and performance cancellations, Katie, a choreographer and stage director, said, “It was heartbreaking. We definitely went through a phase of loss and grief. It was like a domino effect. One show would get postponed, and then another and another.”

Read more on the Banville’s in Faces of the arts shutdown: Theater’s Bryan & Katie Banville: ‘We definitely went through a phase of loss’ from the San Diego Union Tribune.