OSMOSIS TEAM

Vernon Lockhart received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Vernon began his career freelancing for Film Incorporated (Movie Posters Division) and the Museum of Science and Industry. He co-founded Art On the Loose in 1996. At Art on The Loose, Vernon has provided art direction for major projects in the Chicago area and has had an impressive list of clients. As Principal of Art on the Loose, Inc., he has received awards from Print Design magazine, Communications Arts magazine, Graphic Design USA, and Graphics. Vernon recently served on the national board of AIGA, the professional association for design.

Kim E. Lovely held the position of Assistant Professor in Graphic Design at The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).  During her tenure she received the Henry C. Welcome Fellowship Grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission for Research. Prior to teaching at UMBC she taught at University of Illinois, DePaul University and Columbia College Chicago.  She holds a B.F.A. in Visual Communications from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, M.F.A. in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Post Professional Certificate in Alternative Design from the Archeworks.

Prior to teaching, she worked for the Harold Washington Library Center as a Senior Graphic Designer.  She designed various publications and Environmental Graphics for branch libraries throughout Chicago. Kim is currently the Director of Education for Project Osmosis and collects Quantitative Data on various Social Science Research Projects for Academic and Research Institutions. A few of her current and past projects were with the University of Illinois at Urbana, University of Michigan, ICF International and RTI International. Kim was a recipient of the 2009 Mentorship Award from Project Osmosis. Kim believes that “every client and community deserves good design.”

As a graduate of Columbia College Chicago’s marketing communications program, Emory Brown found his niche in advertising as a copywriter and creative director. Working with many esteemed clients, his portfolio of work ranges in genre from conservative to ultra-modern including American Family Insurance, United Airlines, Mazda 6 and RX-8, Illinois Lottery, Tyson, Miller Genuine Draft, Nike Air Force 1 and Mercedes Benz to name a few. He also earned some of the industry’s most prestigious awards while at E. Morris Communications: 7 Telly Awards (three Bronze and four Silver) for work done on Wal-Mart, a silver ADDY Award for work done on Wal-Mart’s Voices of Color campaign and a gold Service Industry Ad Award for work done on IDOT. His ultimate dream is to foster creative talent. Whether it’s helping creative people become more business savvy or giving children an outlet for self-expression, Brown will continue to amaze the industry with his artistic flair and ability to push the outer limits of creativity.

Cyaira is a wardrobe stylist and founder of Next Level Society. Her creative talents have positioned her to work seven seasons with a nationally syndicated television show, help produce fashion shows for Macy’s, A’Gaci, and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Chicago chapter, along with an array of photoshoots. Being awarded the DCASE IAP grant in 2017 led to the launch of Next Level Society, NFP. The organization uses art to build economic growth in communities throughout Chicago. She is passionate about pouring into youth, young adults, and the community.

Marti Parham is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP program where she majored in fashion design. She also holds a degree from Chicago’s Columbia College in magazine publishing. The former NaPcap hat designer and fashion designer for Abercrombie & Fitch, currently dedicates her creative energy to writing articles for various national publications, penning children’s and young adult books and painting.

Milea Robinson-Wright started her career in Esthetics in 2001. She graduated from Dudley Beauty College in Chicago, where she was born and raised. As a licensed Esthetician her specialty was healthy, natural skin care techniques, teaching make up,and performing make up application. Realizing she had other passions she attended Harrington College in Chicago for an Associates in Interior Design. Milea started with Project Osmosis as an intern while attending Harrington. Design school lead her to realize what her true life’s passion was, event planning. Milea is currently the owner and operator of an event planning company and a spa, as well and photographer. Her companies are Milea GotCha Covered Events and Milea GotCha Covered the spa where she specializes in “Extravagance without the excess Expense”.