Erica McKeehen

Photography, MFA

I am from small-own Bucyrus, Ohio but have called Chicago home for over a decade. I graduated with my degree in Commercial Photography from Ohio University and moved to the city shortly thereafter to pursue life as a freelancer. I quickly learned how difficult the commercial world was, and I began working in a quick-service restaurant to pay the bills. Already working 40 hours a week, I quickly made my way up the pecking order and became General Manager of that restaurant. The next several years were spent managing coffee shops until I changed courses and applied to grad school at Columbia in 2019. I graduated with my MA in Arts Management last spring and am now an MFA candidate in Photography at Columbia. I’m so excited to be utilizing my unique experiences as a burlesque performer (I started in 2017), arts manager, and photographer in the program. Currently I am working on a portrait project of the burlesque and sex work community that surrounds me here in Chicago.