Corrina Mehiel
Corrina Mehiel
Corrina Celeste Mitten Mehiel (March 23, 1982- March 21, 2017) was an American artist and a resident of Burnsville, North Carolina.
Personal Life
Corrina Mehiel was born to Ron Mehiel (a psychology professor) and Starr Berwager Mehiel in Seattle, Washington. She was survived by her father, her stepmother Lari, and her three siblings: Bret, Eric, and Jenifer. Her biological mother passed away in 2005.
Corrina was a very creative and artistic child growing up.
She loved to dance, make music with her friends, and sharing hours of laughter with her friends and family.
As she matured, she focused her time and energy on drawing, painting, and photography.
She was compassionate and friendly, making friends through experiences all over the world.
She tried to engage with everyone she met and embraced the humanity of the world.
She was a deep thinker yet provocative in her art, bringing awareness to women's rights, minority rights and the injustices of the world. In memory of what Corrina Mehiel represented, her family requests that any memorial contributions be made to:
The National Organization for Women: to end the violence against women (P.O. Box 1848, Merrifield, VA 22116-1848), or
V-Day: a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls (4104 24th Street #4515 San Francisco, CA 94114)
Education
Mehiel is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, receiving her BA in 2005. She also holds an MFA from the University of Cincinnati. Her MFA thesis project, Clothes Swap Cincinnati, investigated how clothing swaps create opportunities for dialogue through the act of trading garments. Her Kickstarter campaign received $1,276 from 23 backers.
Flavia Bastos, one of her professors at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, traveled with Corrina Mehiel to Dusseldorf, Germany to speak about Mehiel's "Clothes Swap Cincinnati" project. She remembers as being multi-faceted, independent and brave.
She was an example of the new generation of artists who really want to put their talents and service toward creating a better world.
I really think she did that, and in the process, she really touched the lives of the people she came in contact with.
Corrina Mehiel graduated high school in 2000 from Lower Allen Township's Trinity High School.
Career
In 2017, Mehiel was a project assistant at Mel Chin Studio She was working on the "Fundred Reserve" project, which aims to raise awareness of the dangers of lead poisoning through a display of hand-drawn $100 bills, made by people who care about the issue from across the country.
She was also an instructor at Washington D.C.’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design teaching studio and socially engaged art.
Death
Mehiel was stabbed to death in her apartment on March 21, 2017, by an unknown man.
A person of interest has been apprehended.
Mehiel's car, which went missing after her death, was recovered by police, officials said.