Alumni
FIDM Alumna Liesl Long Chaintreuil Selected as 2023 Kentucky Derby Festival Official Poster Artist
FIDM Grad Liesl Long Chaintreuil has been selected to create the official poster for this coming year’s Kentucky Derby Festival, the month-long celebration based around the Kentucky Derby. Louisville-based Chaintreuil began creating art as a child, which helped her gain entry to duPont Manual High School’s Visual Arts Magnet program. Upon graduation, she earned a FIDM scholarship, so she packed up and headed to Los Angeles to continue her education. She earned her degree in Textile Design and immediately went to work for a local textile design company in Los Angeles.
During that time, she also started painting children’s art for Colleen Karis Designs, sold nationally in TJ Maxx HomeGoods. In 2011, she moved back to Louisville and continued her work as an illustrator and painter.
“Art for me is a way to tell a story that speaks to both me and to others about the beauty that exists in people, style, events and nature,” Chaintreuil says. “I love to capture people and their unique style at various Kentucky world-renown events. The Kentucky Derby Festival scene gave me the opportunity to illustrate my love for the history of Kentucky, fashion, and the colorful vibrancy within a scene.”
Chaintreuil’s poster will be revealed on Thursday, March 16, 2023 on KDF.org, the festival’s official website.
