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How Courtney Treglia Uses Art to Heal, Connect, and Inspire

Courtney Treglia is an artist and writer who uses her creativity to process emotions, tell stories, and make sense of the world around her. In this interview, she shares her journey—from growing up surrounded by nature and city life to discovering her love for printmaking and poetry. Courtney talks about how art became a way to express herself, especially during tough times, and how creating surreal creatures helped her share her feelings without using her own image. She also discusses her poetry book Lost Objects & Found Memories, her passion for traditional art techniques, and why she believes art is a powerful way to unite people and spark empathy.

Courtney Treglia

Courtney Treglia is an artist and writer born and raised in New York. Spending half of her time in Rochester developed her love of nature, and the other half on Long Island opened her eyes to the disparate elitism of redlined suburbia. From adolescence, her ability to express boundaries diminished in fear that being outspoken was seen as annoying and unappealing. Her art became a place to record her frustrations and sadness, a visual diary of lived experience. Her curiosity for antiquated processes made her love analog machinery, including typewriters, cassette players, film, and hand-drawn animation.

While working on her MA in Art and Art Education at Teachers College at Columbia University, she found the printmaking studio where she immediately found herself. She realized her difficulty with education and social settings in her formative years stemmed from PTSD. She processed the diagnosis and the loss of her father in her poetry book, “Lost Objects & Found Memories.” Overcoming obstacles in mental health and family with physical health conditions defined her advocacy for accessibility and how arts education is the perfect space for diverse and disabled students to find their voice. Courtney encourages her students to do the same as the Assistant to the Chair in the graduate Art Education department at the School of Visual Arts. In her spare time, she drinks coffee, plays Animal Crossing, and spends time with her family and three cats — Kiki, Luna, and Ash at her home in Queens, New York.

1.  Your art often features surreal and fantastical creatures. What draws you to these themes, and how do they reflect your personal experiences?  

I have always loved mythology and fairytales, while my friends loved horror movies. However, I realized over time that there are still so many places where mythology converges with horror, or I’d still want to read the synopsis behind a horror movie because whether it is horror, science fiction, fairy tales, or mythology — the creature tells a story. It represents struggle, trauma, and a lesson learned, which became more interesting than using my own face to share my experiences. I grew up with many insecurities about myself, so I didn’t want to make a hundred images of myself going through whatever I was processing, so I made my own creatures.

Courtney Treglia Will Anybody Ever Love Me?, 2024, 12×18, Silkscreen

2. How has your dual upbringing—surrounded by nature in Rochester and the energy of New York City—shaped your creative voice?  

I feel like every child sees nature as magic, and it’s a feeling I try to hold onto and emulate in my artwork through my use of color. Spending time in Rochester made me present with the environment around me and look at the stars every night. Even though the environment is different in New York City, I make sure to remain present and pick up whatever the city is trying to tell me. It might be how the clouds are framed in the sky by the skyscraper or the wind blows in between. Each city has its own voice, and I try to listen to it wherever I am. Whatever it tells me, I try to incorporate it into my artwork or my writing where it feels right.

Courtney Treglia Holding on to all we’ve ever (un)known, 2024, 9×12, Silkscreen

3. Lost Objects & Found Memories combines poetry and linoleum-cut illustrations. What inspired this project, and how did the creative process unfold?  

My inspiration behind the project was admittedly that I thought nothing would ever happen with my poetry. I was trying to make something of myself with my art, but my poetry was something I kept to myself, and it felt like it needed to go somewhere. I tried submitting a few poems here and there to different poetry magazines or contests, but I’d get rejected. During the pandemic, after my dad passed, I started creating all the time, and maybe assuming the poetry wouldn’t go anywhere while I felt alone in an abandoned city, I had no inhibitions. What was there to lose? So I decided to make it myself by hand with the skills I had – printmaking and bookbinding. The project was the best way for me to pass the time while going through some of the hardest moments of my life.

Courtney Treglia A Love that Time Would Envy, 2024, 12×18, Silkscreen

4.  As an advocate for arts in education, how do you see creativity playing a role in fostering equity and empathy in today’s world?    

When we advocate for equity and see things through other people’s perspectives, it is very difficult to get people on the other side of the argument to understand a point of view outside of their own. In art, it challenges you to understand things that aren’t familiar to you. You can feel immensely for something you have never been presented with before. That is why art is an important avenue for speaking up and highlighting different experiences.

Courtney Treglia To Have and to Hold, 2024, 12×18, Silkscreen

5.  Your work incorporates traditional techniques like printmaking and collage. What is it about these methods that resonates with you?  

Some people are still surprised I am old enough to teach graduate students, but I have the personality of a ninety-year-old. As a child, I was very resistant to technology. I felt like I was always behind on what the other kids were doing on the internet. I love science fiction, but I actually feel like an important warning to science fiction is that relying on technology can lead us to lose our humanity. Innovation can improve our lives or advance evolution in many ways, but I always feel most confident when fixing a cassette player or cranking the wheel to a French printing press. It feels very natural to me and comforting to use my hands with these traditional processes.

Courtney Treglia

6.  You dedicate some of your book’s profits to Frontline Arts. How has giving back to the creative community influenced your perspective as an artist?

Printmaking is an incredible art form, and I have seen so many people who have claimed, “But I am not an artist,” who falls in love with printmaking. However, there is an equity issue with printmaking. So much funding goes into printmaking supplies, studio space, proper ventilation, and chemical disposal that most studios are only accessible through academic settings. This excludes a large portion of the community that gets to learn these processes, which I have seen as incredibly beneficial to people’s lives. Part of my love for printmaking means acknowledging this access gap and doing my part to support organizations that bring it to the community.

Courtney Treglia Monsters Among Us, 2024, 22×30, Photography and Digital Drawing

Courtney’s journey shows how powerful creativity can be. Through her surreal creatures, heartfelt poetry, and love for traditional printmaking, she stays true to her passion for self-expression and building community. Her story reminds us how art can help us find our voice, embrace our imperfections, and make the world kinder and more inclusive. To learn more about Courtney, click the following links to visit her profile.

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