When I transferred from business school into art school, I was struck by the creative energy around me. Students were spending hours, weeks, and sometimes months making meaningful work, but once assignments were finished, that work often had little space to be shared or celebrated beyond the classroom. I started Silly Squared as a way to change that: turning student artwork into free stickers that could move through the WashU community in a fun, accessible, and lighthearted way.

What began with a few friends' illustrations and a table on campus grew into a student-run nonprofit dedicated to uplifting artists and making art more visible. Over four semesters, I built Silly Squared from the ground up, leading creative direction, curation, fundraising, sponsorships, production, and distribution. I developed campus-wide distribution systems, partnered with local and national brands, created mailed sticker collections for donors, and helped turn the project into a semesterly sticker design competition.

As Silly Squared grew, building a team became central to the project's future. I wanted the organization to continue beyond my own time on campus, but more importantly, I wanted it to give students a real opportunity to understand the business of art - what it means to fund, curate, produce, distribute, and operate a creative organization. After graduating, I recruited and trained a five-person leadership team, continued as Creative Director, and eventually transitioned into an advisory role.

To date, Silly Squared has partnered with more than 60 artists and distributed over 60,000 free stickers across campus and beyond. Those featured artists now make up the Silly Squared Society, a growing community of creatives whose work has been shared, collected, and celebrated through the project. As the Society continues to grow, it has become a supportive network of artists who want to help uplift the next generation - one of the most meaningful parts of building Silly Squared.