Barbara Hranilovich is an artist of many mediums and much talent. Her current passion is in pottery, actively a member of the Greater Lansing Potters’ Guild. Beyond pottery, she is an avid painter with her BFA in oil painting from Western Michigan University — the same school as Lauren! Despite all this, her illustration ability is a large part of what secured her name in the commercial art circles of our community.
Like many great artist origin stories of Lansing, Barbara Hranilovich’s story begins at the Michigan Advertising Club (known now as AAF Lansing). She joined as a means of meeting like-minded people after moving to the city. Barbara was formally introduced to Lauren Ciesa and he gave her some other names to contact for illustration work. Barbara knew to get work she would need visibility, and aimed for winning an ADDY from the Michigan Ad Club to increase her local notoriety. She had been working in graphic design previously, but decided to sell herself as an illustrator in the new town. Luckily for Barbara, the local illustrator was looking to retire and many groups around the area were needing someone to step into the role.
Barbara was no stranger to corporate illustration. While in Kalamazoo she was friends with Fran Russel who, at the time, was working for a man named Bob Fish. Bob wanted illustrated cups for his coffee shops and Fran suggested Barbara. Barbara did a cup series for years and later started doing wall pieces. Back then, Bob had only 4 stores in his chain. Now, Biggby Coffee has over 430 locations in 13 states featuring Barbara’s illustrations.
While looking for what part of Lansing to be her part of Lansing, Barbara started a couple of businesses in the area. The first company was a studio created alongside a couple of friends looking to support each other in their art and business. “3 Hot Bitches” studio ended up breaking even after 2-3 years of the trio pouring their hearts and souls into it. “Girl Street Gallery” was the next business, a co-op with 8 people all focused on bringing in and highlighting emerging artists to their space and to Lansing. The co-op lasted for a decade, the last three years of which construction in front of their building entrance diminished traffic and interest in their space. The group decided to close the doors while they were still breaking even and with good time too as it was just before COVID would place financial stress on many small businesses.
When Barbara first moved to Lansing, it was in support of her husband as he worked on his post-doctoral internship. She initially assumed she would only be here for a few years, but when her business started to take off they both decided to stay in the area. Barbara then began to ask herself, what do I want to engage with in this city? Old Town provided the answer. At the time she first moved here, Barbara remembers Old Town as a “shit show” with a “bad reputation.” She saw a poster one day that could use some help, and offered to provide her services. This culminated into several years of designing Jazz Festival posters followed by a couple years of Blues Festival poster illustration.
Besides the Blues and Jazz Festivals, Barbara has also provided illustrations for the East Lansing Art Festival (1995) and the Silver Bells in the City (2016). Today, Barbara is still very active in her design community, providing illustrations for the Lumberjack Festival and the Krampus Festival. Most recently, she was called to design and outline a community canvas for the Constellation Cat Café, a project that increased creative participation in the community and overall recognition for a local animal shelter and non-profit.
When asked for the best way for artists to support their communities, Barbara mentioned mentoring or encouraging other artists as the biggest way to give back. She recalled her teaching history, teaching Illustration at Lansing Community College, and later Design & Illustration at Michigan State University. As the curriculum changed, Barbara moved on to find better fits for her artistic needs and desires. Through these experiences she recognized the importance of mentoring and encouraging young and emerging artists. Most students are not given enough information in high school or college to ask the right questions or take the first steps. When she is contacted by students who want to meet and pick her brain for a couple of hours, she happily obliges them.
Barbara Hranilovich’s artistic journey of exploration and evolution has caused her to take on many roles: painter, illustrator, sculptor, business owner, community supporter, teacher, mentor, muralist. Through her years of adapting and creating, she has remained rooted to her core values of serving, connecting and uplifting her community. Whether designing for a coffee shop, running a ceramics sale or providing insight to a curious student, Barbara’s work is an amalgamation of her curiosity, craft and community. Her legacy is felt across Michigan, not just in the physical work she produced, but in the spaces she has supported and the artists she has encouraged along the way.