Born in 1961 in Oberlin, Ohio, Alison Aune grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts where her father was a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts (UMASS). She and her two sisters grew up on Blackberry Lane playing in the woods and meadows and her New England roots remain steady and deep to this day. Her parents, both from Minnesota, actively supported her love of art, music, and theater.

Alison received her BFA in painting and art education at UMASS, studying with Professors Wang Hui-Ming and John Grillo, and with Professor Robert Sweeney at Amherst College. After living in Sweden and Berkeley, California, Alison finished her MA in painting at the University of Minnesota Duluth with Professor Deborah Howard. Later she worked on an MFA in painting and art history at Ohio University in Athens, before working on her dissertation in Norway to complete her PhD in Comparative Arts.

In 1991, Alison returned to Minnesota with her husband Jon Hinkel, proprietor at the Tight Squeek Press, where she raised three wonderful children, taught art with children at Summit School and the Duluth Art Institute, and worked at the University of Minnesota as the education coordinator at the Tweed Museum of Art. Since 1999, Alison has been the area chair and Professor of art education in the UMD Art & Design Department.

Alison’s floral pattern paintings and folk art are available at her sister Kirsten’s store in Duluth and through the website kirstenaune.com.