Sarah Kopitske (Visual Arts 2010) Speaks to Students During Common Experience

April 15, 2025

Perpich alum, Sarah Kopitske (Visual Arts 2010), spoke with students during Common Ex on Monday, April 14th. Common Ex is a series of presentations where students often hear about the artistic life from practicing artists, many of whom are Perpich graduates.

Sarah Kopitske (Visual Arts 2010), spoke with students during Common Ex on Monday, April 14th.

Sarah’s presentation covered her career of 10+ years in product design for retail. She started freelancing while finishing her BFA degree in Illustration at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). That first client, Annie B’s Candy, led to one of her designs being picked for Oprah’s “Favorite Things” for 2014. Later she joined the corporate world with a role at Seasonal Specialties. Some of her clients include Costco and Target.

In addition to the artistic aspects of her profession, discussing the product development process of research, sketch, review, revisions, etc., Sarah also shared very practical advise with the Perpich students. “Always save money for taxes if you’re a freelancer!” she emphasized, even producing a career analysis of her earnings vs. her expenses over the years.

As an artist that designs retail products, many of which are produced in China, the current tariff war is having an impact and Sarah is asking herself “what happens if I’m let go?” Again, she shared practical advise with the students on what a working artist should do when faced with a recession. A few of the suggestions were to follow up with past clients, explore continuing education, and reach out to alumni resources.

MCAD has strong alumni resources available, and the Perpich alumni community has come through for Sarah, too. “The majority of the jobs I’ve had were through Perpich connections,” she said. “Keep those relationships and be a good friend because you never know where those connections will lead.”

“Sarah was a very engaging speaker,” said Jay Melchior, Special Education Teacher. “She had a nice balance of great visuals to showcase her work with good storytelling skills. She also did a great job of explaining what it looks like to be a working artist, complete with slides that showed our students the cost of living and inflation for the last 10 years.”

Sarah Kopitske is a Minneapolis-based illustrator and product designer with a BFA degree in Illustration from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. While at Perpich, she did everything from illustration, printmaking, comic books, oil, and acrylic paintings, to soft sculpture. Having 2D and 3D experience helped lead her to working in Product Design and Graphic Design. Her work has been sold in Menards, Target, and Costco.