Nicole DuFour, who earned her bachelor of fine arts degree with an emphasis in graphic design in May 2023, created “The Star Dweller” for her senior capstone project and later self-published the book. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

Nicole DuFour still remembers the first time her own art was put on display in public.

When she was a kindergartener in 2006, a painting she made got into an art show at the Jamestown Mall in Florissant, Missouri. The painting was simple – just DuFour and her best friend standing in the grass, with the sun in the right-hand corner and a butterfly in the sky – but the experience had a lasting impact on the budding artist.

“It was a basic kid thing,” she said. “It was really just what you would expect a kindergartener to make, but I remember it so vividly. I remember having my art on display, and I was just like, ‘Whoa, people can do this?’ I think it sparked right then and there that I knew I wanted to pursue art as a career.”

DuFour’s parents encouraged her aspirations to become an artist, which eventually led her to the Department of Art and Design at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where she transferred from St. Louis Community College as a junior. Despite some initial challenges – DuFour started her studies at UMSL amid the COVID-19 pandemic – she felt that the university’s supportive art community helped her thrive.

“At UMSL, it was really welcoming,” DuFour said. “I feel like the graphic design program I was in was challenging, but my classmates and I relied on each other and worked with each other to make it work. There are times where you’re really down and hard on yourself, and you’re like, ‘Is this even possible?’ ‘Can I even do this?’ They really lifted me up during that time. We came together as an art community to have our ideas out there. Because of UMSL and the program that we have for the art department, I was able to pursue what I really wanted to do, which is write and illustrate children’s books.”

And that’s exactly what DuFour did for her senior capstone project. Her children’s book, “The Star Dweller,” tells the story of a mystical being who flies through space searching for a friend and eventually decides to make a new friend out of stardust. After graduating with her bachelor of fine arts degree with an emphasis in graphic design in May 2023, DuFour went on to self-publish the book. She’s always loved storytelling and said the graphic design program at UMSL gave her the structure she needed to make her dreams a reality, from critiques on her doodles from her classmates and professors to help with storyboarding.

The Star Dweller tells the story of a mystical being who flies through space searching for a friend and eventually decides to make a new friend out of stardust.

“I think storytelling is an integral part of what we do as a society, and I think it’s important for kids to have that,” she said. “I still remember some of the children’s books that I read as a kindergartener. My story is mostly about how even though we’re different, we’re all made of stardust. Especially when I wrote it in 2022, there was a lot of hate in the world. I wanted to send the message that when it comes down to it, we’re all made of the same stuff, so we should treat each other with kindness and care, because we’re all going through something. We should all still be here for each other because even though we’re different, we’re really still the same.”

DuFour, who currently works as a graphic design associate at Stifel Financial Corp., dreams of one day writing and illustrating children’s books full-time. She’s already started storyboarding for her next book and would like to further hone her skills in illustration by pursuing a master’s degree. She’s also interested in teaching, noting the many professors and teachers who have had an impact on her art over the years.

In the years since DuFour published “The Star Dweller,” the book has found success far beyond the UMSL campus. It was featured in The New York Times Book Review and various international book fairs, including The London Book Fair in 2023 and the Manila International Book Fair in 2024. The latter was an especially full-circle moment for DuFour, whose mother immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines, and the warm reception to the book has served as further encouragement for her to continue following her dreams.

“Having my family see what I made, that I could do it, kind of proved to myself as well that you can really do what you want,” DuFour said. “You just have to push yourself to try to do it. It is scary to put yourself out there and put your art out there for other people just see. But it can be really rewarding. It just filled me with a lot of joy. I felt like my kindergarten self would be absolutely enamored with the fact that I did that. I think I’m kind of doing it for my kindergarten self, just to be like, ‘Hey, you did this.’”