UMSL studio art major Jacob Jeliti lines up the paper while working on a two-layer silk screen project in the printmaking studio in the UMSL Fine Arts Building. The project is titled “Things I wish I knew in a Past Life.” The print is a compilation of drawings that Jeliti has made over the years. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)
Jacob Jeliti saw the flyers posted all around the printmaking studio in the Fine Arts Building earlier this year at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. They encouraged students to submit their work to be considered for art merit scholarships offered annually by Greater St. Louis Artists.
Jeliti said it was on a whim that he decided to enter, allowing his talent and creativity to be judged against that of college art students from across the region.
“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Jeliti remembered thinking. “I’ll see if I can make it.”
Over the next several weeks, Jeliti, a studio art major, set out to create a collection of new pieces to add to his portfolio, and he turned it all in ahead of the competition’s March 1 deadline. Then the wait began.
Jeliti said applicants were told the winners would be announced on or around March 21. His hopes had started to grow during the application process, so he described the 20-day wait as “agonizing.” But it was nothing compared to when March 21 came and went with no news – positive or negative – about the scholarship.
But just when Jeliti gave up on the idea of getting it, he received an email while at work the next day notifying him he’d been selected – along with students from Maryville University, St. Louis Community College and Saint Louis University.
“I called my parents immediately,” Jeliti said. “I honestly just couldn’t believe it.”
Studio art major Jacob Jeliti talks with CJ Sunega, a staff member in the Department of Psychological Sciences, about his screen prints during a Winter Market held in December in Lucas Hall. The market featured a variety of items created by the students and other department members including shirts, jewelry, screenprinted art, photographs, pottery, cards and unique gift items.
With the scholarship came the honor of being recognized and displaying some of his work a week later at the Queeny Art Fair at Queeny Park in Manchester, Missouri.
But the biggest thing Jeliti received was validation – validation that he’d made the right decision when he first decided to pursue art as more than a hobby back when he was 18 and nearing graduation from Clayton High School.
He’d always had an affinity for drawing and would often doodle random shapes and figures growing up. He was also passionate about horror and fantasy video games, in part because of their artistic quality.
“I had a talk with my dad where he was like, ‘OK, what are you going to do? What do you want to do?’” he said. “At the time, I was buying all these art books and getting into these illustrations that other people made. I was just like, ‘I want to be able to do that someday.’”
With artists such as John Devlin serving as his inspiration, Jeliti decided to enroll at St. Louis Community College–Meramec and found his way into the fine arts program. He quickly developed an affection for screen printing.
“I always kind of thought it was like magic, because it didn’t really make sense to me whenever I saw it in person,” he said. “The more I did it, it was just really fun. I just liked playing with it, because you can get a bunch of different variations of one image. Depending how you ink something, what colors you use or how you layer things, you can just completely change the mood of an image that already kind of exists.”
Jeliti finished his associate degree in 2020, amid the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But he was not eager to continue with online education, so he opted to take a break from school. Over the next three years, he worked a series of jobs, including a stint as a museum attendant at the Mildred Kemper Art Museum, but they often weren’t fulfilling.
UMSL art major Jacob Jeliti’s two-layer silk screen project, titled “Things I Wish I Knew in a Past Life,” features a compilation of drawings that Jeliti has made over the years.
By 2024, he was ready to return to the classroom and chose to enroll at UMSL. He said he was originally drawn to it because of the affordable tuition but quickly found a friendly and encouraging environment in the Department of Art and Design similar to the one he’d enjoyed at STLCC.
“They’ve been very welcoming,” Jeliti said. “They’ve been really nice. I think it was hard at first to kind of get back in the rhythm of schooling after not doing it for so long, but all my teachers there in the art department have been great. They’ve all been really supportive.”
He’s also appreciated the breadth of different techniques and mediums that he’s been exposed to, including a 3D modeling course taught by Assistant Professor Jodi Kolpakov or an etching course taught by Professor Jeffrey Sippel.
“I think the class variety here is really good,” Jeliti said. “I’m taking Jodi’s illustration class, and I think there’s just so many different classes I could take that fit a specific niche. The first class I took here at UMSL was game design, which was something I didn’t think they would have, and it was a great class.”
He’s made an impression on his professors.
“Jacob has always stood out to me because he’s really driven to grow as a professional artist, especially in 3D,” Kolpakov said. “He consistently goes above and beyond to create polished, professional work, and he takes feedback incredibly well. He’s thoughtful, detail-oriented and always pushing himself to improve.”
Game design remains the area in which Jeliti would like to eventually work in the future. He has collected more than 100 pages of material in a Word document about a horror game he hopes to one day create.
Jacob Jeliti has gotten to experiment with different techniques during his time as a student at UMSL. He’s taken an etching class with Professor Jeffrey Sippel.
“The whole reason I wanted to learn art was to make my own video games,” he said. “Eventually, I’m going to be doing that.”
At the moment, he’s more focused on developing his artistic skills than he is diving into coding and the digital aspects of game design. He’s on track to graduate next spring and hasn’t ruled out pursuing a master’s in fine arts after graduation.
The GSLA’s Art Merit Scholarship will help him continue his training by helping with the cost of his tuition as well as basic supplies like paper so he can create his work. He’s excited to keep doing so alongside his classmates and instructors at UMSL.
“I think what I really missed the last couple years was having a community space where I can make stuff and talk to other people,” he said. “I just think about 10 years ago, when I didn’t have any experience at all, and even two years ago, when I was working jobs that I hated. Now I’m in school, and I’m doing things that I like, and people are even paying me money to do it. It’s really nice. I just can’t believe it.”
