For Kelly Maryanski ’10, balance has always been at the center of her creative journey. A Bachelor of Fine Arts studio art major and dance minor at Denison, she learned early on how to hold multiple passions at once — illustration, performance, and movement — letting each one inform the other.
At Denison, she found a strong support system in professors, friends, and her older sister.
“My sister was a cinema major,” said Maryanski. “She also went to Denison and spent part of her summer watching a list of classic films. That’s how I got interested in the French New Wave movement, because she had to study it.”
That encouragement helped her stay grounded while exploring a wide range of artistic interests.
Her sister and her professors continually pushed Maryanski’s creativity forward. Carrie Olson, assistant professor of studio art, and Ron Abram, professor of visual arts and queer studies, were especially influential, helping her balance multiple artistic identities and inspiring her to pursue them long after graduation.
After Denison, Maryanski moved to Chicago to begin her career in performance. “I did theater, and then I did five seasons at Lyric Opera as a dancer, actor, and puppeteer,” she said.
But while the stage was one part of her world, illustration was another. 
“Growing up, a lot of my work was based on drawing dancers, theater characters, and movement — the movement of clothes and the movement of their body,” Maryanski said.
As she worked in musical theater and continued illustrating, a new passion entered the mix: circus arts. After seeing a Cirque du Soleil performance, she felt immediately drawn to its physicality and artistry.
“This looks crazy and hard, and it’s dance, but it’s also contortion. You’re in the air,” she said. “And there’s something intrinsic where I was like, ‘I need to do that.’”
And she did. “I auditioned for circus school, and I got in with a full scholarship and trained for a year full-time,” Maryanski said.
Even while training, she continued to balance performance with illustration work. Her live drawing gained attention, leading to an opportunity at Westfield that brought her work directly to the public.
“Westfield liked my illustrations and wanted me to do Christmas cards — but on site for guests,” she said.
Everything she pursued — circus arts, theater, and illustration — began to weave together into a career defined by intentional balance.
Then the pandemic hit.
With live performance dwindling, Maryanski shifted again, moving to Los Angeles, where she was hired as a trapeze coach — another role requiring literal and figurative balance. “It’s just a balance, which as an entrepreneur from a liberal arts school, is so important to learn,” said Maryanski.
Today, she continues to work as an aerialist, teaching classes and performing live. She is also an illustrator with an impressive client list. “Hermès was a bucket list client of mine. I worked with them and other designers that I’ve been wanting to work for,” she said.
For Maryanski, the key has been surrounding herself with people who support her ever-evolving path. “Balance is a tricky thing,” she said.
But it’s also the throughline of her life and career. For Maryanski, balance isn’t about choosing one path over another — it’s about building a life that makes room for all of it.
Her advice? “Find something you love and then make it your career.”