LAYLA KERANEN

MARKETER AND SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST

Creativity has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. From drawing as a toddler to running a YouTube channel at nine, I’ve always been fascinated by how ideas take shape visually. That passion eventually expanded into painting, filming, editing, and design.

In high school, I discovered marketing and fell in love with how it blends art and psychology. Around that same time, my life shifted as I began navigating chronic conditions. Even through those challenges, I held onto creativity as a grounding force. It reminded me of who I was and who I wanted to become.

I graduated from Fox Valley Technical College in May 2025 with a degree in Marketing, and since then, I’ve been rebuilding Layla Makes Art into something that reflects my story, my resilience, and my purpose.

Today, I’m passionate about helping people strengthen their digital presence—not by selling them things they don’t need, but by offering genuine support, clarity, and creativity. I love exploring what could be improved, what could feel more “them,” and how their online identity can better reflect their real-world heart. My goal is always to lend a creative hand, not a sales pitch.

Outside of work, I’m someone who loves fishkeeping, exploring new foods and cities with my partner, experimenting with dessert recipes, learning more about marketing, sales, and web design to build my knowledge, and diving into the automotive world—especially anything JDM.

Community

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

I have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in various art-related community activities as a teenager. My artistic skills and confident personality is what got me here in the first place.

In 2022, I had the opportunity to participate in painting a 100-ft mural, alongside other high school students at the time. With local mural artist, Irineo Medina, together we crafted a beautiful mural and a sense of community over those few weeks in the summer of 2022. I take credit for finishing off the pink flower with the yellow center and twisting it to my art-style.

With this experience, also came a sense of community. We had local business owners, local news crews, and local residents of the Fox Valley. There was a connection that all of us students gained from being a part of this project.

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NORTHEAST WISCONSIN 2022 MET GALA

In 2022, I had the opportunity to conduct a live painting of something that I thought represented different cultures and inclusivity. The result was a painting of the Statue of Liberty surrounded by hands of different skin colors, representing inclusivity, diversity, and freedom. During this live painting, there were hundreds of people in the room, watching both myself paint, and the Met Gala hosts talking about the annual fundraiser.

My Big Sister, Amelia, whom I had been matched with since the age of 10, was the reason that I had this opportunity in the first place. The entire point of the Met Gala was to raise donations for the matching system, which matched children, like me, with adults who mirrored their personalities and interests, like Amelia for example. This painting ended up being auctioned off for $700 and the money was donated right back to the organization.