Megan Couri. Painter//Muralist

 Megan was born in Peoria, Illinois and has lived in the Central Illinois area nearly her entire life. Born to a pianist mother and an artist father, she has been surrounded by art her entire life. Throughout high school she was challenged to explore multi-mediums, yet gravitated towards oil based colored pencil, charcoal, and more intensely acrylic painting.

In 1999 she was awarded first place through the "Congressional Art Competition", and was presented the award by Ray LaHood for her colored pencil/paint mixed medium painting entitled "Foul Faced". In 2001 she won the Janette Faye Browning Scholarship for accomplished artist for Richwoods High School, which is a scholarship awarded to one artist every year whom exhibits the most advancement, accomplishment, and projected success. In 2001 she was awarded a scholarship to attend St. Ambrose University to focus her undergraduate work or minor in studio arts. Her professors quickly coined her "the dark artist" due to the dramatic, dismal, and intense imagery projected on the canvas.

Megan obtained her Bachelors Degree in Forensic Psychology and minored in Studio Art and Imagery in 2005. Megan moved back to Peoria in 2006  and quickly surrounded herself with local community professionals and established a studio with the Contemporary Art Center located in Downtown Peoria,

In January 2014 Megan's family survived a house fire and lost nearly everything.  This event changed their lives forever, and Megan quickly recognized the vitality of art and healing when she painted a Spiderman mural in her son's bedroom so he wouldn't be scared to come back home. This was her first mural.  

In 2016 she began her work  illustrating  a children's book entitled Windsong, written by New York Author, Concetta Rose Rella and on March 16, 2017 Windsong was published. In May 2017, Megan obtained her Masters Degree in Business Administration and Executive Development through Bradley University.

Megan has partnered and participated in community art shows such as the Delavan Art Show, Washington Art Festival, American Historical Society, Peoria Zoological Society,  Historic Galesburg, Peoria Historical Society, Peoria Art Guild, and selected muralist for the 2018 1st Annual Big Picture Peoria. She continues her visual artistry and building community relationships by completing large scale mural work  work for Peoria County, LISC, AmeriCorps, and Peoria Public School District #150, and Big Picture Peoria.

Megan currently lives in Peoria, Illinois with her husband and two  sons.