Alumni Profile

David Mataya

Degree: Studio Art, 2003

Employment: Associate creative director and manager of creative Services, Anderson Windows, Inc., Bayport MN

David chose Augsburg for a studio art degree because of the weekend college format. It allowed him to complete his degree while balancing full-time job and family commitments. “If I’d found a weekend program at COVA or MCAD I might have pursued it, but I’d have lost the broadening aspect of the liberal arts curriculum.”

He was encouraged to apply his creativity across disciplines.

Case in point: his essay “The Last Ice Age” from English 111 published in Minnesota Monthly, September, 2000. On a more practical level, David discovered his artistic vocation when his sculpture blew up in the kiln. “I decided to be a painter.”

Augsburg’s faculty inspired him with the level of idealism that raised respective topics to a higher plane. “Some professors were universally popular, others more controversial. You need both. The faculty was very supportive. Many of them came out to see my senior show.”

Today, David is a creative director with a full-time career at Andersen Windows, Inc. His creative interests include painting, drawing, music, and writing. His dream: painting for a living.