Geo Rutherford (MFA 2021, Art) is an artist, author, and TikTok creator with more than 1.8 million followers. She’s best known for her viral series Spooky Lake Month and for using her platform to share stories about the Great Lakes and environmental sustainability.
On October 15, Rutherford will engage with her alma mater as part of the Artists Now! Guest Lecture Series.
Rutherford’s artistic focus on lakes began during her graduate studies at UWM, where she was struck by the proximity of Lake Michigan. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, and Dexter, Michigan, she had never lived so close to one of the Great Lakes before.
“I was suddenly located within seven blocks of a Great Lake and in your master’s program you have to pick a topic to focus on,” Rutherford said. “I decided to go to Bradford Beach every day for 90 days, even if it was in the middle of a blizzard.”
Before graduate school, Rutherford spent five years teaching high school art. She credits her decision to pursue an MFA at UWM to a connection she made with Associate Professor Jessica Meuninck-Ganger (Area Head, Printmaking and Book Arts), who shared her background as a high school teacher. Though Rutherford initially worried she wouldn’t fit in, her teaching experience and bond with Meuninck-Ganger gave her confidence.
“My life is truly where it is today because I decided to attend Peck School of the Arts instead of getting my master’s degree anywhere else,” Rutherford said. “After overcoming my imposter syndrome, everything shifted. I feel like without that shift I wouldn’t be where I am right now.”
Her TikTok career began unexpectedly during the pandemic, when a video of one of her graduate projects gained wide attention. From there, she began creating content about the Great Lakes, building a devoted audience. In October 2020, she launched what would become her most popular series, Spooky Lake Month.
“On October first of 2020 I jokingly said that we were going to do a Spooky Lake Month because there’s a lot of weird lakes on Earth and it just performed very well,” Rutherford said. “The series gets even better every year. I have a whole career focused on spooky lakes now, which is hilarious because this was kind of an accident.”
Rutherford will give her Artist Now! lecture on October 15 at 7:30 p.m. The free, virtual series invites practicing artists from around the world to share their work and insights.
Learn more about Rutherford’s lecture and many others on the Artists Now! webpage.
Payton Murphy ’27 (BFA Film)