Allie Schlottman has always been an artist. 

And as she grew older, she turned that passion into an interest at Elk Grove. 

“My dad inspired me to art because he’s a really good artist and since I was younger, I’ve always done it and I’ve always liked to do the art classes so I kinda stuck to it in high school,” Schlottman said. 

Though Schlottman isn’t going to continue doing art in college at Illinois State University, she did manage to get multiple opportunities to attend art institutes in the Midwest, including the Milwaukee School of Art and the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

She received said offers through IHSAE scholarships where she submitted her best 10 works and got seen by art schools across the country. 

Pop culture is a big influence in Schlottman’s art.

“I don’t have a favorite artist but I get inspired by movie frames and also from music and TV shows,” Schlottman said. 

Her senior year, Schlottman took AP Art, where throughout the year, students do a sustained investigation in art and do work based on that question. 

They branch out from there, and toward the end of the year, they reflect and analyze their work.

Schlottman’s sustained investigation was about the toxicity of social media and technology. Though she didn’t win any awards, her work was shown off at multiple art exhibitions, such as the Art Expo Virtual Exposition earlier this year.

Schlottman isn’t just an artist, though. She also plays softball for Elk Grove, and she’s played the sport since she was 6 years old. She’s played for multiple travel teams in Roselle, Elk Grove, Itasca and Schaumburg.

“Take advantage of your time here, because it flies by fast,” Schlottman said.