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Getting to know your Keepsake artists
Discover how these four featured artists found their way to the Keepsake Village.

Orville Wilson

From marketer to maker

Orville Wilson knew he’d work at Hallmark from a very young age.

“When I was little, I was always drawing. I even won a few contests at school. My mother always said I would work at Hallmark one day.”

As we all know, Mom knows best, and Orville found his way to the marketing department at Hallmark in 2016, where he spent much of his time designing the Dream Book.

It was not long after that Orville’s manager said there was an opening in the Keepsake Village.

“I jumped at the opportunity,” he says. “I had spent my free time learning to create 3D designs. So I scrambled to pull them all together and even re-rendered a bunch of them to create a portfolio.”

That portfolio that got him an interview-and onto the team.

Anita Marra Rogers

Sculpting her own path

“Growing up in Kansas City, I always wanted to work for Hallmark,” Anita Marra Rogers says. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t good enough at two-dimensional artwork to get in the door.”

That’s hard to believe, coming from someone who’s in her 38th year in the Keepsake Studio.

“But luckily, I met Peter Dutkin, a Keepsake artist at the time. And he looked at my work and told me I had talent.”

He showed her around the department, and that’s when she spotted a few of the artists sculpting ornament designs

“It looked like so much fun! I just knew I had to try my hand at it.”

With a little encouragement, Anita had found her calling. She assembled a new portfolio filled with 3D artwork. And that’s how we ended up with more than 600 of Anita’s designs.

Allie Robillard

Imagination over expectation

Becoming a Keepsake artist came as a total surprise to Allie Robillard. As a child, she imagined working with animals

“I always thought I would be a veterinarian when I grew up. Which is hilarious because l’m just not great actually being around animals. I guess I just love the idea of them,” Allie says.

It turns out Allie’s imagination would be the key to her success

“Ever since I was a kid, my imagination is the thing l’ve depended on most,” she says. “I was constantly drawing up my own new worlds.”

Thankfully, her creative spirit never went away. Instead of following her childhood dream of becoming a vet, she went to art school.

“I specialized in illustration and animation, which led me to the ornament teams at Hallmark.”

Matt Johnson

The best Halloween treat ever

For as long as he can remember, Matt Johnson has always been interested in art. The older he got, the more he became fascinated by design and architecture.

“I didn’t really begin taking formal art classes until I graduated high school,” he tells us. “I used to visit my older brother, who is an artist and works in the film industry, while he was in school. Seeing the classes he was taking had a big impact on me.”

Following in his brother’s footsteps and attending art school led to a job designing for a toy company on the East Coast. But he longed to return to Kansas City. It was after returning home that, on one fateful Halloween night, Matt made a connection with a neighbor working at Hallmark who introduced him to recruiters.

More than 10 years later, Matt’s still putting his design skills and imagination to work. Talk about a Halloween treat you’ll never forget!

“Getting to know your Keepsake artists.” For Keeps 22 Spring 2023: 4-5.