Proudly Lab: Alumni Highlight Series - Chris Kunk ’15
“Starting at Lab in ninth grade was a turning point” for Chris Kunk (’15). “It taught me valuable learning strategies, built my confidence, and changed how I thought about my education and future.”
Early in his Lab career, Chris quickly gained a reputation as a talented artist and dedicated environmentalist. Visual Arts teacher Mark Jarvis and Performing Arts teacher Sean Rozsics praised his self-discipline and motivation to hone his crafts. Their classes are among Chris’s favorite memories of his time at Lab; he vividly recalls how Mr. Jarvis introduced him to “chiaroscuro” and taught him the fundamentals of linear perspective and how Mr. Rozsics’ infectious enthusiasm for music and music theory extended into lunchtime jam sessions and opportunities to perform at school events. As a student in Beth Frattali’s Biology class, Chris became a pioneering member of our Tide Turners Club, traveling with Lab to North Carolina to volunteer at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital and to Florida to study the history of the critically endangered manatee.
Following graduation, Chris earned a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from Coastal Carolina University. While studying there, he worked with a faculty member to create a mascot sculpture for the new football stadium and was active in a university/city partnership to create bronze sculptures that were placed around the City of Conway. In 2021, Chris earned his Master of Fine Arts at the New York Academy of Art. An NYAA professor nominated Chris for the Young Sculptors Exhibit at the National Sculpture Society in NYC, and Chris won the President's Prize for his sculpture "An Evening Under the Starless Abyss.”
Following a year in South Carolina working at Brookgreen Gardens with his mentor from Coastal Carolina, Chris returned to New York City. Alongside his gallery practice and fellowship with renowned sculptor Greg Wyatt, Chris works as a freelance sculptor with different studios in the city, modeling architectural ornamentation as well as designing and making commemorative medallions and portraits. He has found great success; he was awarded the National Sculpture Society’s Dexter Jones Award in both 2024 and 2025, and, in late 2025, he won the design competition for the American Numismatic Society’s medal commemorating the American Semiquincentennial.
Outside of work, art and nature continue to play important parts in Chris’s life – he enjoys museums and the theater, studying and drawing the city’s architecture and public sculpture, and hiking.
When asked how lessons learned at Lab have carried into his professional life, Chris highlighted the value of working at your own speed, asking for clarification when needed, and knowing that having a learning difference isn’t incompatible with a successful career. “I have stayed connected to Lab because I deeply appreciate the role it played in my life and want to support its mission for future generations of students.”
