An NKU sophomore settles into her time at college but realizes she is missing something. Entrepreneurship major Bella Brink is a very detail-oriented student and found a major she cares deeply about. 

Growing up, Brink was surrounded by art and the passion that comes with it. Her dad and great-grandma were painters, and her mom, Anna Brink, is the project and communications coordinator at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy for the Fine Arts Department. 

The Brink household always had an art table, so the kids at any moment could paint, draw and create. 

Anna Brink had been a part of 18 theatre productions and had dreamed that her four children would want to be a part of them, for a multitude of reasons.

“I always wanted my kids, well, I hoped my kids would be a part of that,” said Anna Brink. “I think being on stage, working as a group, problem-solving, learning how to express yourself, all comes together to give kids a really good platform for whatever kind of career they’re going to go into.” 

Anna Brink knew exposure to the arts could help children and teenagers find themselves in a transformative time of life, and she wondered if it would be beneficial to her children as well. 

Bella Brink participated in her mom’s theater shows from an early age, and later fell in love with the technical and stage management side of theater. But Bella Brink took after her dad and began painting from a young age. She loved visual arts through painting, drawing and coloring. 

“I don’t really care about the finished product, I care more about the steps and attention to detail. I mostly like painting and drawing animals, flowers and birds,” Bella Brink said as she described what she loves to create. 

During her time making art, she always had a niche for creating not only physical pieces, but seeking out ways for the community to come together. 

During the summer before her senior year of high school, Bella Brink was upset at the idea of children sitting in front of screens and not outside, the way she had been when she was a kid.  

She came up with the idea to start a business of her own and call it “Art in the Park.” Bella Brink used money she had saved from working at Panera to buy art supplies such as pipe cleaners, glue guns and more. She asked her mom and grandma, who were both English teachers at one time, to help her in planning and teaching. Bella Brink began advertising through flyers and spreading the word through family friends. 

“The idea was that they hopefully could take home what they learn in the class and bring that home with them, and create the crafts on their own time, instead of playing video games and watching TV,” Bella Brink said.

About 15 kids gathered on Mondays and Wednesdays, some regulars and some who would just show up for their favorite project, to create artwork with Bella Brink. She would teach them how to make bird houses out of popsicle sticks or animals out of clay. She was helping expose children to artwork, like her parents did to her. 

Bella Brink continued to start more clubs in her time in school at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, one being a film club. The club would meet, create acting skits and film them for fun. 

Through her experience in high school of starting different clubs and organizations, entrepreneurship seemed like it was a match made in heaven. But she was missing the element that connects her to her and her family’s passion: the arts. Bella Brink has decided to begin an art minor and is ready to bring her practices back into her life. 

“I always loved art, I just didn’t know if I’d have time for it in college,” Bella Brink said.

She consulted her professors at NKU for assistance before making the decision, one being  economics professor Ryan Goss. She found not only that adding on a minor was a career choice, but a life decision. 

“Bella and I had a conversation more about life in general, and about what she was searching for, what she wanted to accomplish,” said Goss. “I think that a lot of students, especially at a young age, are told they need to figure out what they want to do for the rest of their life, and then they experience things and decide maybe to go a different way.”

Goss encouraged Bella Brink to pursue both of the careers she adores, eliminating the fear factor of not having enough time to do both. 

The Brink family continues to grow in the arts and make it a priority in their lives. Bella’s sister is an acting major at Wright State University, and another sister, who is in the sixth grade, is incorporating an instrumental touch into the family by learning to play the violin. Now Bella Brink will pull the art family tradition back into her life as well. 

“I think it’s really good to add the arts to business because it’s important in the business world, even though most of it is numbers, to still be able to think creatively and make a difference,” Bella Brink said.

Anna Brink is excited to see her daughter pursue what she loves professionally. She feels passionately about her daughter chasing every dream, as long as Bella Brink wants that. 

“Well Bella wanted to go into business. Last year she told us that, and we were all for that, but we also just didn’t want her to lose that side of her. That artistic side,” said Anna Brink. “I really think that she thrives best when she can use both sides of her brain.”

Bella Brink doesn’t yet know whether her art minor will stay a personal passion or whether she’ll combine it with her entrepreneurship major, but she is looking forward to bringing the art supplies out of her childhood home and onto campus.