ILLYANA COX
~ story and photos by Chrissy Alspaugh
Ethereal instrumentals whisper and candles crackle as Illyana Cox paints for a few quiet hours each morning before she heads to work. The routine is simple, but within it lives a lifelong dream. At 22, Cox is a Brown County painter in the thick of the hardest part of an artist’ s career— overcoming internal and external critique, while becoming an entrepreneur if the dream is to survive.
Cox’ s work blends magic, romance, and fantasy. Her story reflects her hometown’ s artistic legacy, along with the need for community structures to help the next generation of artists thrive creatively, as well as professionally.
For more than a century, visitors have flocked to Brown County for its galleries, rolling hills, fall colors, and the promise of handmade beauty. For Cox, who graduated from Brown County High School in 2022, that reputation was both comforting and intimidating.
“ I grew up in an art colony,” she said.“ It felt like there were artists everywhere. I didn’ t know if my contemporary art would have a spot.”
Art, however, was never a question for her. Left-handed and relentlessly observant, Cox remembers calling herself an artist as early as kindergarten. When asked what she wanted to be, her answer never changed.
Even so, by high school, doubt crept in. Career classes encouraged practicality, and art felt competitive— especially in a place where creativity was so abundant.“ I thought maybe I should look for something less competitive,” she admits.
54 Our Brown County March / April 2026