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After graduating from Cherry Creek High School, Dan Hampe ’05 decided to move to Santa Barbara on a whim. At the time, he was mostly interested in studying architecture and the environment and how the two influence each other. But his interest in art started to grow and he landed an apprenticeship with Dave Zaboski, a respected artist and Disney animator in the early ‘90s. Dan credits Zaboski in building the foundation in the art Dan makes today and his knowledge of painting, color and technique. Around 2013, Dan moved to West Oakland, CA, a hotbed for new artists. He and his three roommates, one of whom was SAES classmate, Graham Bandt-Law ’05, moved into a large warehouse space-turned studio.  Dan spent the next few years working on his craft in Oakland. He began exhibiting his work and hosting events, which ultimately led to him finding his current art dealer, Ryan Rehbock. His art is constantly changing but usually encapsulates an element of time and motion, telling a story or journaling his current state of mind.  “The only thing that is guaranteed,” Dan says, “is that the painting will take on its own identity, leaving the end result fairly unpredictable.”  Dan draws inspiration from surrealism and artists like William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Salvatore Dalí, and Frank Lloyd Wright. He’s had exhibitions all over the country and has been shown at Art Basel in Miami for the past two years.  Dan says he’s been successful because he plays by his own rules and creates art in his own way. The values Dan learned at St. Anne’s equipped him with the strength to take “leaps of faith”.  He remembers St. Anne’s as a safe space to take risks, something he carries with him as he moves forward on his journey as an artist.