News Archive

Many people decorate their workspaces as the seasons change and for various holidays throughout the year.

To say that IU McKinney’s Brooke Merry merely “decorates,” would be a vast understatement of her talents.

Stop by Merry’s desk in the faculty suite on Inlow Hall’s third floor and you’re liable to find a cozy, homey atmosphere, perfect for a winter holiday, or a set that looks like something straight out of a science-fiction film.

Merry is a graduate of the Herron School of Art & Design, and it shows most definitely in her work area. Growing up, she was interested in pursuing a career creating special effects, and subsequently a career in costume design piqued her interest. Her area of expertise is woodworking and furniture making, and she creates three-dimensional art, which often shows up in her work space at the law school. Merry’s husband is also an artist, and she is pursuing a business foundation certificate through the Kelley School of Business to help them in their creative endeavors. Both work as freelance artists in addition to their other careers.

Merry is the coordinator for IU McKinney’s Center for International and Comparative Law, and the faculty assistant to Professors Frank Emmert, Nicholas Georgakopoulos, Margaret Ryznar, and Margaret Tarkington. In addition, she provides administrative assistance to the Master of Laws program and the Graduate Studies program. She will celebrate 10 years with the law school in 2017.

For students new to the United States in general and Indianapolis in particular, Merry describes her role as “helping people acclimate to being here,” she said. That has included everything from how to make a doctor’s appointment to navigating the bus system through metropolitan Indianapolis.

While she enjoys her work at the law school, Merry says her dream job is to work in film production as a prop stylist or in set design. She’s done a few of those kinds of things in commercials and independent films, describing the work as “chaotic and stressful, but fun!”

Luckily for those who get to work with Merry, we get to enjoy her talent.

“Gray cubicle walls are terrible,” she said. Yet they are a great backdrop for an artist who knows what she’s doing.