Artist Turns Her Passion Into Business with Degree from Westmoreland

September 25, 2018 Youngwood, Pa.

Susan McConville-Harrer has always loved art and she has turned that passion into a successful business thanks to a degree from Westmoreland County Community College.

“I’ve done artwork my entire life,” McConville-Harrer said. She recently moved to Youngwood from Scottdale and set up a studio for SMH Illustration and Design.

She unofficially began the business while studying Graphic Communication (now Communication Design) at Westmoreland.

“I literally sat in class with tears because it was just opening up a whole world,” McConville-Harrer said about her first Photoshop class. “From there, friends started asking me to do work and it just turned into a business.”

McConville-Harrer completed her degree in 2013, after five years of mostly night classes. She has been running SMH Illustration and Design under its current name since 2015.

“I needed to do something for me,” she said. McConville-Harrer was homeschooling her children during the day and attending classes at night.

“I don’t have a favorite course because I loved them all,” she said. She does have a favorite teacher who became her mentor: Program Director Gary Altemara. “He nurtured me and helped me become who I am.”

Now, she enjoys completing several different types of projects for clients including invitations, scrapbook paper, logos and other business-related items.

She spreads the word about the education she received at Westmoreland, convincing her cousin to study architecture at Westmoreland rather than attending Penn State.

“Even if you want to study farther, it’s a great place to start because the credits transfer,” McConville-Harrer said.

She has one piece of advice for anyone considering college. “Don’t let your age stop you.”