In March of 2026 PMEC welcomed Mika (pronounced ‘Meek-ah’) McCrary to the communications Team. Mika is an artist and filmmaker and she is making creative content for PMEC’s social media channels.
Tell us a little about your background.
I have a bachelors in Film and Performing Arts from UAF. I focused on filmmaking, animation, and design. I started working at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) as a student worker, where I gained much of the experience I use today. Throughout my time in college, I worked with students and instructors to create an array of short films and educational videos. I honed my graphic design skills, drawing up posters for the annual Film Club film festival and animating title sequences for online courses. After I graduated in 2020, my partner and I moved to the east coast.
I grew up in Copper Center, Alaska and now live in western Massachusetts. My partner and I just bought our first home in Burgy. In this economy and with the housing shortage, you can imagine how difficult it was. We were lucky to find a little fixer-upper cabin in the woods. We’ll be busy working on it this summer and building a catio (cat patio) for our lovely two voids Oort and Kuiper.
How do you like to work?
I like to work from home, cozy and with a cat on my lap. I surround my workspace with cute knick knacks and little clay creatures. If you have zoom meetings with me, you will likely find me wearing that same hoodie but always with a different crochet hat. When I’m looking down and look like I’m not paying attention, I’m doodling you and our colleagues. It’s the only way I can focus in meetings sometimes. When a cat is on my lap I become immobile and often fall into a deep hibernation.
What do you like to do for fun?
I like to craft while I watch tv with my partner and our cats. I have so many craft projects, ranging from polymer clay to needle felting, but right now I’m crocheting a granny square blanket and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer in between new episodes of Survivor Season 50.
Below: gallery images of Mika’s art. To see more visit her portfolio linked at the bottom of this post.
What do you wish more people understood about ___ ?
I wish people understood more about the internet. Internet and tech literacy peaked with my generation, when we were teenagers learning HTML to make our MySpace pages sparkle and play music. We’re stuck being the generation to set our parents and children's internet routers.
Did you know 50% of people on the internet are fake bot accounts? And I’m not even sure about that fact because I just read it on the first page of Google search results, which have become increasingly unreliable. Today, the internet is mostly ads, bots, and social media is the hub of it all. But it’s where we’re at, and social media is just how we share information now.
Navigating this insane landscape that’s quickly filling up with AI slop and misinformation is difficult and confusing. That’s why it’s all the more important that PMEC becomes a lighthouse in the fog. We can reach real people and make a difference in the world.
You can follow Mika’s work on PMEC’s Youtube, Instagram, and Facebook pages, and check out her personal portfolio here.