
At any university, the performing arts students and intercollegiate athletes are some of the most visible students on campus. Not only is that true at NIU, but Paul Kassel, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and Sean Frazier, vice president/director of athletics and recreation, have taken the extra step to create ways for those students to get together and enjoy the product of each other’s hard work.
Through the Artists for Athletes/ Athletes for Artists initiative, these students are special VIP guests at each other’s performances, exhibitions and games, working to create a culture where students enjoy, understand and appreciate their respective students’ unique talents put on display for all to enjoy.
One student with a foot in both worlds is Michael Leeson, who graduated in May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from the School of Art and Design while also doing photography and videography for the NIU men’s soccer team.
Leeson played soccer at Harlem High School in Machesney Park, Illinois, and played club soccer for Rockford Raptors FC. He is currently an assistant coach for Harlem’s boys and girls soccer teams.
His interest in photography started at home. His dad had a darkroom in the house and gave Leeson his first digital camera. The more shots Leeson took, the more he began to enjoy it. After some time at Western Illinois University and Rock Valley College, he transferred to NIU to earn his B.F.A.
In spring 2023, Leeson did a photography project on a senior he was coaching at Harlem, documenting his life on and off the field. The work caught the eye of his photography professor, Jessica Labatte, now the director of the School of Art and Design. She encouraged Leeson to combine his love of soccer and photography more formally, and soon, Bethany Geiseman, academic advisor in Art and Design, and men’s soccer assistant coach Ronnie Bouemboue, were creating a work-study opportunity for Leeson.

Leeson not only shot footage at Huskies home games, but he also traveled with the team for road games and shot three training sessions per week.
Hard work wasn’t an issue for Leeson. For games he would get shots of the travel, warmups, game action and even some locker room footage. He would produce photos within a day and turn up to four hours of footage into a two-minute video, and provide Huskie Athletics with all kinds of material for them to use. The marketing team in athletics took his finished products and posted them regularly on social media and the athletics website.
Leeson worked about 400 hours in total and collected more than three terabytes of photos and videos. His three-credit work-study project grew into a six-credit project. His versatility to be able to shoot both photos and videos was a huge asset to the team.
Leeson’s background as a soccer player and coach meant he knew what to look for and how to best portray it. He said his biggest reward came from the athletes themselves when they saw his completed work and were impressed enough to request him to do more.
There are students right now at NIU who thrive in athletics and the arts, and they need your support. To give to the soccer program, the School of Art and Design, or other related programs, visit www.niufoundation.org/give.
You must be logged in to post a comment.