Newsmaker: Molly Snee uses art to connect to national audience as freelancer

When the “aha” moment would strike, former Daily Orange art director Molly Snee fled the illustration closet in search of the editor-in-chief. 

Snee (‘12) would share her idea for the daily Scribble drawing with her boss and eagerly await a reaction. 

“If she started laughing or going like, ‘Oh my God, that’s so smart,’ then it was this big like ‘yes!’” Snee said. 

During her time at Syracuse University, Snee said the Scribble ensured she kept engaged with the community. She needed to be up-to-date with topics relevant to the paper’s readers — especially if she wanted them to have a similar reaction. 

Snee still uses art to connect with others, but today her audience is much broader as a freelance illustrator based in Ketchum, Idaho, whose work has appeared in a number of national outlets. 

After graduating from SU, Snee moved to New York City. Her art took a backseat there, and she looked instead toward finding work that would keep her afloat in the city. It wasn’t until she moved to Idaho a few years later that Snee shifted her focus back to art.

“I sort of switched gears into trying to just engage more with the illustration community,” Snee said.

Through travel and networking, Snee began making connections in the art world. Eventually, she had the opportunity to meet with Sarah Williamson, an art director for The New York Times. In 2018, she brought Snee on as a freelancer. More work followed; Snee has since done editorial illustrations for news outlets like NPR and Buzzfeed. 

“I kind of got lucky that my real break happened to be with one of my dream jobs,” Snee said. 

Snee’s love of art dates to her childhood, when she was constantly drawing. She grew up outside of Washington, D.C., where her family were avid news consumers, connecting to the world through news. 

“I just felt naturally inclined to want to merge the two, so that it felt like my artwork was somehow targeting people like my own family members and contributing to a larger conversation,” Snee said. 

In February, Snee returned to SU to speak with illustration students and critique their work. Though it was her first time returning to campus since graduating in 2012, Snee said it was like “stepping back into a family.”

Snee was nervous before the trip; it didn’t seem that long ago she was a student herself, and she was unsure of what advice she could offer. But when Snee arrived, she saw many students had trouble picturing a career as a freelancer and what it entails. 

“I remember being in that position,” Snee said. 

But today, she has plenty of advice to share. Snee encourages aspiring freelancers to take on different types of work, giving them a range of experiences. And everyone has their own approach to freelancing, Snee said, from how they make connections in the business to where they choose to live.

She also advised that freelancing as a practice can be isolating. Snee makes sure to put time into connecting with other freelancers and artists.

As a freelance illustrator, Snee often faces tight deadlines — a four hour turnaround is the shortest one she’s worked under. When drawing, Snee said she looks for strong, communicative concepts that are simple enough to be completed in a short time frame. 

Creating a routine was one of Snee’s greatest takeaways from her time at The Daily Orange. As a freelancer, that routine involves working with art directors, getting feedback on the concepts and artwork she submits. 

It’s a little different from her days as D.O. art director. Then, Snee would simply look to those around her for feedback, bouncing between sections and seeking reactions. Snee still has fond memories of that process. 

“It was a really fun way to work,” she said.