Tee Ball

Traditional artists usually abhor transitioning to commercial art. But Saman Bemel Benrud, 22, is not a traditional artist. His medium is the T-shirt. “T-shirts are an art form,” he says. “They’re a way of expressing yourself to the world, so you have to get behind whatever is on your shirt.” His passion for T-shirt design was borne of a lifetime of video games, cartoons, and comic books. He started selling his shirts out of a backpack at Minneapolis’s South High, but it was the tight-knit community of St. Olaf College that really spurred his entrepreneurial proclivity—fellow students bought some 400 of his tees. Now a Finstad Grant from his alma mater has launched him for good, at mfmapparel.com.