Upcoming ‘Top Chef’ Season to Display UW-Stout Grad’s Art on Set
Savannah Canavan will have five painting on the cooking competition show’s season 21 set
Top Chef season 21 is bringing culinary competition to the Badger State, and is slated to debut on Wednesday, March 20, 8pm on Bravo. And while contestants will be from all over the nation, a taste of the Chippewa Valley also will appear in the latest season of the hit reality TV show.
UW-Stout graduate Savannah Canavan is an emerging artist with a focus on oil paintings. Her subjects range from animals and nature themes to portraits of people and the body, to lush fruits and food. The latter earned Canavan the attention of the Top Chef assistant art director, Emily Dalske.
Dalske formerly worked as an editor of Furrow, an arts and literature magazine based out of UW-Milwaukee, where they had first seen Canavan’s artwork featured. As the Top Chef team was taking submissions from Wisconsin artists for consideration to appear on the set of the new season – which will take place in Madison and Milwaukee – Dalske recalled Canavan’s work and reached out personally.
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this is the biggest opportunity of my career so far, to have my artwork shown on a popular show that has a huge audience.
SAVANNAH CANAVAN
ARTIST
Canavan recalled receiving the initial email from Dalske last August, and was overwhelmed by the surprise opportunity. “(Emily Dalske said they) remembered my work from Furrow and thought some of my pieces would be perfect for the set of the new season of Top Chef,” Canavan said. “Obviously, I was blown away that I was being presented with this opportunity. … This is the biggest opportunity of my career so far, to have my artwork shown on a popular show that has a huge audience.”
Five prints of Canavan’s food-focused oil paintings are being used on the season 21 set: “Dragonfruit,” oil on canvas; “Avocado,” oil on panel; “Morning Coffee,” oil on paper; “Life’s a Peach,” oil on panel; and “Clementine,” oil on panel.
Canavan was compensated for the use of her paintings in the upcoming season, but that isn’t the best part for her. “It is definitely great to be paid for my work, but the exposure of it being on such a big show is just as awesome,” she said. “A lot of people will hopefully see (the paintings) while watching the show, and who knows, maybe that will kickstart my career in the right direction.”
If you pick up physical copies of Volume One, you’ll likely recognize Canavan’s “Get Along Little Froggy,” which was the cover art of the magazine’s April 20, 2023, issue.
Her work has also been shown in the Argyle Zebra Gallery in St. Paul, Artworks Eagan in Minnesota, as well as in Pigeon Review Literary and Art Journal, among others. Canavan graduated from UW-Stout with a bachelor’s degree in studio art in 2022.
“I was just super excited and amazed that this was happening, not to mention that they had approached me,” Canavan said. “That itself shows that my name and my art is getting out there and becoming recognizable.”
Tune into the 21st season of Top Chef, which will premiere on Bravo on Wednesday, March 20, at 8pm CT, for some tasty reality TV content and to see Canavan’s artwork on set. Episodes of Top Chef will be available for streaming the day after each episode is aired.
Visit Savannah Canavan’s website to view more of her work • Keep up with her on Instagram (@savannahrose.studio) • Learn more about Top Chef online
