Charon Henning didn’t just grow up near the Smithsonian — she haunted it. Raised in the DC Metro Area, she spent her formative years trekking through museum halls and learning new techniques from summer art courses, where the collision of nature, science, and travel ignited something that refused to stay quiet.
She forged her very own educational path at George Mason University, engineering her own Bachelor of Individualized Studies degree — because no existing program could contain what she was building. The university agreed and green lit her proposed curriculum, presenting her with an award for the Most Creative Capstone Project upon completion — an appropriate accolade for someone who had already refused to color inside anyone else’s lines.
In 2015, she began building the position of Art Director for Prof. Katie Hinde’s March Mammal Madness tournament. Within five years, she had assembled a crew of amazing interdisciplinary artists and helped build a strong visual presence for what is now the largest online STEAM educational outreach event on the planet. It happens every year.
The internet isn’t ready, but it shows up anyway and is more amazing with each subsequent tournament.
She earned her Certificate in Scientific Illustration which she completed with the capstone of an internship at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology — fossils, deadlines, small studio space in one of the many collections rooms and all. And because one credential from a world-class institution opened doors to other fantastic possibilities, she then completed training for an Educator’s Certificate through National Geographic.
Charon runs a working illustration studio within her home, where she is tolerated by two enormous tabby cats named Pasheko and Busqueros. They all live in harmony in Vermont with her very patient and unconditionally supportive partner. She is an active member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators as well as the iAiAM Independent Artists Forum and shows no signs of slowing down.
Partial Client List
Mount Rainier National Park
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
Anthropology News
Zanzibar Red Colobus Project