Portrait Gallery
November 17th – December 30th, 2023
What is a portrait and how is it defined?
Portrait Gallery, a large-scale group exhibition that was sourced from a public call for portrait based works, is created around this very question.
Inspired directly by portrait galleries in prominent art institutions around the world, this salon-style hang is meant to engulf the viewer in a sea of portraiture. Perhaps a single gaze will catch your eye or maybe an abstracted work will bring you in; regardless of where you find yourself in the gallery, a connection is waiting to be established between viewer and subject.
Featured Artists:
Tyler Alpern, Tya Alisa Anthony, Yazz Atmore, Ana Balzan, Sharon Bond Brown, Frances Joy Bradbury, Madison Brunetti, Kiah Butcher, Vera Coberley, Karen Conduff, Kevin Daly, Diane Deyo, Karen A. Dombrowski-Sobel, Mya Drost-Parra, Jensina Endresen, Lakin Fain, Justin Ferland, Kate Fitzpatrick, Suzanne Frazier, Rebecca Gabriel, Kate Geman, Anne Gifford, Zachary Heil, Sophie Hill, Brenda Jones, Mike Keene, Whitman Lindstrom, Veronica Love, Allyson McDuffie, Dez Merworth, Shantell Montoya, Raymond Moreno, Cipriano Ortega, Tony Ortega, Anna Poisson, Julie Puma, Maxwell Roath, Micah Roberts, Elayna Roy, Amanda Sandlin, Wyatt Scott, Brady Smith, River Smith, Maddie Stansell, Randall Steinke, Tracy Stuckey, Elizabeth Suriani, Kaitlyn Tucek, Lisa Corine von Koch
Exhibition Resources
Artist Profiles
Tyler Alpern
My formal education took me from Los Angeles to Rome, and back to Colorado to earn my MFA. My portrait of Yma Sumac was featured on the cover of her biography. The bracelet she is seen wearing on the Peruvian stamp marking the centenary of her birth now graces my own arm. I’ve authored some books and had numerous exhibitions of my paintings. The Library of Congress has preserved a digital archive of my work and career because of “its cultural and historic significance.” My works and collaborations have been included in exhibitions at the Kinsey Institute and are in its permanent collection as well as belonging to the Museum of Boulder.
As an amateur historian and pop culture archaeologist, my original research has revealed fascinating stories that sometimes are documented and retold in my paintings and have been recounted by others in several books and articles. Meeting pioneering artists Don Bachardy and Elver Barker, brought together my love of art and deep interest and creative research in hidden gay history.
http://www.tyleralpern.com/homepage.html
Tya Alisa Anthony
(b.1978) Tya Alisa Anthony, Interdisciplinary Artist + Curator, explores themes of social justice, human rights, and identity through painting, photography, collage, and sculpture. Her artwork refocuses narratives of marginalized people while shedding light on the social, economic, and natural environments that surround her subjects. She reimagines historic narratives as an opportunity to explore alternate realities. Anthony is particularly interested in creating autonomous spaces for bodies of color and using core memories as a form of catharsis.
Anthony holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with summa cum laude Valedictorian honors from Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. She currently resides in Denver, where she in addition to her artistic pursuits, is the Director of Education & Community at RedLine Contemporary Art Center, the founder of Mahogany Vū Contemporary Virtual Gallery, and the editor of Contemporary Thought Magazine, Living Culture: A Mahogany Vū for BIPOC artists of the Diaspora.
Anthony’s contributions to the art world extend beyond her personal practice. She is a journalist contributor to Hyperallergic Magazine, a TANK Studios Alum artist, a Redline Artist in Residence Alumni, and serves on the Advisory Board for Leon Gallery. She is also an advisory board member of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center and a former member of the Board of Tilt West. Anthony’s work has been exhibited nationally and is included in the permanent collection commissioned by the Octopus Initiative, Museum of Contemporary Art, Center for Visual Arts, LEON Gallery, and RedLine.
Yazz Atmore
Yazz Atmore is just a scattered brain barefoot babe who likes to dance with words, play in the spirit world & dabble in art magic. Having created her own degree from Metropolitan State University, Yazz obtains a BA in Supporting High Risk Youth through the Arts.
Yazz is a community organizer, creative & educator in Denver, Colorado where she continues to mentor and create with young artists as they explore their lives, stories, and passions through the beauty of art. Constantly, inspired by the youth + community she works with, Yazz continues to develop & deepened her own artistry as an analog collagist and muralist. Her art explores and dabbles in the themes of spirituality, ancient and ancestral wisdom, nature & afro-futurism through story telling, collaging and the building/ re-building of worlds. Her work is also heavily influenced by her spiritual journey as she loves exploring the spirit world with God, Ancestors & her Spirit Team. As an expressionist intuitive mixed media artist she creates breathtaking hand cut collage and digital works, with the use of bright bold colors, metallic paints and gold leaf.
Ana Balzan
Born and raised in Venezuela, Ana’s life was immersed in a family brimming with creativity, fostering a deep appreciation for the arts from a young age. Guided by renowned artist Mireya Power, Ana attended oil painting classes, acquiring diverse techniques and showcasing her artworks in exhibitions. In 1989, she graduated in Graphic Design from the School of Design Villasmil de Leon. In 1992, Ana enrolled in an intensive English program at FIU, ensuring clear communication of her creative visions. Accepted into New World School of the Arts in 1993, she pursued a well-rounded education at MDCC. Armed with degrees and determination, She joined reputable companies as a graphic designer, showcasing her expertise in transforming abstract ideas into captivating designs. A few years later, Ana established her own graphic design firm, Lighthouse Graphics, providing clients with exceptional artistic solutions. In 2002, Ana moved to Colorado, balancing a thriving career and motherhood. In 2012, she transitioned to humanitarian work, joining Dignity Care, to extend her care to the elderly. This selfless endeavor aligned with her nurturing nature, providing profound fulfillment and purpose to this days. In 2021, Ana returned to the art world, taking pivotal steps in painting and sculpting. She joined the Longmont’s Artist Guild, Firehouse Art Center, and Lefthand Artist Group.Ana found vibrant platforms to connect with fellow artists, exhibit her work, reignite her creativity, volunteer, and find inspiration within the artistic community. Ana’s journey reflects the enduring power of art and compassion, leaving an indelible impression on the canvas of life.
Sharon Bond Brown
I have been drawing people since I could hold a crayon. The human presence is a constant in my work. Often beginning with old snapshots, candid photos of family and strangers, I try to capture slices of time, evocative moments. I am fascinated by what home photographers inadvertently catch: images that are casual and non-reverential, the subjects captured without their masks on, the scene not lit or staged. The results are situations, faces and places that resonate with viewers, reminding them of the life they really led instead of the stories they created about their pasts.
Perhaps my interests in family images and portraits of people in unguarded moments come from growing up with a father, a grandfather and a brother who were psychiatrists. Perhaps my desire to draw and paint was formed by a mother and her three sisters, all of whom were artists and enthusiastically encouraged me. In any case, I grew up surrounded by art, artists, and lively conversations about people. After college, art took a backseat to other career and family demands, but at the age of 40, I returned to drawing and painting full time. I haven’t looked back since.
My preferred media are oil paint and watercolor. I am still using a German paint box of 36 colors that I bought in 1959 on a family vacation. I am indebted to a small but mighty magnifying glass that enables me to discern details in tiny faded black and white photographs. I may adopt the images in their entirety, but I often edit for better composition and a less distracting background. Colors are all my choice. Whether I am painting oil on canvas or watercolor on paper, I start by carefully drawing in charcoal or pencil. Then I fill in with layers of paint ending with the details. Sometimes I have used an acrylic under painting with oil washes on top, so that colors glow from beneath the surface. I paint every day and it still thrills and satisfies me.
Contemporary Painter
Frances Joy Bradbury
Joy celebrated her eleventh birthday sitting in a bar watching a gecko fall from a high ceiling into a customer’s cocktail glass at Saigon’s Majestic Hotel.
A life of adventure in a variety of settings combined with Joy’s capacity to traverse a wide range of experiences contributes to her appreciation of all expressive arts. These qualities are evident in her exploration of many disciplines and can be seen in her eclectic image making.
Joy first exhibited in New Mexico at the Taos Library. In Colorado she’s shown at Denver Outsider Art, Fort Collins Center for Fine Art Photography, Longmont Firehouse Gallery, and Westminster Rodeo Market Community Art Center. Joy has had two solo shows, one in 2014 at Enriching Elements and in 2016 at Rule4. Other Boulder county and city exhibits include Front Range Community College, Dairy Center for the Arts, Art Parts, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder City Open Spaces & Mountain Parks, Boulder Public Library Maker Made Shows and Denver Art Students League. In 2023 East Window Gallery published a sample of Joy’s collage work in a small book titled The Art of Frances Joy Bradbury. Consequently there was a book signing party for Joy to celebrate three books of collage work now in archival heaven at Boulder’s University of Colorado Rare, Distinctive, Contemporary Book Arts Collection. Other 2023 exhibits include the Sanctuary Art Gallery at First United Methodist Church and East Window Gallery. Joy enjoys making art and showing her work, but Joy’s real passion is designing, producing and facilitating art-centered group activities.
Madison Brunetti
Madi Brunetti is an aspiring mixed media artist from Denver, Colorado. She works primarily with oil paint, hand-embroidery, and even insects! Madi leans into contradiction, distorting the figure in unexpected ways to communicate struggles with the self and the body. Her work has been a part of several art shows exhibited at the History Colorado Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.
Most recently her work was featured in The Bread Show, a group exhibition at Bell Projects.
After receiving her BA in Studio Art from Fort Lewis College in December 2021 Madi completed a 6-month residency at The Art Gym, a shared studio space and gallery. She hopes to continue her education to become a college Professor of Art with a focus on blending her passion for insects, painting, and embroidery.
Kiah Butcher
Kiah Butcher is a curator and video artist with a focus on uplifting and engaging community. Currently the Associate Curator of Community Engagement for the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Butcher presents contemporary art in public spaces; from site-specific installations, to open community exhibitions. Beyond her curatorial practice, she is a video artist and filmmaker, working primarily with new media, video and photography. Inspired by the passing of time, repetition and the human attention span, she uses theatrical conventions to create and celebrate work that unites viewers in small, timeless moments. Butcher earned a B.A. in Film Production from the University of Colorado Denver, and is currently living in Denver.
Vera Coberley
Vera Coberley was born and raised in a small rural town in Westphalia, Germany. She moved to
the States in her early twenties. She spent a long time in Amarillo, Texas, and then moved to the suburbs of Denver, Colorado.
Although Vera had a lifelong interest in art, she only dabbled with drawing and painting in her teens. After college, she pursued a career in software development, working for the healthcare industry and e-commerce companies. Then, in 2018, Vera stumbled upon the hobby of tapestry weaving. In order to design better tapestries, she began to learn the principles of art and design. Soon, the desire to translate new ideas into drawings and paintings overtook the interest in weaving, an extremely slow process.
Vera studied through online classes and books, and took in-person lessons from Denver area artist Robin Cole. Vera currently resides in the Colorado Mountains near Winter Park.
Karen Conduff
Karen Conduff is a Colorado-based artist known for her juicy, textural oil paintings that find beauty in the most mundane items. Not particularly interested in sweeping vistas or the postcard views, Conduff prefers to paint the intimate corners of our lives – the eddy in a creek covered with leaves, the ravens holding council in the yard, the young friend reclining in a chair.
Born in 1957, Conduff graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1979 with a BA in Art. She followed up with many years of study with various artists including Skip Whitcomb, Mark Daily, and Kevin Weckbach, all of whom taught her the value of painting from life.
Conduff’s exhibits include a solo show at Macky Auditorium and a duo show at Rembrandt Yard Gallery in Boulder, Colorado, where she has resided since 1980. Her numerous group exhibitions include the inaugural year of “Birds of the Rocky Mountains” at the Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming in 2023. She was honored that the Museum chose to acquire her painting ‘Raven Pair’ for their permanent collection.
Kevin Daly
I find a peace in painting and insight into the world and myself in the process of creating art. My art has evolved to include many different subject matters including landscapes, wildlife, and portraits. I have participated in many local shows and fairs in Colorado and California over the last 6 years.
Diane Deyo
Art and travel have always been an important part of my life. Travel inspires my art.
My new series of portrait heads was inspired by a trip to Africa.
My background is in fiber design. I was the head of the fiber department at Central Michigan University.
I also taught design at University of Nothern Colorado. I ended my art teaching career in the Boulder public schools.
Presently I work at a studio in North Boulder. I have participated in Boulder Open Studios for many years.
My work has been shown at galleries around the coumtry and I was a featured artist in American Craft Magazine.
Karen A. Dombrowski-Sobel
Karen A Dombrowski-Sobel is an interdisciplinary artist who breaks boundaries with her artwork. With influences from nature, spirituality, and surrealism, her creations transport viewers to dreamlike worlds that linger in their minds. Karen’s artistic process often involves printing photographs onto canvas and then painting over them. Photoshop is used to add more depth and richness to her pieces. She has hand printed B/W photographs for many years, often painting on the prints.
Karen paints in acrylics, creating diverse works ranging from abstraction to realism. Her love for nature and commitment to the environment shine through in her work, and her book “Trees Speak; Healing Ourselves and Our Planet”. Karen’s art has been displayed and sold in galleries in NYC, Carmel, and the Hamptons. Her unique perspective and creative vision are a testament to her unwavering dedication to her craft and the environment.
Raising Earth Awareness Through Art
Mya Drost-Parra
Mya Drost-Parra is a queer multi-media artist born and raised in Boulder, CO who recently graduated from Tulane and started her own business mdp.art. Her art centers on the celebration of life, pride, and vibrant colors. She specializes in abstract art, printmaking, photography, and watercolor. As an artist, she gathers inspiration from the color palettes of the cities she has traveled to and the symbiosis between humans and nature. For Mya art is the freedom to express life in a way beyond words and she believes that sharing her creations is a way to enrich the community. As a growing businesswoman, she plans to expand her brand by featuring her art in local markets and continuing her art education in design, painting, and printmaking.
Jensina Endresen
bustleworship is a one-woman wondershow of vintage collection, curation and re-creation. Assemblage artist Jensina Endresen breathes new life into old objects and antique textiles to create sacred adornment. Each piece is armor made by hand, a stitched together story. In contrast to the era of instant, bustleworship focuses on salvaging the sacred and moving things from their forgotten past into a functional present and foreverloved future.
Lakin Fain
I am an artist based in the mountains of Boulder Colorado, but deeply rooted in the bluegrass of Louisville Kentucky. In college I am pursuing my passions within architecture, lighitng design, and fine art. I started practicing portraiture in 2016 when I started a non-profit in which I draw portraits in exchange for donations to my hometown charities. Apart form commissions, I work on creating a body of work that reflects my individual perception of beauty and irregularity in this world. Noticing moments of light, color, and movement all around me stimulates my desire to recreate these moments through my own perception. Though I focus on painting, I have a lot of digital art and digital fabrication experience too. My most recent mediums have been oil paint, figure drawing, and digital art.
Justin Ferland
Justin is a street artist. The belief that art belongs to the public, and should be accessible to everyone who wishes to engage with it is what drives his methodology and practice. Art at its best is a reflection of humanity, society and culture. With that in mind you may see various pictures by him depicting societal commentary hanging on public walls, in open galleries or in run down alleyways.
Kate Fitzpatrick
Kate Fitzpatrick is a visual artist based in Colorado. She graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has a background in film, writing, and illustration. She developed her own language of symbols that she incorporates into her paintings to express her sense of wonder at this world which holds so much beauty and so much brutality all at once.
Suzanne Frazier
Art is a vehicle to explore our exterior and interior landscapes. I rarely paint “portraits”. However, I have created three “portraits” in response to the world I live in.
“Pensive” emerged from a landscape. When I saw the “eye” appear in the painting, I turned the canvas vertical and began to “unfold” the philosophical side of myself. (I have a BA in Philosophy.) I am presenting the inquiry side of myself.
Viewing the world from a meditative practice, I call myself a Contemplative Artist. To me, contemplative art is the product of creative expression rising from the pure joy of creating, grounded in a meditative connection to the radiance and perfection of spirit known only through one’s experience of being fully human.
Suzanne Frazier integrates a BFA degree in Studio Arts from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a BA degree in Philosophy from Lake Erie College to create a philosophical/meditative approach to art making. In 2015, Suzanne published, Contemplative Art, a book describing her meditative process. Since 1990, Suzanne has taught oil pastel drawing and water-based oil-painting classes at her studio in Longmont, Colorado
Rebecca Gabriel
Gabriel holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she was a University Fellow. She has been featured in ART MARKET MAGAZINE #46, 4/20, and at the Florence Biennale Xll. She has exhibited at the Schneider Museum, Ashland, OR; De Cordova Museum, MA; Oakland Museum, CA; and at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University, NY. A retrospective of her work was held at the Rogue Gallery in Medford, OR. Gabriel has received numerous awards including: First Award “All California Art Exhibition”; Finalist in Artist’s Magazine; and Jurors Choice award, at the “Human Form” exhibit, Newport Visual Art Center, OR. She was awarded for her art a Southern Oregon Haines Foundation Grant. She is a GOLD LIST AWARD artist for Art Market International Magazine. Her work is currently on display at THE ARVADA CENTER in the BIG DRAW COLORADO art exhibition. Her book “APPEARANCES – EXPERIMENTAL PORTRAITURE has just be published by Wellstone Press and is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and independent bookstores. Gabriel’s portraiture reflects on the human condition. She explores the human psyche by employing Old Master traditional techniques along with collage, high flow paint, and mixed media. The recurrent themes in her portraiture offer unique perspectives on womanhood, birth, vulnerability, wariness, sexuality, longing, and connection.
Kate Geman
Kate Geman began her career as a speech pathologist working with special needs children. Through this work, she realized the power of art as a well-spring for communication with nonverbal kids. She also discovered her own talent and desire to create. Geman went on to study art and received atelier training at REAL Academy of Art, in Denver.
Through her imaginative realism paintings, she strives to ignite a sense of curiosity in the viewer, allowing them to both look outward at their world and inward to their own perceptions. She is a proud Queer artist hoping to continue making art that can represent the queer community, and resonate with those deconstructing capitalism, the patriarchy, and religious trauma.
Her award-winning work has been exhibited regionally and featured in the Denver Post.
Anne Gifford
I began my career as a silkscreen artist. After 25 years of printmaking, I now work with watercolor where I build successive layers of color to create my vibrant, rich, and detailed paintings. I have lived in Boulder since 1976 and find inspiration in the natural beauty of Colorado. My paintings, like a pictorial journal, have chronicled my journey thus far. On my many walks and hikes throughout the area, I am always on the lookout for new imagery. I relish the depiction of a magic moment and the evidence I find of the pulse of life, both past and present. Light, shadows, rocks, water, mountains, canyons, wildlife and whimsy are all part of my subject matter as I bring my own unique vision to my work.
It has been an honor for me to be the eight time poster artist for the Bolder Boulder 10K Memorial Day Race, one of the largest road races in the United States. Among many other commissions, my paintings have been chosen to represent the 150th Anniversary of Boulder County and the 40th Anniversary of Boulder County Open Space.
I was a long time artist owner of the Boulder Arts and Crafts Gallery, a cornerstone of the arts on the Pearl Street mall for 50 years. Through the gallery, I worked in collaboration with many of the artists in our community to provide this venue in which to feature their local art. Additionally, I enjoy teaching watercolor classes both online and in person.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my long career is that it has provided me with the opportunity to bring joy and reflection into the lives of others through my artwork. That is why I paint.
https://annegifford.com
Zachary Heil
Zachary lives and works in Boulder County, Colorado and received a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado State University in 2014. His work is created using drawing and painting materials, sometimes combining them with text or photographs. Zachary has pursued a life in the arts by exhibiting his work, teaching, working for arts organizations and collaborating with other artists. He also has for several years been an assistant to artist and collector Sherry Hart out of Longmont, Colorado.
Sophie Hill
Sophie Hill is an Anishinaabe beadwork artist and enrolled member of the Bay Mills Band of Ojibwe. She is a graduate of Kalamazoo College, where she studied English, and Theatre Arts. She is a self-taught artist, and has been beading since 2019. Sophie finds inspiration for her work from Ojibwe culture, pop culture, and a greater sense of nostalgia. Her work has been displayed in multiple exhibitions, including Indomitably Indigenous at the Denver Art Museum, and Prismatic at the Dairy Arts Center. Her beadwork has traveled all over the globe!
https://linktr.ee/ajijaak.creations.com
Brenda Jones
Brenda Jones is a contemporary sculptor who lives and works in Colorado Springs. She grew up in southeast Kansas in the 1960s and her work pays homage to the gender roles imbedded in that time period and rural American place. Her sculptures are ceramic or sewn fibers with narrative imagery on the surface that appears nostalgic and delicate while at the same time critiquing traditional women’s roles or expectations.
She earned a Bachelor’s of Art Education at Wichita State University as well as a Master’s of Art in Art History and Ceramics. She has taught these subjects in both Kansas and Colorado and is currently an artist with Think360 in Denver, CO.
Jones’ artwork has been shown in exhibits across the U.S. She has won best of show in several exhibits and has receives scholarships to study at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Anderson Ranch in Aspen, and Fulbright travel studies to Argentina and Japan. Most recently she was a short term ceramics resident at Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana. She has served on the Creede Arts Council and is represented by Strecker-Nelson gallery in Manhattan, KS and Abbey Lane Gallery in Creede, CO.
Mike Keene
I am a sculptor and digital artist living and working in Lakewood, Colorado.
My artworks celebrate a passion for the beauty and mystery of nature and a fascination with the art and architecture that express a cultural narrative. The place where the natural world and the human world intersect and overlap is a primary focus of my work. I want to create an environment, tell a story and perhaps incorporate a sense of mystery and humor.
The sculptural ceramics combine hand building techniques, altered extruded forms with carved, stamped and roller printed patterns and glazes. The digital paintings are photographs that have been digitally manipulated, drawn and painted or images of my clay sculptures that are modified to create an alternative expression of the works.
I received a BFA in graphic design and metals from the University of Texas and an MA from the University of Northern Colorado, studying sculpture and photography. I remain a lifelong student of my craft, researching technical and visual details, pursuing artist workshops and I am a curious observer of life and nature.
I have had a varied artistic career that has taken many turns, including stints as a jewelry designer, photographer, art educator, digital artist and sculptor. I believe that all of life’s experiences are essential influences on my continuing growth in life and art.
My artworks have been shown in venues across the country and are in the collections of patrons around the world.
I am currently an artist member of Valkarie Gallery in Lakewood, Colorado.
Whitman Lindstrom
Whitman Lindstrom is a fine artist based in Boulder, Colorado. His style reflects a conscious effort to blend the cultural influences of the contemporary art scene with a classical artistic style. Originally from Southern California, Whitman’s passion for nature and travel is evident in his work. His figurative work often embodies a social or environmental narrative that delights in contradiction, while his contemporary landscapes are fresh and energetic due in part to his use of a contemporary palette and unique artistic process.
Veronica Love
Boulder based artist, Verónica Love has been captivated by both the profound suffering and perpetual beauty of humans.
For over a decade she has explored how oil painting, graphite and mixed media can express the range of human experience and ignite the human heart.
Love was born in 1976 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Chilean parents who were refugees that escaped the military coup d’tat in Chile. When Love was one and a half, her family then fled Argentina’s dictatorship and landed in California in 1978.
These early life experiences continue to influence Love’s work as she explores human compassion through the making of art.
Allyson McDuffie
McDuffie received a BFA (Studio Arts) and MFA (Printmaking) from Ohio University, Athens. She has lived in Boulder, CO since 1992 and has worked primarily in the mediums of printmaking, drawing, painting, mixed media, and photography, with a more recent exploration into digital drawing. She has spent the past 25 years traveling the planet observing and documenting both urban and rural landscapes, architecture, animals, people, objects and oddities that draw her attention. After spending 18 years in the tech world of corporate America, last year she finally left and got back to making art full time. She’s never been happier. Allyson has a daughter (Avery), stepdaughter (Meghan), an ecologist wife (Wendy), and a slew of cats who somehow discover where she lives and never leave.
Explore more at allysonmcduffiestudioart.com
Dez Merworth
Dez Merworth is an Amazigh-American artist working in Denver, Colorado, and is a recipient of a Bachelors in Fine Arts at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD). She has exhibited work in galleries across the Denver metro area, including Juicebox gallery, Recreative Denver, TaxiAIR, and Dairy Arts Center.
Dez is a founding member of the New Genres Collective, a collaborative coalescence of artists who work with improvisation, performance, and installation to navigate new modes of creation. They have performed both locally and nationally, including the Denver Art Museum and Currents New Media Festival in New Mexico.
Dez previously worked with RedLine Gallery through their ArtCorps mentoring program. In this program, local Denver artists work with E-8 students to create artworks. These pieces are often focused on social justice & outreach, and are shown at RedLine at the end of the semester.
Currently, she lives and makes in Denver with her polydactyl cat Weenie. She instructs in the Digital Creative Art Lab at Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, and additionally works at Access Gallery.
Shantell Montoya
Shantell Montoya is a visual artist who works in two-dimensional and three-dimensional practices, including painting and sculpture. Her work focuses on concepts surrounding identity and social issues. She grew up in the neighborhood of Five Points in Denver, Colorado. She studied at The Metropolitan State University of Denver and received a BFA in Fine Arts in the Spring of 2023. Her work has been exhibited at the Center for Visual Art and the Lighthouse Immersive Art Space.
Raymond Moreno
A retired Denver native with a background in art and carpentry. I’ve recently began painting in oils with a focus on portraits. I’ve recently found landscapes so enjoying to paint plein aire.
Cipriano Ortega
Cipriano has been fortunate enough to have his work recognized and shown both nationally and internationally. Cipriano strives to create works of art that probe the mind and make people question what they perceive as the normative. Whether that is shown in music, theater, visual art or some sort of culmination of all of the above; Cipriano enjoys blending all creative forms of expression. As a sociological artist, Cipriano deconstructs the worlds around him and observes it under a nihilistic perspective. As an indigenous POC, they also have no choice but to deal with colonialism head on by making it a daily practice to see the divisions we as a society create and continue to make the ‘normative.’
Tony Ortega
I spiritually, emotionally and physically live among the clash of two cultures-one Mexican and one American. This issue is my daily problem. I have to cross a border-not the Mexican and U.S border created for the separation of two nation states, but the border between two cultures. Here in Denver, the northern frontier of Aztlan, the northern outpost of Latin American, lays my journey from south to north. I have to deal with a dominant culture whose history is from east to west. On my journey, I have to think from: Spanish to English, community to capitalism, and family to individuality and back again. My journey is not unique as many Latinos also go through this clash of cultures.
Through my work, I offer a multifaceted view that incorporates the history, traditions, and culture of Chicanos in the US. In the postmodern age, my visual language speaks to the issues of migration, shifting demographics, draws from pop culture and seeks to present truth at a more local, personal level.
http://tonyortega.net/
Anna Poisson
Anna grew up secluded behind the iron curtain, became an adult exposed to literature on the other side of it before she finally settled in Gold Hill, Colorado, with her husband, two cats and a flock of six chicks. She has been creating stories with words (past) and images (presence) since she remembers. They are often about the funny (depending on where you sit) incongruity between what is and what was supposed to be.
Julie Puma
Brought as a baby to England by well-traveled parents, Julie Puma spent her first fourteen years there with summers spent in her native Brooklyn. Her earliest memory of art is at age five when her mother gave her a set of oil paints which she used to paint a flower on a Styrofoam meat package. Only a year later her mother would pass away from breast cancer. Her father remarried and his work with IBM moved Julie, her sister, and the new family back to the United States where they settled in the Chicago area. An interest in art wasn’t apparent in high school, but after graduating from Western Illinois State University, Julie went on to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago to achieve a Masters of Art in Art Therapy. Her passion for painting was kindled as she practiced art therapy while experiencing its healing powers for herself and deepening her own creative talent.
Julie made her way to Colorado to care for her sister who was also afflicted with breast cancer. Here she met her husband, gave birth to a daughter, and continued to refine and cultivate her artistic growth. Fueled by her family tragedies, Julie’s painting and art evolved as a means for greater communication and exploration of social and political themes. She earned a second Master’s degree in Fine Art in Visual Art with the Vermont College of Fine Art. Currently, Julie is a full Professor in the Foundations and Fine Art department at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver. Julie’s work has been exhibited nationally and locally in several solo and collaborative shows since 1997. Prized by collectors, her drawings and paintings are personal and powerful, resonant and relevant contemporary realism.
https://www.juliepuma.com/
Maxwell Roath
Maxwell Roath was born in Denver, CO in 1989. He received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012, his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2020, he studied at the Ryder Studio, Santa Fe, NM, in 2021, and completed the Printers Training Program at the Tamarind Institute Albuquerque, NM, in 2022. Roath’s work has been the subject of one-person exhibitions at venues such as Art Gym, Denver, CO (2023). His work has been included in group exhibitions such as Ink, Press, Repeat: National Juried Printmaking and Book Art Exhibition, William Paterson University Galleries, Wayne, NJ (2023); Five Points Gallery, Juried Exhibition, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT (2021); Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London, UK (2020); Megalo Intaglio Online Exhibition, Megalo Print Studio + Gallery, Kingston, Australia (2020); 4th NY International Miniature Print Exhibition, Manhattan Graphics Center, NY (2019); Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Member Show, The Elizabeth Foundation of the Arts, New York, NY (2019); and Published by the Artist, International Print Center New York, NY (2019). Roath’s work is included in the Albuquerque Public Art Collection. He lives in Denver, CO.
Micah Roberts
Hello, my name is Micah! I’m a fine artist by trade interested in exploring how we can bring more black voices into the design space.
Elayna Roy
Elayna Roy is a budding artist currently exploring classical realism. This is done through a plethora of mediums such as graphite, charcoal, pastels, oil, etc. There isn’t a medium worth at least trying. And by diving into classical realism, Elayna can better convey her view and interpretation of the world to others.
https://instagram.com/elroyfineart?utm_source=qr&igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg%3D%3D
Amanda Sandlin
Amanda Sandlin is known for vulnerable portrayals of interior landscapes across various media, primarily painting and sculpture. Her self-study of visual art began while working as a freelance graphic artist and living nomadically for many years. She has exhibited throughout the United States, worked with clients such as Maggie Rogers and Little, Brown and Company, and has pieces held by collectors internationally. Amanda lives and works in Boulder, Colorado.
Wyatt Scott
Wyatt Scott is an artist and art handler born in Boulder, CO. Using faux-repousé inspired by Mycenaean death masks, he works through ideas of imposter syndrome, loss, and ego. Usually self-portraits, the figures in his work are often abstracted through psychedelic absurdism and levity, evoking cartoons of his childhood. Scott’s other work includes board games, tattoo flash sheets, animations and 3D models.
Brady Smith
Brady Smith is a visual artist, working and living in his hometown of Arvada, Colorado.
Conceptually, Brady is interested in exploring and portraying mental health through his artistic practice. Employing the use of two-dimensional visual art, he presents to the viewer ideas regarding depression, struggles with suicidal ideation, relational loneliness, and other common shared melancholic experiences. This is accomplished mostly through still life and portraiture in a variety of mediums ranging from all printmaking methods, drawing, painting, and other forms of mark-making. The goal of each piece is either to create a composition that conveys a feeling for the viewer to sympathize with to gain a better understanding of another human experience, or to educate a viewer on tools they can adopt to help with these shared struggles. While there is certainly a space for joyful artwork, it is essential to portray other emotions of the human condition to assist each other in coping with this thing called life.
Brady is currently earning a PhD in creative research from Transart Institute. He holds a BFA in 2-D studies with an emphasis in etching from Brigham Young University, Idaho and a Master’s in contemporary art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London.
Brady has exhibited his work internationally, has lectured in multiple universities, and has given painting and printmaking demos in a variety of museums and arts spaces. Brady’s most recent solo exhibitions include: (Don’t Be Embarrassed by) Your Trouble with Living, an exhibition about suicidal ideation at the Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities; To Fold and Repeat, an exhibition about repetition, ritual, and obsessive compulsive disorder at the Spori Gallery; and 5,000 sq. ft., 3 Car Garage, an exhibition about American suburbia at Alto Gallery.
In 2015, Brady’s work was also unknowingly included in Buzzfeed’s 23 of the Absolute Worst Things that Could Ever, Ever Happen.
River Smith
River is an artist who moved to Denver earlier this year from North Texas. She graduated with an Associates in Art from Collin College in May of 2021. Growing up with an artistic family, River spent many years making crafts of all kinds, from drawing kittens, sewing little teddy bears, to making jewelry and even ceramics. Once in college, she found herself focusing and growing her drawing skills and ultimately completing her degree in Art. River continues to grow her drawing and composition skills as she builds her portfolio.
Maddie Stansell
Madrigal (“Maddie”) Stansell is a contemporary oil painter hailing from Denver, Colorado whose art delves into nostalgic family reinterpretations primarily focused around women and children. She graduated from Northern Arizona University with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Studio Art. Her love of humanity and art is evident in her work, where within her expressive compositions, faces take center stage. She paints to reveal the complexity of her subjects’ lives and experiences. Maddie explores emotive memories intertwined with contemporary themes and tensions.
In 2020, Maddie developed and released an art game called Art unBlocks to help artists create through guided play. She quickly landed her game in the large, immersive art company Meow Wolf as well as with the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. Her work is evolving as she learns from mentors like Nicolas Uribe, Carrie Stanley, and Amy Dury, but the one thing that remains constant is her love of painting the human experience.
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Randall Steinke
Randy Steinke fell in love with painting in college when he had painting and art history classes. He has painted ever since then but in intermittent periods. Life circumstances led him back to painting which he has now turned into a full-time profession. Randy paints in an figurative expressionist (colorist) style which uses bold vibrant colors on figurative subjects with the use of shapes to coalesce into an artwork.
Tracy Stuckey
Tracy Stuckey received his BFA in painting from Florida State University and his MFA from the University of New Mexico. He has exhibited his work extensively throughout the United States, with numerous solo and group exhibitions, including shows curated by gallery owner Linda Durham and artist Joel Peter Witkin. He has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, most recently the Professional Development Grant from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. In 2009 he was an artist-in-residence at the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Wendover, Utah. Also a professor, Stuckey has taught at West Virginia University, and most recently, Colorado State University. Tracy and his wife, artist Erika Osborne, live in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Elizabeth Suriani
Elizabeth Suriani is a Studio Artist and Gallery Manager at Artworks Center for Contemporary Arts in Loveland, Colorado and has been a part of the community since 2020. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a minor in Art History in 2016.
In 2020 Suriani created and curated her first solo exhibition while living and working in Bangkok, Thailand, titled, Complacent and shown at Buffalo Bridge Gallery. This installation was based on the over-production of plastic waste and the way it is affecting our planet. In the end she totaled over 1,000 plastic bags and waste for the knitted “blanket” that she created as the centerpiece.
Currently, is exhibiting her first US solo exhibition at Artworks Center for Contemporary Art titled, CHROMOPHOBIA, which recontextualizes themes of Western aesthetics and how it translates to masculine and feminine roles through a classical and contemporary lens.
The artwork chosen for submission is part of Suriani’s series, “Say My Name,” which she started in 2020 and is currently on hold. “Say My Name” is a story-telling series based around marginalized groups and traumas that each model has shared with the artist.
Kaitlyn Tucek
Kaitlyn Tucek lives and works in Denver, CO. From Long Island, NY, Tucek graduated from Pratt Institute in 2006 and was awarded a Master’s from CUNY Queens College in 2013. Tucek is a multi-disciplinary artist, working with a variety of mediums and materials.
Tucek’s work has been shown in New York, Denver and Aspen, including exhibits at Leon Gallery, ATC and Alto Gallery. Her work has been featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, Westword, Denver Life Magazine, Modern in Denver, CPR’s Denverite. She was recently named one of Denver’s top 5 artists to watch and collect by 5280 Magazine.
Lisa Corine von Koch
I am a shape-shifting artist. I follow the Muse who leads the work across disciplines: painting, drawing, performance, sculpture, video and installation. I like to think of my work as Magic Realism- based on true events and real experience with a flair for color and whimsy, autobiographical moments that are elevated and expanded upon. Oftentimes, I have taken on a new identity or persona in accompaniment to the body of work; these alter egos grant me the ability to make work in new and different ways and give me the bravado to put myself out there as a performer. I was Queen Bee and the Pollenatrix for my series about Bee Colony Collapse disorder, Mother Spore for the series that encouraged the evolution of mushrooms to break down nuclear waste, the Cosmic Nun for a series of works involving rituals that took me to the edge of cliffs and beyond in the red desert of Moab, Utah (my hometown), the Marilyns, who are half Marilyn Monroe and half Marilyn Manson and are designed to fight patriarchy and Trumpism, and finally, The Baroness Elsa von, who tells honest stories about her experience as a mother and the world around her.
In my current semi-domesticated life, I have been mainly painting with India Ink as my primary medium. I began using it primarily for ecological reasons and realized that it allowed me to capture fleeting moments gesturally out in the desert, as well as to build many layers quickly while working on a grand scale. I have completely fallen in love with the openness, diffused clarity, suggestive power and transparency of the medium. The jewel-like intensity of the colors that come from layering the ink is nothing short of miraculous, and I truly believe that I have taken the medium to a level that no one else has.