Rachel B. Abrams lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin—Madison in 1997 and her MFA in Glassworking from Alfred University in 2000. She exhibits regularly throughout the United States and has been awarded residencies at The Arctic Circle, Svalbard, Norway; Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; Assilah Forum Foundation, Assilah, Morocco; Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France; and Custom House Studios, County Mayo, Ireland. In 2018, Rachel

Sara Alsum-Wassenaar is a Visiting Professor of Visual Studies and Foundations at Grand Valley State University. She received her MFA in New Media from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also holds a BA in Psychology and Art from Hope College, and a Masters of Education from Grand Valley State University. In the summer of 2018 she engaged a team of student researchers in a project entitled Embodied Design. The team used Raspberry Pis to capture the moment people grabbed a drin

Nicole Foran (MFA, University of Cincinnati) is an Associate Professor of Art at Middle Tennessee State University. Originally from Canada, she has been living and working in the United States for the past ten years. Her artwork is exhibited internationally and was most recently featured in a solo exhibition at Holy Family University in Philadelphia. Nicole will be presenting on community outreach in the arts at the 2020 International Conference on the Arts in Society in Galway, Ireland.

Lin Foust is most interested in visual excitement and spatial ambiance. Throughout their time residing in Grand Rapids, Michigan and earning their BFA in Visual Studies from Grand Valley State University, they often analyze the importance of mapping, repetition, and play within their practice. Foust is interesting in revealing “true data” of a place or event; in which they believe it’s important to visit a particular site numerous times to learn about the ever changing identity of place. This r

Lueking Knabe is a queer maker and installation artist based out of the Midwest. Their work is an attempt to join communities in a shared act of experience and conversation through their interaction. The body becomes aware of its state as a gendered political being as the artist uses a combination of mirrors, archived images and text to question the space between us and the unity we find in the performance of individuality. Focusing on the “orientation” aspect of “sexual orientation” Knabe exami

Kerry Kolenut was born in New Jersey. She received her MFA in Photography from Tyler School of Art, Temple University in 2009 and her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2006. Drawing inspiration from where she grew up, her work is photo based and focuses on themes relating to identities, structures, and memories within different types of communities. Her work has been exhibited nationally including Foley Gallery (New York City), Center Gallery at the Midwest Center for Photography (Kan

Within his paintings, Angelo Ray Martínez (b. 1981 in Boulder, CO) combines a playful variety of images, exploring the construction of personal and cultural identities. 8-bit video game graphics, tattoos, and items of clothing are some of the elements that are utilized to explore themes of appropriation, assimilation, and hybridity. His work questions the role of objects and images in the construction of self-identification while highlighting the increasing fluidity of identity in the post-inter

Lorna attended Pratt Institute, (BFA), and Cranbrook Academy of Art, (MFA). She taught at RISD, Brown U, U of Minnesota, Dartmouth College, NY Studio School, Vermont Studio Center and the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown MA. Residencies: CScape Dune Shacks,'P'Town, MA., International Program, UMASS, Cape Town, South Africa, Wurlitzer Foundation, NM.,Arcadia National Park, ME, Fundacíon Valparaíso,Spain; Roswell Museum Art Center, NM.,MacDowell Colony, NH, Lectures: Instituto de Belles Artes,

Elliott Stokes was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1990. After studying at Southeastern Louisiana University, he graduated in 2015 with a BA in Studio Art. During this time, he began researching and investigating the detritus of industry in southeastern Louisiana, locating his studio in a former oil distribution warehouse. He then spent time as a continuing graduate student, studying foreign policy and history across Europe. He is currently an MFA candidate with the University of Illinois in U

I am an artist living and working in Grand Rapids, MI and a Visiting Professor at Grand Valley State University in the Department of Visual and Media Art. My practice is strongly rooted in my experience as a transwoman. Exploring my gender identity, while a deeply personal process, is also an increasingly politicized act that informs my making. The prefix trans- is also a tactic and gesture I employ in my studio practice by moving ideas between and across materials and modes of working in order