Invited Artists

Kiley Ames lives and works in Los Angeles and Oakland, CA. She received her BA in History from UCLA, a BFA from Art Center College of Design and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art. Ames has been awarded residencies in Beijing and Shanghai as well as Leipzig, Germany. She is the recipient of multiple grants including the Barbara Deming Memorial Grant, Leslie T. and Frances U. Posey Foundation and the Vermont Studio Center. In addition to her own studio practice, she was a freelancer at Annie Leibovitz Studio for almost ten years. Recent exhibitions include her first museum exhibition, Figures, at the American University Museum in Washington, D.C., In the Labyrinth, New York University Kimmel Galleries, It Figures: The Body in Art, Arc Gallery, Chicago ILL; States of Reality, Gallery 66, Cold Springs, NY, Postcards from the Edge, Sikkema Jenkins Gallery, New York, One Year of Resistance, The Untitled Space, New York, Facing Contemporary Issues at The Tides Galleries, San Francisco, Purely Abstract, at Kavanagh Gallery, Illinois, Gesture and Motion at Site: Brooklyn, New York, and was selected to create a public work for the Los Angeles Metro, More People Than You Know. She recently published her first monograph, “Fighting the Good Fight: A Breast Cancer Journey.”

TJ Bergeron is an artist and educator from Boston Massachusetts and graduate of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts with a BFA in Painting and MFA in Art Education. TJ's work investigates how moments in the forest reflect the cycle of mental stability and instability in a person's life. His practices led to motifs of forgotten charred wood, silently being reclaimed by the woodlands he travels through. By working on wooden panels, the artist ensures that his paintings maintain a life of their own as they warp and bend each day, similar to the trees observed while wandering through the forest. TJ's work captures a moment that is in-between joyous solitude in the woods and overwhelming isolation while analyzing a work of art. Through this, he strives to unlock overlooked landscapes and pressures of everyday living for his audience. While the image may be the foremost quality of his work, the life of the wood is ever present and tied to his own mental health. TJ hopes that the biorhythmic motifs in each painting continue to add remnants of the spirit and energy from the woods with which all his work originates.

A native of Pittsburgh, street photographer Jaime Bird, has spent the last several years documenting life as it unfolds. A self taught photographer, Jaime has exhibited internationally in Mexico, as well as Sacramento, Brooklyn, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. She currently sits on the board of Pittsburgh Society of Artists and Group A.

Raymond Bonavida is an emerging artist who challenges us to reimagine our environment. Motivated by his interests in light, spacetime, and human perception, he incorporates expressive camera movement into long exposure photography, producing bold, visceral images. As a former student of philosophy and psychology at UCLA, Raymond continues to bring big questions about how we experience and understand the physical world into his art. His acclaimed series, Moondance, presents unique photographic compositions that explore the beauty of the Moon through its inherent spacetime relationships with our planet. Since debuting in 2019, pieces from the Moondance series have been jury selected for over 25 exhibitions across the country.

Mia’s artwork reflects an aspect of our evolution of consciousness found in the everyday joys and challenges that are inextricably entangled. Her inspirations come from social and environmental issues, and from the symbolism in language that acknowledges a fluid path of change. Her watercolor paintings on wood panels allow the subject matter to be connected and simultaneously emerge from the background, challenging the notion that humans are separate from nature. When words fail us, an image can create a bridge of empathy between ourselves and all sentient beings.

Todd Brown is a contemporary painter, illustrator, muralist, and modern collage artist. His creative heros include Jeffrey Koons, Salvador Dali, Mark Kostobi, Tristan Eaton, and Carol Brown-Goldberg to name a few. Todd’s current work features an expertly crafted, visual collection of pop imagery blended with his own creative and playful style. Fascinated with cover and pop art, his latest paintings are a combination of a graphic book narrative and cartoons combined with modern pop-art that fuse a path through each bold, and energetic exploration of his pre-millennial childhood juxtaposed with pop culture. Brown earned his Fine Arts Degree with a minor in Art History at Arizona State and his Masters of Fine Arts at Towson State, where he studied under Earl Linderman, Henry Schoebel, and Leonard Koscianski.

Wilfred Brunner was born in Washington, DC and currently resides in Takoma Park, Maryland. He received his BA from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania and his MFA in painting from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He is now Professor Emeritus at Montgomery College where he taught painting and was instrumental in the planning for the Cafritz Art Center. He previously was on the staff of The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Referred to as an “imagist” by the Curator Walter Hopps, his work is included in private and public collections including The Baltimore Museum of Art, The American University Museum at the Katzen Center, Princeton University, and The Phillips Collection.

Will Carpenter started his higher education in art at Wheaton College, studying with painter Joel Sheesley and sculptor Jeff Thompson, as well as other accomplished artists and educators. There, he began to understand the powerful depths and rich nuances of fine art. Intrigued by the medium of paint, he resolved to invest himself in representational imagery and in due course obtained a BA in Studio Art. Subsequently, he painted in Ecuador, South America until the University of Miami accepted him into their MFA program. There he studied under Walter Darby Bannard, an acclaimed minimalist, abstract expressionist painter, art writer, and critic. Additionally, he worked as a studio assistant to the glass artist William Carlson. Will most loves being a husband to his wife Jackie and a father to a slew of kids. During the school year, he invests himself into his students at Indiana Wesleyan University. For close to 20 years, he has taught courses in art appreciation, color, design, drawing, and painting. In the gaps between his family and school time, he pursues a professional practice of art, devoting himself primarily to drawings and paintings of abstracted suburban landscapes and other imaginative imagery. He maintains a membership with the prestigious Hoosier Salon. His work has won a variety of awards and been in numerous nationally juried exhibits and other shows around the country.

Conge’s work is known internationally and he is represented in public and university collections in the United States, Europe, Japan and China.

Santiago Farias was born in 1991 in Atlanta, Georgia and spent his childhood in Texas. He studied and received his Bachelor's of Art at the University of Southern Maine. He is currently living and working in the Northern Virginia area. His work is grounded in reality but adds magical elements blurring the line between fantasy and reality. The themes he embodies in his work are the passing of time, memory, and the human subconscious.

Albert Feldstein is not a professional photographer or even a talented amateur, but enjoys taking photos and always keeps a camera handy. For decades his interest has been in documenting historic events. His biggest concerns are to make sure the picture is at least in focus, framed somewhat well, tells a story, and is taken from an interesting perspective. He is also cheap and technologically archaic. Feldstein started with a Brownie Flashmite in 1963 on a camping trip, then a Polaroid Black/White Swinger in college during the 1970s, graduated to an Instamatic and then a few self-focusing cameras. He now uses a Nikon CoolPix purchased off eBay several years ago for $12.00. He has tried and failed to take photos with his old flip-top cell phone. Since 1980 as a “hobby” he has published over 30 books, websites, videotapes, DVDs and posters pertaining to regional and national history, including a poster entitled, "Buttons of the Cause" which from 2005 to 2013 was exhibited and sold at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Al lives in LaVale, Maryland with his long-suffering wife, Angela.

Vincent Ferrari has been involved in the art of photography for many years. He has won numerous awards for his photographs and his work has been displayed in many galleries, both in his home state of Maryland, and elsewhere across the country. His work includes both landscape and nature photography, as well as intimate portraits of humanity. Vincent is a retired pharmacist, and lives in Maryland with his wife, Leslie.

Born in Moline, Illinois (known as the farm implement capital of the world), Fiedler studied art and architecture in 1983 through the Inter Kultur Off Campus Studies program in Europe. The following year, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. After several years working in industry, he went back to art school, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Emily Neville Fisher is an award-winning photographer who lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband and three children. She received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Art at James Madison University, her master's in Arts Administration from New York University and her certificate for the Track program at the International Center for Photography in New York City. She has worked in painting, drawing, jewelry, and pottery but has been concentrating on photography for the past decade. Emily has received awards in several juried photography exhibitions and has been published in Marie Claire, Click Magazine, and Bedford & New Canaan Magazine.

Working in the media of etching, drypoint, photogravure and photopolymer gravure, Freestone's work begins with drawn studies or photographs. Natural forms are her subject matter, often placed within architectural forms to reinforce the connection between human endeavor and the natural world, and to reflect both on the human condition and its impact on the earth.

Painter, photographer, dancer, gardener, I am drawn to the art of Kintsugi and the message that value is found in embracing both the beautiful and broken places; that with the touch of grace, broken places can be mended and become even more treasured. This is the inspiration for KintsugiGrace® art shells that highlight this idea and the power of time. Nature is the creator and sculptor of each shell that I transform. My artistic goal is to accentuate the natural beauty and transform each weathered shell into a one-of-a-kind, unrepeatable piece of art that showcases the idea that embracing the whole journey adds strength, value and beauty.

Richard Greene brings to photography a unique personal history. His career as a bluegrass and classical violinist spanned 1960 to 2013. Along with music, Richard became obsessed with photography as a young teenager, from a bathroom/darkroom processing 2¼ x 2¼ black and white and color film to today’s digital revolution. He avidly collected books by the masters recognized at that time, and browsed countless others in local camera shops every day after school. Then home to practice. Richard’s four primary musical goals have always been expression, innovation, technique, and composition. In applying exactly these same intentions to his photography, he finds that the creation of musical works and photographic works are quite the same—both depend entirely on the artistic placement of available or sometimes imagined elements. Music and photography both start before using the instrument, both start with seeing. Richard is currently active in the Los Angeles Center of Photography and involved with many photographic organizations, including The Palm Springs Photo Festival, American Photographic Artists-LA Chapter, American Society of Media Photographers, and Los Angeles Adobe User Group. His work has been seen in many dozens of exhibitions throughout the United States and he is the recipient of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Award, Exhibition and Traveling Tour.

Darryl Halbrooks’ visual art has been exhibited widely in the US and abroad, and is included in numerous private and public collections including the Denver Art Museum, The Memphis Museum, and the State of Kentucky. His fiction was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in the New Delta Review, The Madison Review, The Evening Street Review, Map Literary, and The Westchester Review.

Born and raised in Cumberland, Martin Heavner has exhibited his photography at galleries throughout the mid-Atlantic region. His work also has been published in national magazines, calendars, and electronic greeting cards. In 2021, Martin was the featured photographer in the annual Backbone Mountain Review, a literary journal showcasing the creative diversity of artists in the Appalachian Mid-Atlantic region. Currently, he is the president of the Board of Directors of the Allegany Arts Council and co-chair of the Council’s Photography Committee, where he helps to organize the annual Allegany National Photography Competition and Exhibition (ANPCE). Previously, he was a marketing and product development executive in the Washington, DC, area, where he served as the vice president of one of the country’s largest environmental publishing and training companies for nearly 20 years.

Martha Heller lives with her husband in Newton, Massachusetts where she has a studio and gallery in her home. Her textile pieces evolve from explorations of materials and techniques and include art quilts, sculptures, and wall hangings. She recently retired from a career creating theatrical costumes and volunteering with the historical costume collection at Blithewold Mansion in Rhode Island. These experiences have a strong impact on her sculptural work that examines the dynamics between constructed garments and artistic expression. Martha strives to maintain a sustainable art practice, using only repurposed materials and natural dye processes.

Juliet Drake Hossain spent the first part of her creative life in the performing arts, working in music, theatre and film. She obtained a B.F.A. in Performance from Hofstra University in 2002, and professionally acted until the birth of her two children. As an Air Force spouse, she was afforded eclectic experiences while living in the Washington, D.C. area, New York City, Phoenix, San Antonio, Tokyo, Delaware, and southern New Jersey. Juliet now works out of her current home in Frederick, Maryland, where her favorite tools are her paintbrushes and her Glowforge laser cutter. Juliet’s best inspirations are her vibrant children, space imagery, theatrical themes, physics, nature, and the contemplation of self.

Jarom’s art has always been rooted in a connection with nature. From growing up on five acres and eating off the land, to her current life on a 100-acre farm, she has come to regard her art and her relationship with nature as an intimate dialogue. Receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Interior Design) at Drake University brought a love of architecture into her work. Later, her work earning a Master of Fine Arts (Book & Paper) at Columbia College Chicago, presented other elements and dimensions to her art for exploring the human bond to the natural world. The current heightened awareness of the devastating effects of global climate has fueled a hope that her art speaks to others about the critical and delicate balance between human activity and our environment.

Throughout his 25-year career in law enforcement and criminal prosecution, Joshua Kelty has had to look at the world through many different lenses and at every possible angle in order to gain a better understanding of what is happening around him. Translating these observation skills to his photography, Joshua has been able to look beyond the surface, capturing interesting images in the least obvious places. Joshua is an avid globetrotter, having visited over a dozen countries across three separate continents, and it is his hope to continue to bring images from around the world to those who have not had the pleasure of traveling as extensively. Joshua is a California native, but has called Cumberland, Maryland home for almost 20 years.

Percy’s work as painter and poet follows the tradition of activism and pursues the humanist quest for equality and understanding. His paintings of oil, acrylic and mixed media trend to Narrative Impressionism with the objective of igniting a conversation seeking answers about our condition as humans. His work has been displayed in several international and national online exhibitions, as well as on premises nationally with recent solo exhibitions locally. He works from Open Sky Studio and Gallery located in Tarpon Springs Florida.

Capturing the light is the foundation for Tammy Smith Lawless’s work. Her paintings call forth the playful and complex by examining the effects of light on an object and translating that information into a world of fantasy dominated by saturated colors and organic shapes. The image is released from the constraints of traditional recognition and perceptions, opening windows for new narratives and understanding. In her work, there is a constant movement from the awareness of the object to the transformative possibilities within the intangible. Tammy obtained both her BFA (2016) and her MA/MFA (2021) from the University of Texas at Texas while simultaneously working as a registered nurse.

Sheryl Massaro is an oil painter, poet, and photographer based in historic Frederick, MD. Massaro’s award-winning oils and photography have been exhibited in many galleries and museums nationally and are in several private collections. Her work, though often based on the recognizable, shares a deeper, "off to the side" look at life rather than the purely representational. In 2018, she became a Resident Artist at Frederick’s Griffin Art Center, where she works from her Art & Pen Studio. Massaro's visual art is represented by District Arts Gallery, Frederick, MD.

I carve feathers into intricate bird-themes with shadows. The birds that give the feathers may still be alive! Like many of us, I want to fly, but I can’t. So, feathers are symbols of aspiration and transformation for many cultures. Feathers seem delicate, but they are tough. My art may look delicate, but is museum-durable. All feathers used are legal to have and sell.

Cindy Mehr’s art—maximal and eclectic—reflects her experiences as a world traveler and her time spent living in such places as Spain, France, Japan, Morocco, Colombia, and Burkina Faso. A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she currently splits her time between Bel Air Maryland and her house in the small village of Les Aires in the south of France. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she majored in painting and printmaking, and a Master’s degree in English literature. Her love of world literature has inspired her to explore the links between literary and artistic movements, with particular influences being dadaism, existentialism, and Jungian philosophy. In addition to group and solo shows in the mid Atlantic region, she has exhibited her paintings in Morocco, Japan, Spain, and France. She has received awards at such places as the Lancaster Museum of Art, the Maryland Federation of Art, the Towson Art Collective, and the Torpedo Factory in Arlington, Virginia.

“The world isn’t flat, why should your art or decor be?” says mixed media artist, Thyra Moore who creates multi-dimensional works. With her studio on the waters edge in Stevensville, MD, it is clear the colors and movement of the environment — sunrises, sunsets, storms, water — influence her art works. Thyra’s work has exhibited across the US, winning prestigious awards and merits, including Best In Show at the District Arts Gallery in Fredrick, MD.

Charlene Nield entered the art world through the backdoor as an avid art collector who was encouraged to take up a brush, which is now often traded for a palette knife. An intuitive painter with little formal training, she developed a love of the figure with all its quirky imperfections and a style uniquely her own. Her paintings of colorful figures, rich with texture and punctuated with pattern, are a sophisticated celebration of the whimsy and joy found in everyday life. Charlene was juried into the nationally recognized Torpedo Factory Artists Association in 2017 and has been a resident artist at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia since 2018. Her work has been shown and collected throughout the United States and in many areas of Canada and Europe. In addition to her individual work, Charlene also paints collaboratively with artist Ann Pickett under the name, á deux.

Born in Russia and based in New York, Asya Dodina and Slava Polishchuk are visual artists working in collaboration since 2003. Recent solo exhibitions include MoRA, NJ; The Narthex Gallery, St Peter’s Church, NY; International Center of Arts, Remagen, Germany; Fox & Fowle Gallery; Pace University; Brooklyn College, NY. Artists have exhibited in numerous museums and galleries including The National Arts Club, Drawing Center, BAC Gallery, Chelsea Art Museum, Kentler International Drawing Space, NY; The Trenton City Museum of Ellarslie, The Paul Robeson Gallery,
Rutgers University, Newark, NJ; TMORA, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Künstlerforum, Bonn, Germany; Ca’ Foscari Zattere Cultural Flow Zone, Venice, Italy. Their works are in public and private collections including Jane Voorhnees Zimmerly Art Museum, Kolodzei Foundation, NJ; Brooklyn College Library, Pace University, Fox & Fowle Architects, Con Edison, NY. Their awards include Stephen Bruce Award for Achievement in Unique Media, The Trenton City Museum of Ellarslie; Project Grant for Exhibition, NY State Council of the Arts; Award of Excellence, Firehouse Art Gallery, Nassau Community College.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Spring Hill, Florida, Deyjah Stewart is an artist who explores solitude through mixed media processes. Based in North Texas, Deyjah studied studio art with a concentration in painting and drawing at Texas Woman’s University where she received her BFA in May 2022. Her work has been exhibited across North Texas including, Arts Fort Worth, the John Weinkein Student Exhibition juried by Deedra Baker, the 500x Gallery, TWU’s Student Union Gallery in Hubbard Hall, the VALA Gallery in McKinney, TX, and the Patterson Appleton Arts Center in Denton, TX. She is currently showcasing as part of the New Texas Talent Exhibition at the Craighead Green Gallery in Dallas, TX.

My interest in art started as a kid and I have been making art ever since; but unlike many artists, I didn’t get my BFA and MFA degrees until I was around 40. Both of those degrees focused on sculpture. After a twenty-year break, I starting focusing exclusively on painting again in 2011. Since then, many of the ideas I had previously struggled to express are falling into place.

Raised in Shenzhen, China, Wang received a BFA in Metal Design at East Carolina University in North Carolina. She is pursuing her MFA in Metalsmithing + Jewelry Design at Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana. Wang’s work is rooted in the formal traditions of silversmithing. Drawing inspiration from botanical forms and her personal background, Wang creates work using hand fabrication techniques and elements from everyday life. Her work is exhibited nationally and internationally, and has been published in The Enamelist Society Conference’s Transformation in Contemporary Enamels.

Sandra's passion is exploring cultural and social changes and connections to the human condition. Sandra has lived and worked for American Agency in Washington DC, Japan, China, Taiwan. She began her journey in photography in 2007 after she studied ceramics in Japan, Corcoran School of Art, and George Washington University. Sandra's photography has received many outstanding national and international awards including CENTER Director's 1st Place Award, 1st Place KLPA Portrait award, International Conservation Award in Culture, 1st Place for PX3, Deepest Perspective IPA awards, National Geographic Magazine International contest, etc. Her work has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Art Washington, Aperture Gallery, Annenberg Space of Photography, Florida Museum of Photographic Art, etc. Her work has been featured in European Photography Magazine, French Culture Papier, FOTOMagaine, American Photography AI-AP Books & archives, Color, Black & White Magazines, etc. Her work is in several private collections including The Gordon Parks Foundation.

Jenny Wilson was born in New York, New York in 1958. She studied art at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan and was a freelance graphic designer and commercial artist for several years. She changed course and earned her Master of Music Degree at West Virginia University and is a full- time jazz and classical performing musician. Her group the Jenny Wilson Trio can be heard in many varied venues in the Mid-Atlantic region. Encouraged by Robby Moore, currently Director of the Beckley Arts Center, she was juried into Tamarack Center for the Arts and has been painting along with her flourishing music career ever since. Jenny was the art teacher at the Community School in Camden, Maine and more recently at the Morgantown Learning Academy in West Virginia. Jenny has developed creative arts programs for the city parks in Morgantown, West Virginia. Jenny Wilson has received awards in national and regional juried shows and has paintings in corporate headquarters as well as many private collections. She has studios in Chevy Chase, MD and in Morgantown, WV.

Lauren Woods is an artist whose practice and creative research explores concepts of mythic time and embodied expression. Personal myth is developed visually across various mediums such as painting, video, and dance performances. Born in Mobile, Alabama, Lauren received her MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art after completing her BA in studio art at Spring Hill College. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Art in the Department of Art & Art History at Auburn University, where she teaches figure drawing and painting.

An award winning photographer, Beamie Young has been creating photographs for the past 40 years. In the past, she shot on film and worked in the darkroom. Today, she loves using her digital camera and Adobe Photoshop. She enjoys capturing unique colors, patterns, textures, reflections, and light.