Voices of Adams County
2024
75 x 130 inches
Acrylic on individual laser-cut tiles

Artists: Marlon Barralaga Mayen, Ricardo Diaz Sales, Marck Foster, Jesus Gama Bajo, Ka'Mari May, Buntu Nishirimbere, Michael L Phelps, Jayden Robinson-Rowe, Julissa Romero Bonilla, Amir Wade, David Aguilar, Sebastian Aguilarte Rojas, Rayvan Arestigueta, Jose Banuelos Soto, Raynieli Bossio Perez, Efrain De La Rosa Castro, Adrian Estrada Guevara, Shianna Mewhinney, Bibi Omolbanin Mousavi, Richard Ortiz Leon, Yami Estrada Lopez, Jeremy Portugal, Anlly Romero Yanez, Ismary Solares Gonzalez, Meliza Vicente Lopez, La'Darious Willingham, Janeth Aranda, Christian Flores Diosdado, Genesis Garcia Salinas, Sergio Molina Sosa, Azariah Otero, Adan Rivera, Tanya Acosta, Jesus Arreola Garcia, Daron Bautista, Lizeth C. M., Eran (Sage) Cartwright, Tauti Fellows, Natalie Franqui, Ever G. C., Elda Garcia Lara, Dharma Groen, Lexi Heit, Loveigh Hernandez, Hannah Kaiser-Henson, Jasmine L. H., Anahy Loera, Anna Maez, Brooke Marlin, Daniel Miller, Kane Molski, Malachi Padilla, Isaiah S., Rachel Smith, Kelsea Speer, Jonathan Streeter-Munoz, Dave Towne, Carmine Unate, Savanna Herrera, Joy Chacon, Gallilea Munoz, Viridiana Aguilera Molina, Nyx A., Kiera B., David C., Cora D., Trey C., Jeremiiah D., Daniel E., Yanelis F., Mily G, Ateefa J., Dalynda K., Emily L., Lianny L., Adrian M., Diana O., Simone P., Amecia R., Casius R., Marianna S., Valentina S., Shahid S., Abraham T., William T., Jesus V., Maria G., Leilani D., Ivalyss F., Danaliyah G., Marissa Q., Stormy V., Ava Apodaca, Emily Carlton-Birch, Serenity Cruz, Dezmond Haralson-Garcia, Claire Keep, Alli Merritt, Damien Meyer, Clint Nethken, Milo Norland, Chloe O’Callaghan, Kaden Pierce-Fernandez, Maya Reid, Nolan Scow, Izabella Stratton, Ethan Tran, Sang Trang, Jaidyn Trujillo, Leah Velasquez, Greta Walsh, Brady Watkins, Fynn Archibald, Ava Brown-Soliz, Elizabeth Christensen, Jakob Domanico, Keira Holland, Bronson Johnston, Harley McDowell, Naimah Medina, Genevieve Miotto, Layla Parran, Cole Podleski, Violet Samuels, Jazmyn Schwanke, Roger Shaul, Eddie Singletary, Aidan Tenhulzen, Anthony Velarded, Avery Calus, Aidyn Conley, Eva Crutchfield, Harvey Culbert, Ziyah Duran, Leonardo Elliott, Elizabeth Fry, David Garcia, SaLaura Guerrero, Alisson Hernandez Vega, Ashly Hernandez Vega, Sophia Mejia, Alvaro Munoz Mora, Amora Sanchez, Samuel Stice, Axel Robert Swigart, Bryan Velazquez Goytia, Nicole Villalobos Gutierrez, Trent Warner, Braden Watkins, Allison Avelar, Jaqueline Avila Salazar, Andrea Castillo Soto, Yamileth Chacon, Brayden Day, Jonatan De la Cruz, Josue Frias Vazquez, Noah Gomez, Kendrick Hernandez Payan, Maria Hester-Hurtado, Ethan Lamorie, Sergio Lopez, Michael Marisco, Janeth Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Micah Oldenkamp, Jadiel Peguero, Melanie Preciado, Lydia Rivera, Zayne Rogers Ortivez, Ivanna Sotelo Portillo, Camille Thompson, Ava Watson, Jack Wuerschmidt, Alanna Arellanes, Emma Arguello, Zoey Bertsch, Anzhalika Budzko, Kiera Conrad, Katie Davila, Addilynn Dreger, Kaylee Dreger, Addison Eads, Isabella Fernandez, Caleb Garrison, Vivian Gonzalez Nava, Baldo Guajardo, Harmony Hanson, Brooklyn Hoskins, Leovigildo Kokoletzi, Kendra Kraft, Mia Lee, Julian Lewis, Hayleth Lopez, Jade Lopez, Arissa Lopez Ramos, Isabella Ly, Presley Marshall, Isabella Masuch, Alysa Matilla, Nevaeh Mendiola, Lillie Miller, Ezekiel Montoya Marquez Lame,Talia Pevan, Jayde Phipps, Zury Rodriguez Diaz, Alena Rojas, Isabelle Sanchez, Felyx Solis, Vincent Valdez, Nikayla Verver, Serafina Williams, Samantha Wunsch, Arianna Young

In a six-month workshop series, I worked to over 200 middle and high school students throughout Adams County, Colorado to create a painting that addressed some of their deepest concerns. I opened my creative process to these young people, so every tile painted was by them, but also every element of the design of the painting reflects their input and our work together.

Students were remarkably vulnerable, sharing their worries about climate change, war, inflation, homelessness, and mental health. A few students opened up about having been unhoused themselves. At that point in the conversation, we talked about what helped in these most difficult moments. Several students said that being seen, heard, and believed were what got them through.

The overall shape of the painting is a soundwave, representing the students’ desire to be heard, but also bearing associations with a human pulse and a graph of rising intensity related to climate change.

Each tile takes the shape of a seed, a symbol representing home, or a protected place where it’s safe to grow. Each tile has two pieces, an inner core and an outer kernal, which connects to students’ insight that personal issues and global ones are deeply interconnected.

This painting was made possible by the Adams County Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts Department

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ژن ژیان ئازادی
زن زندگی آزادی
Woman Life Freedom
2023
each piece approximately 38 x 38 inches
Acrylic on laser-cut panel

Artists: Mally Cardenas, Zari Cardenas-Banki, Risa Greene, Abby Templeton Greene, Ellen Strickland, Courtney, Mona, Sho, Hanny, Yasi, Kourosh, Noushin, Kaveh, Parisa, Ahmad, Farnosh, Saeedeh, Shirin, Marjan, Andrea, Phil, Jeffrey, Carolina, Patrick, Ethel, Julie, Tim, poupeh, Mollie, Hamid, Kari, Leila, Pari, Joey, Holly, Ali, Leili, Elham, Emily, Alex, Stephen, Matt, JRG, Lydia Mae, Diane O., Emily Schnipper, Ryan T., Will E., Maya F., Lani, Kiah R., Sanaz Masoumi, Mica Ingland, Catie Bryant, Seth Divine, Gabriele Ocasek, Ethan Houck, Ali Graham, Channing Cole, Ilona Kovas, Pippa, Morgan Sirota, Althea Abrusci, Jared Wright, Eli Newman, Kristina Gashi, Mehdi Hosseini, Mona Moayedi

The Woman Life Freedom series was a collaboration with writer and translator poupeh missaghi. In the aftermath of the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa-Jina Amini, we decided to design a series of symbolic art pieces in response to the courage we were witnessing, especially from women and young people in the streets of Iran.

The artworks came to life through participation of communities in Brooklyn, NY; Denver, CO; and Portland, OR. They gathered to grieve, in solidarity, and to raise awareness about the Woman Life Freedom movement.

The final paintings were exhibited at Denver University’s Davis Gallery.

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A Living Machine
2022
84 x 84 inches
acrylic on individual laser-cut tiles

Artists: Favour, Tae, Hillary, Alise, Ajith, Chloe, Lucas, Jae’dyn, Leah, Terrence, Destiny, Lucas, Tanner, Alyssa, Bailey, Dominic, Jeremiah, Genna, Talon, Layveontay, Morgyn, Hailey, Lakiya, Elena, Angel, Stokley, Elliott, Audra, Riley, Farasat, Samantha, Miranda, Carlayjia, Aiden, Briana, Ben, James, Nakiya, Katrina, Mars, Ti’Aisha, Christian, Ashanti, Rachael, Rahsaan, Mitchell, Shawn, Amosa, Serena, D’Shonda, Jarel, Zylin, Adrian, Ben, Tyree, Davii, Mallory, J.R., Harper, Jude, Levin, Jackson, Sara, Elia, Arianna, Ben, Jason, Joie, Darryl, Camila, Joaquin, Julieta, Al, Robin, Rebecca, Scott, Anthony, Shaunda, Steven, Amanda, Craig, Pam, Dylan, Veronica, Kerri, Karen, Mel, Caitlyn, Yunjin, LeeAnne, Hannah, Grace, Theo, Lindsey, Evelyn, Harrison, Chloé, Mollie, Lindsey, Phoebe, Jackie, Jordan, Gina, Alice, Bee, Mike, George, Mary, Camelia Hanna, Eric, Leo, Katie, Maisie, Heather, Brian, David, Dianna, Arin, Andrea, Haley, Gabriel, Cailey, Lynn, Hannah, James, Ellinor, Laynie, Jet, Ellen, Camellia, Erin, Faramola, Melba, Natalie, Stacie, Patricia, Tia, Richard, Megan, Barbie, Allison, Abdul, Richard, Anmar, Khalid, Reagan, Tim, Boo, Clara, Alanah, Johnathan, Layla, Liam, Brooklyn, Maddox, Kim, Charlotte, Weston, Kevin, Aliza, Isaiah, Julius, Michael, Colton, Giselle, Isabel, Fay, Mohamed, Cas, Leah, Anna, Julie, Payton, Kailynn, Leo, Parma, Naweza, Cy, Sky, Nancy, Grace, Charlotte, Madison, Hannah, Qenli, Fredy, Savannah, Kyran, & Jermeon

The theme for the 2023 True/False Film Festival’s artistic program was This is a Test, celebrating scientific inquiry. I worked with a group of ten T/F members to create a design that spoke to the nature of investigation into the unknown through the shape of arrows. I then held workshops for local participants to each paint a tile on the theme of a living machine.

The finished artwork was displayed at the film festival, and was also the image on that year’s festival poster.

A Living Machine was made possible by the True/False Film Festival

Public Access
2024
Staten Island NY

This asphalt mural was a commission from the NYC Department of Transportation, and was a collaboration between people with disabilities and people who are temporarily non-disabled. It brings an array of images and ideas from the disability community into the public space of Victory Boulevard and Corson Avenue on Staten Island.

The mural’s colors are inspired by the Disability Pride flag, and the infinity symbol, an image that the Autistic Self Advocacy Network has promoted as a symbol for autism, weaves its way through the design.

I worked with local DOT community partner On Your Mark, an organization that serves people with disabilities, to incorporate drawings by participants with disabilities as the prominent shapes featured in this design.

Public Access was made possible by the NYC DOT

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Clouds
2022
81 x 88 inches
acrylic on laser-cut panel

artists: D.H., D.P. A.J., D.B., A.A., A.R., E.G., C.B.G., L.D., S.H., M.R., A.Z., N.M., R.P., R.R.R., K.S., A.N., T.V., James, Elaine, Kathy, Mike, Steven, Adam, James, Yael, Kevin, Jessie, Marta, Everest, Ryan, Jefferson, Kyle, Becca, James, Zachary, Aliya, Aspen, Travis, Lina, Ariana, Ana, Minseo, Valentina, Max, Myomi, Sloan, Gwendolyn, Vivienne, Gavin, Samuel, Shiloh, Aaron, John, Odin, Ronelle, Lizbeth, Doyun, Rita, Brisley, Nathan, Mabel, Derek, Samantha, Jennifer, Zander, Abigail, Ryker, Annilyn, Madisann, Nathan, Ray, Riley, Zyania, Jerry, Aiden, Netanya, Elian, Deklan, Serenity, Cameron, Karlee, Treasure, Kelsy, Quincy, Holden, Cambria, Sean, Emely, Angel, Ernesto, Marley, Zoe, Josue, Tiana, Alex, Faraz, Adriana, Ava, Merilee, Louise, Rebecca, Mary, Lauren, Angela, Heather, Justin, J.B., Elise, Peter, Sean, Carrie, Sawyer, Benjamin, Xela, Parker, Matthew, Evan, Crew, Jordan, Adelaide, Jack, Bella, Remi, Royce, Emma, Jeminiah, Xavian, Porter, Aric, Jackson, Soren, Damian, Rhonan, Sam, Del, Andrew, L., Mollie, Xavier, Tony, Kailey, Ellis, Liam, Madlyn, Rick, Lorie, Dailys, Z., W., S., L., E., J., E., D., T., H., E., W, S., A., D., C., F., Mary, Cleo, Trudy, Diana, Doris, Jose, Terry, D.A., C.B., M.C., S.E., L.F., M.F., M.G., J.G., K.H., E.H., K.H., B.M., B.O., F.P., M.R., J.M., H.S., I.V., C.V., Isabella, Abel, Benson, Jovi, Travis, Rutuja, Hollie, Edyn, Lucy, Quinn, Malika, Marilu, Katty, Quinten, Avian, Elias, Taizlee, Connor, Salome, Charlie, Blake, Kime, Saphira, Rachel, Jackson, Nani, Jaxon, and David

This was the first multi-vocal painting I facilitated. It brought together students from five youth detention facilities throughout the state of Utah with the broader local community in Salt Lake City, symbolically closing the distance between carceral spaces and the outside world.

Clouds was made possible by the Salt Lake City Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

MOLLIE HOSMER-DILLARD