Juana Williams

Juana Williams is the former Exhibitions Curator at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA), Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prior to joining UICA, she held positions at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery at Wayne State University, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Williams is a persistent advocate for supporting artists and the preservation of art-centered spaces. She is passionate about community engagement, elevating diverse voices, and giving a platform to artists for innovative expression.

Khalif Tahir Thompson

Born 1995 in Brooklyn, New York. Lives and works in Brooklyn.

2018 MFA, SUNY Purchase, Purchase, New York.

"Khalif Tahir Thompson’s mixed media works are intimately intertwined with his own identity and responsive to larger concepts. Through the use of a variety of materials portraying visual references, he tells his personal story, while simultaneously discussing his curiosity about individuality, rooted in indefinable characteristics. The disjointed figures and objects appeal to an ethereal quality as if existing only in memory or imagination. Saturation of pattern and color weave through the images creating connection, and visual texture. Layering and differing materials illuminate the complexity of the identities Thompson is examining."

Artwork Image: Baubles, Bangles, and Beads, 2019. Oil on Canvas, Handmade Paper, beads, Lithograph. 68 x 68 x 2 in.

Dafna Rehavia

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel. Lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Through installations, fiber and mixed media work, Dafna Rehavia’s interdisciplinary practice incorporates her background in art and psychotherapy, and delves into issues of survival, identity, and healing. The materiality of the work is also indicative of her interest in socio-cultural analyses, with particular focuses on feminism and women’s experiences. Rehavia’s work includes juxtaposing elements of everyday, man-made objects, merged with art materials, such as clay, plaster, resin, cardboard, paint, and textile. Combining opposing materials creates dialogue between divergent ideas, and brings about questions relating to human existence."

Artwork Image: Passing, 2018. Ground, plaster, nails, stones, clay. print, carriage. 28 x 15 x 18 in.

Dawn Ertl

Lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

2015 MFA, California State University, Long Beach. 2009 BFA Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California.

"Dawn Ertl’s fiber works are metaphors for relationships and the effects of those relationships on people and the environment. She focuses intently on trauma based in our collective imaginings. Initially, the material is woven into small work, then connected to create larger works. The significance rests on the understanding of each piece as a combination of strands. Ertl stresses the value each individual strand has on the functionality of the larger structure and consequences of one strand unravelling. Likewise, people are to realize how their actions affect those beyond themselves."

Artwork Image: My God, Your God, God (their god), 2019. Cotton, baby alpaca, metallic film, acrylic paint 38 1/2 x 38 1/2 in.